Keerthy Suresh-Radhika Apte’s Akka releases after two years following editing and reshooting to tone down violence

(L-R) Radhika Apte and Keerthy Suresh in ‘Akka’. Pics/By Special Arrangement, Instagram

An action series about a powerful female gangster running a matriarchal society with an iron fist - we're all for it. As are Keerthy Suresh and Radhika Apte, who headline Akka that dropped on Netflix today. But not many know that writer-director Dharmaraj Shetty's crime drama series, which wrapped its principal photography in 2024, had to wait two years to reach the audience. Why? We've heard that the show underwent several edits and reshoots to tone down the violence.

Set in the fictional city of Pernuru in the 1980s, the YRF Entertainment-produced Akka tells the story of Suresh's Bhavani who rules the matriarchal society and faces an attack from Apte's Rudra, an outsider. Action understandably is a big part of the narrative. A source told mid-day, "Since the period crime drama revolved around badass, ruthless women, its visual treatment was gory initially. But after watching the rushes, the makers felt that the brutality could be toned down. So, some of the violent scenes and expletives were cut, some sequences were reshot to make it a well-rounded story rooted in emotions. Both YRF and Netflix are mindful of audience sensitivity and understand how much is too much when it comes to action. At the same time, they felt it was a powerful script. They decided to take the middle path to tell the story to viewers. They were also careful to not include action for the heck of it; the fights are justified in the gangster drama."

There was another reason for the delay - the show's grand scale. The source added, "Such a project involves several stages of creative development and production. Akka has been mounted on a grand scale."

mid-day reached out to YRF Entertainment and Netflix India. Both didn't respond till press time.