We the Write stuff.

Okay, I just saw the 9 AM show for ‘8x10 Tasveer’. Before I begin I want to talk about Akshay Kumar’s character. There are several scenes in the movies that display his badass action qualities, but my favourite was this one: Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Takia have been almost run over by what looks like a 2 ½ Ton GMC Jeep. After they dodge that, the vehicle reverses and turns once again to face them. Akshay Kumar gets up and back onto the narrow path, pretty obviously pissed that the truck has tried to run him and his girl down. They both face each other, the car revving its engine furiously while the veins on AK’s head start throbbing, in a shot not unlike the Hulk VS. the Abomination. AK gets so damn pissed he screams loudly and starts to run towards the car, and I swear to God its so hilarious because after a lot of overheated engine-revving the car promptly reverses as fast as it can and pretty much runs away from Akshay Kumar. This action-quality, which includes the alpha-male smoldering and I-have-a-secret secrecy, remains displayed on his face through out the entire movie.

But man, He’s just so cool.

Getting to the point. The movie is basically about Jai (Akshay Kumar) who is a sort of forest ranger-action guy in a reserve in Canada who lives with his girlfriend (A pretty bland Ayesha Takia) and is somewhat estranged from his rich-oil-company-owning father who is desperately trying to reconnect with him. In the mix are his father’s dubious friends which includes Girish Karnad (what the hell was he doing there?) and Jai's mother who is still close to him.

Jai has the power…to see the past!

Nobody really explains why though, and he keeps a stopwatch by his side, because for some unexplained reason if he stays in the photo-past for over a minute he goes into a kind of cardiac arrest, which also for some reason requires him to have a blood transfusion (but he doesn’t bleed, hello?). The watch is for the audience I guess, and goes thoroughly ignored in the film. Also for those who are interested, he looks into the past through the eyes of the person (which blinks by the way!) in a very Being John Malkovich-esque form.

The plot is as follows, that his father is killed after having a heart attack aboard his boat, and then proceeds to fall over the edge of the railing which gives way very mysteriously. Lucky for Jai that his mom takes a photo just before the accident! The photo has all four friends standing together in it and in a rashomon style, Jai must find out what exactly happened and if there is murder involved (duh).
Now the movie is long at about 2 hours 15 mins and does tend to drag a lot during the middle. Along with some okay direction, the acting is nothing great and the action sequences are few and brief. Jaaved Jaffery’s character was annoying and unneccessary, and the character of BB (What the hell was that all about?) is just plain dumb. The editing is well done and apart from the rap song at the end, (which I quickly exited the cinema to avoid) the score was good including the groovy opening track. Nagesh Kukunoor's script needed a lot of doctoring, but had potential for a decent movie.

Now, heres the deal. This would have been another really big waste of time, if it had not been for the ending. There is a super genuine WHAT THE F*CK?! moment, that is so unbelievable for a second, that the whole movie was worth my ticket money. I’m not saying it was well constructed or anything, but because and only because it was so bloody outrageous and despicable in nature, I laughed to myself in the theatre and thought “Shit man, this is just great bloody cinema”. It is so vile and wrong, but I just loved the director for saying ‘You know what? Screw everything, I’m going to make this so freaking weird that not even batman could see it coming’. Batman can see EVERYTHING coming.

But I know, I know. I asked for this. I wanted a Hindi action film, and I got it…bigtime. I guess my final word is if you do go for this film, just watch it for its hilarious ending. Oh and Akshay Kumar is so cool.