Sonakshi Sinha made an impactful debut with Dabangg opposite Salman Khan. Her character Rajjo is to date remembered for the famous dialogue, “Thappad se dar nahi lagta sahab, pyar se lagta hai.” She was expected to do very well because Dabangg was a big blockbuster.
As she turns a year older today, here is a peek inside her career and why she could not become a big success like Alia Bhatt or Deepika Padukone.
Sonakshi's career could not peak similar to her contemporaries like Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, and Deepika Padukone. She worked with some very big actors like Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, and Saif Ali Khan, and her many films like Holiday: A Soldier is never off duty, Son of Sardaar, Rowdy Rathore, and Mission Mangal were blockbusters. She received good reviews for Lootere in which Ranveer Singh was the lead star.
While her earlier movies did well, most of them were with big superstars who were much older than her. So the movies benefitted the male superstars more and could not give much boost to Sonakshi’s career.
To date, she is yet to work with young actors like Varun Dhawan, Kartik Aaryan, Ranbir Kapoor, and so on. Even though she worked with a few young actors like Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, and Sidharth Malhotra, except Akshay Kumar she could not form a pair with any young male star.
Importantly, Sona could not carve a niche for herself as a versatile actress and mostly was seen in regular flowerpot roles due to which many considered Sonakshi Sinha to be good enough only for typical Saas bahu and traditional roles.
Even though Salman launched her with Dabangg, he did not offer any more movies and was seen sharing the space with her only in the sequels of Dabangg.
Thus, Sona does not have a Godfather who can give her good roles like Alia Bhatt. She also had a few insecurities. Sonakshi Sinha took time to come out of her comfort zone and try out new roles like the one she did in Akira.
Her latest release Dahaad shows that given the chance, Sona can nail it. But she needs to do more such roles that challenge her comfort level and break down her traditional girl-next-door image.
She has been body shamed for being overweight multiple times and all through her career have struggled to stay in shape.
In an industry that just loves to promote skinny girls like Deepika, Alia, and Shraddha Kapoor on the screen, Sonakshi Sinha just could not wear the kind of hot shorts and bikini that has now become the most essential part of being in the glamour industry.
Even then, Sonakshi has played some memorable roles, and post Dahaad and Akira, her fans are expecting more such versatility from the actress.