/> MOVIE DETAILS

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Jaffrey, Girish Karnad, Anant Mahadevan, Benjamin Gilani, Rushad Rana
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Producer: Shailendra Singh
Music: Salim-Sulaiman, Neeraj Shridhar, Bohemia
Lyrics: Irfan Siddique, Sameer, Bohemia

THE FILM

Frankly, this is a movie that goes neither here nor there. It is neither intelligent nor a pucca commercial fare. Neither do you find Nagesh's touch in the narrative nor does Akshay go all out to give a commercial stamp to Tasveer.

Moreover, Akshay too keeps slipping in and out of the character. Sometimes you find him following Nagesh's instructions to the T and become truly 'seedha-saadha' whereas at other times you find him doing his own thing that he has been so successfully doing for years.

At one moment he is all tormented, at others he gets into his 'main apne pita ke kaatil ka pata laga ke rahoonga' act.

There are moments in the film though where you do feel involved in finding the identity of the killer. Interval point of the film is quite well done when the glimpse of the killer is shown.

However, such moments are far and few as the grip is clearly missing in this suspense thriller. In fact portions of the film after the interval are quite well done as well with Akshay coming closer to the killer. It turns out to be the true murder mystery as pendulum keeps swinging from one character to another.

However, once the real identity of the killer is revealed, the audience is left baffled. 'Now where did this come from' - that's what audience is heard asking. Nothing wrong with that because honestly, no one could see it coming.

But the moment the motive of the killer is disclosed, the film comes truly crashing down. Nagesh, Akshay - A few questions for you. Did you really feel you would be able to pull through the piece of logic that you decided to put behind the killings?

Did you really think audience would have bought this point? And more than that, did you yourself believe that such twist in the tale was really comprehendible?

It won't be fair to reveal the suspense but the fact is that what happens in the end is a complete downer. Neither does it fit into the realistic scheme of things, nor realistic.

Also, in a thriller, when you end up giggling and at places even enjoy a full-on-laughter every 10 minutes, you know that the film has gone completely wrong. There are some scenes in the film when Akshay calls 911 for help or injects himself with life saving boosters. Now this is where unintentional humour gets interspersed into the narrative.

It was being said that Akshay has come up with his finest performance in Tasveer. Sorry, that's not the case. He has done far better in his regular commercial blockbusters. He does well here but isn't mind-blowing.

Ayesha Takia is ordinary while Javed Jaffrey is reasonably ok. Sharmila Tagore seems to be wondering what she has got herself into while Girish Karnad, Anant Mahadevan and Benjamin Gilani are just passable.

Background score by Salim-Sulaiman is terrific though and so is the film's cinematography. These are two of the reasons that make you stay on with Tasveer.

PACKAGING

DVD of 8X10 Tasveer comes in a neat-n-glossy plastic case

DURATION

The film's duration is 121 minutes

SPECIAL FEATURES

- Making of the Film

The DVD also includes a 22 minutes 'making' segment that thankfully does take audiences behind the scenes as well.

Yes, there are regular interviews with Akshay, Nagesh and Shailendra (producer) but along with that you also get to see how some of the key scenes from the film were shot. Watch out for the now famous Akshay's 'jump from the cliff' sequence.

Directed well, this 'making' segment actually makes you think about watching the film again and see if you could find something interesting to explore. Now that's solves the purpose for this segment's placement.

A point to be noted as well - In this segment there is a song titled 'Tasveer Teri' that plays in the background for some duration. Surprising since the song was neither in the film nor the part of the audio CD!

TECHNICAL DETAILS

- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo

PRICE

Rs. 299/=

CONCLUSION

Nagesh Kukunoor is known for making realistic movies. Hyderabad Blues, Iqbal, Dor, Teen Deewarein are a testimony to that. When the end credits start rolling for 8X10 Tasveer and a music video plays along, there is a shot featuring Nagesh himself who shares an angry eye to eye contact with Akshay Kumar.

Now this is perhaps the only real moment of 'Tasveer' because the expressions were probably captured moments after Nagesh and Akshay would have had a look at the final cut of the film!

Rating: **