Akanksha Sharma: The Fierce New Face of Bollywood We Didn’t See Coming

By Ananyaa Varadkar Zagade, Fashion Station | May 2025

In a cinematic landscape that’s constantly hunting for the next big breakout, Akanksha Sharma didn’t just enter the scene—she stormed in like a queen with a quiver full of arrows and a fire in her eyes.

Mark our words: 2025’s most unforgettable debut doesn’t come from nepotism’s lap or the viral reels factory. It comes from a name that, until recently, wasn’t on Bollywood’s radar — but now, it’s on everyone’s lips. Akanksha Sharma, ladies and gentlemen, is the revelation we didn’t know we were waiting for.

Her debut in Kesari Veer, a grand historical epic packed with war, loyalty, and sacrifice, could’ve easily overwhelmed any newcomer. But not Akanksha. She didn’t just play Rajan — the fierce archer-warrior at the film’s heart — she became her.

Let’s talk about those archery sequences first. We’ve seen actors “act” like warriors before — stiff stances, awkward weapon-holding, the usual. But Akanksha drew her bow like she was born with it. The posture, the focus, the elegance — it wasn’t performance. It was poetry.

What impressed us even more? The quiet moments. The tear in her eye as she gazes into the fire. The stillness before the storm. The grit in her voice as she speaks of honor and sacrifice. In a film filled with loud war cries and fiery speeches, Akanksha’s silences roared the loudest.

Rajan, the role she portrays, is no simple heroine. She’s layered, broken, fierce, and graceful all at once. She’s a fighter not just with weapons, but with wounds. Playing a woman who’s been through war, betrayal, and grief in her very first film? That’s a risk. But Akanksha? She turned it into a masterclass.
There’s a moment in Kesari Veer where Rajan rides into battle, bloodied but unbowed. That moment — it’s not just cinematic, it’s symbolic. It’s the precise instant Bollywood got its newest force of nature.
Buzz inside industry circles is growing louder. Directors are calling her “a once-in-a-decade performer,” producers are dubbing her “bankable with brains,” and seasoned actors are whispering that she reminds them of “a young Tabu with the presence of Deepika.”
It’s early days, sure. But if Kesari Veer is any indication, Akanksha Sharma is not here to play safe. She’s here to shift gears.