8x10 Tasveer: What I think of it

Released as the last movie before the 2009 General Elections in India, "8x10 Tasveer" is the new film by acclaimed director Nagesh Kukunoor. The director has given stalwarts like "Hyderabad Blues", "Iqbal" and "Dor". I was looking forward to watching this movie as it was from the Kukunoor stable.

The film has a solid cast comprising of Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Jaffrey and Girish Karnad. The hype and hoopla around the movie was infectious! And to imagine that I bought the tickets for it online at about 1:30AM on the Friday morning it was to be released - but also because I was suffering from lack of sleep!

A lot was expected from the movie and unfortunately to me, to be very frank, it did not deliver the goods quite as promised. Although the story line is interesting, it gets repetitive after sometime and also kind of bland.

The basic concept of the movie is that Akshay Kumar has the ability to travel back in time by looking at an "8x10 Tasveer" - a photograph. Following the mysterious death of his father (played by Benjamin Gilani), Akshay starts using his powers to get underneath the truth. He is helped in his mission by his family and friends, his mother (played by Sharmila Tagore), his fiance (played by Ayesha Takia Azmi) and a self-proclaimed detective played by Javed Jaffrey.

The story shows some signs of holding out the mystery and the suspense, but it is just not able to do so, at least not until the last 25 minutes of the film. The part in between (about 20 minutes each before AND after the intermission) is pretty lengthy, stretchy and blank. Although the director has tried valiantly to ignite the mystery, it just gets churned creating twisty lines and murky waters.

Even the acting department does not hold up good. Akshay Kumar has desperately tried a character change from his regular comedies to a thriller/mystery movie, but it was an attempt in vain. He has acted more like a stunt man in the movie, not leaving even a single chance to show off his stunt skills. For instance, in one particular scene, he has to rush to his fiance Ayesha Takia. There's a table and instead of normally going around it, Akshay has to do a daring slide under it! And trust me, as you watch the film, you will know that it was totally not necessary! Ayesha Taki's dialogue delivery is practiced, and she sounds like she's reciting lines without any feelings at all. And to think that she had done such a brilliant piece of acting in "Dor".

Perhaps the only character who was pleasant to watch was Javed Jaffrey. His depiction of a detective who suffers from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and speaks in a tongue twisting Hyderabadi accent is well done.

Thankfully, there are not many songs for the characters to dance to as was expected from Kukunoor. The title opening song is just brilliant, and I am in the process of downloading it and setting it as my ringtone!

I was not totally disappointed with the movie though. Like I said, I found the last 25 minutes or so interesting, with an unthought of twist in the story. The movie has some similar traces to "Vantage Point" in which a single incident is replayed through the eyes of eight different people. But then again, I feel that such an angle was necessary in this movie and could not have been done without.

If I had to score this movie, then I'd give it 3/5 - of which I've given 1 only for Javed Jaffrey's performance.