Konkona to play cop in A R Murgadoss' Akira

The indie-darling plays a cop, a role originally offered to Tabu, in Ghajini director's next.

A R Murgadoss' Akira, which went on floors early this month, has a new addition to its cast. Konkona Sen Sharma, whose last Bollywood outing was Ekta Kapoor's 2013 horror thriller, Ek Thi Daayan, has been roped in to play a heavy-weight role in the upcoming action drama, top-lined by Sonakshi Sinha.

Konkona has a penchant for indie projects and so her inclusion in the potboiler, helmed by the Ghajini and Holiday director comes as a surprise. A source close to the studio bankrolling the film told Mirror that a meeting was held between the studio executives, the director and the actress, after which she agreed to come on board.

Initially, the makers had approached Tabu for the role, that of a cop, but an agreement on the Haider actress's pay packet and diary could not be reached. After a few meeting, Tabu opted of the project, citing a date clash with Nishikant Kamat's Drishyam, in which she plays a cop too.

"They faced no such issues with Konkana, who liked the film's concept and immediately gave the nod," our source added.

Konkana, who is currently in Kolkata, will join the cast early next month in Mumbai. The source revealed that she will play a sareeclad cop who is a tough taskmaster and beats up the baddies. "She has some witty one-liners in the film. It's probably the most masala movie she's ever done," said the source.

The film also stars Anurag Kashyap and Amit Sadh in pivotal roles. It is expected to release later this year. Despite repeated attempts, Konkana Sen Sharma remained unavailable for comment.