Dassehra trailer: Neil Nitin Mukesh plays a tough cop for the first time

Over the past eight years, a number of Hindi film actors have played tough cops in over-the-top action films. After Salman Khan did it in Dabangg (2010), he was followed by stars like Ajay Devgn (Singham, 2011), Akshay Kumar (Rowdy Rathore, 2012), Anil Kapoor (Shootout At Wadala, 2013) and Sanjay Dutt (Policegiri, 2013), among others.

Now, Neil Nitin Mukesh is set to do the same in director Manish Vatsalya’s Dassehra, whose trailer was released today.

The story begins when three students and a warden in a girls' hostel are found dead in what appears to be a suicide pact. The case is handed over to a young police officer Aditi Singh (Tina Desai). Later, a tough cop Rudra Pratap Singh Chauhan (Neil) gets involved in the case.

The two officers believe these are not suicides. But a minister (Govind Namdev) is eager to prove otherwise. Is there is a bigger game afoot?

The trailer lacks proper flow as the sequences are not linked well. For instance, it is not clear how or why Rudra Pratap Singh gets involved in the case. Moreover, the South-style over-the-top fight scenes lack appeal, having been done to death in Hindi cinema as well in recent years.

But the role of a hard-as-nails police officer, sporting Three Musketeers-style facial hair, suits Neil well. His performance, along with Desai’s, appears promising. Watch the trailer below and let us know what you think of the film's box-office prospects. Dassehra is set to be released on 26 October.