Picture Imperfect

It’s a question worth asking. What exactly went wrong with Nagesh Kukunoor? Here was a young filmmaker,who displayed commendable storytelling skills in his first few films. He also had the courage to tackle topics which were pertinent. And then,pfft. He loses it all to delivers duds like Bombay To Bangkok. He may have convinced a superstar to act for his latest project,the ridiculously-titled 8X10 Tasveer,but Kukunoor hasn’t got back his groove.

Much of Kukunoor’s narrative veers towards overstatement (remember Dor?) but Tasveer is all glib. It’s feeble revenge drama which charades as a paranormal thriller,and fails miserably. Alarmingly,the director depends overwhelmingly on his lead actor,a trait that Kukunoor hadn’t betrayed in his earlier films. Instead of sourcing his drama from human relationships,which is his forte,Kukunoor relies on Akshay Kumar’s daring stunts and his not-so-impressive vocal histrionics.

Jai (Akshay Kumar) is a son of a millionaire oil baron who has the power to travel inside a photograph and uncover the happenings that are depicted in it. (What’s with Bollywood and weird plot devices? Last week it was a future-predicting camera,this week it’s spooky photos). Jai is not in best-of-terms with his father (Benjamin Gilani),because they have some ideological differences—he is a volunteer with a save-the-forest kinda NGO and his father is an oil baron. However,for a staunch green activist,Jai displays very little concern for his surroundings. He and his girlfriend (Ayesha Takia) drive around in a huge SUV and share sweet nothings in a log cabin.

Anyway,coming back to the plotline,Jai’s father dies in a yacht accident and now he has to uncover the secret behind his death. Obviously,he uses his powers to do so,which means lots of cheesy special effects and boring explorations of a one particular scene.

By the end of the two reels,you realize that you have been served a concoction of Baazigar,What Lies Beneath and a B-grade 1980s Hollywood flop called Hideaway.

Frankly,the only thing Tasveer does is reinstate the fact that it’s high time Kukunoor pulled up his socks.