8 x 10 Tasveer

8 x 10 Tasveer

Nagesh Kukunoor, the director started off brilliantly a decade back and gave some exceptional movies like "Hyderabad Blues", "3 Deewarein", "Iqbal" and "Dor". But his last movie "Bombay To Bangkok" and the current "8X10 Tasveer" stand nowhere close to his own set standards. The same can be said about Akshay Kumar, who seems to be lost in the gigantic hype surrounding himself. After "Chandni Chowk to China" this will be the second setback to his otherwise hit record. The movie is based on a supernatural theme where Akshay can travel into the past by gazing on a picture and its individual characters. The subject looks exciting enough as we read or write about it, but the execution on the screen is not convincing at all as it lacks all the thrills and edge of the seat treatment required by the plot. Nagesh seems to be interested in making an artistic thriller, with long boring scenes, uninspiring writing and lazy editing. The story moves slowly with no worth mentioning scenes or sequences. Even the over publicized shot where Akshay jumps from a cliff into the water is amazingly canned but has no relevance at all with the narration or script. Akshay seems to be quite confused and doing his role without any conviction. There was also news of both director and actor facing tough times together shooting abroad. Sadly, that shows on the screen and also in Akshay's recent interviews given for the movie. The time gaps which occurred while making the movie may also be visible to the sharp enthusiastic bollywood fans. Interestingly the main picture in the movie, which has got all the focus gets easily caught as a reworked photograph with background pasted later. In a suspense thriller, the climax holds the key to its success. The more interesting and shocking the last minute revelations are, more are the chances of movie hitting the bull's eye. Moreover in a murder mystery it is always better that the culprit should be from the characters known to the viewer. If a sudden new entrant is introduced to be the killer then it takes away all the shock value and results in an unimpressive climax. This is the problem with "8X10 Tasveer" where the finale is too lengthy and not powerful as expected. Acting department has got Sharmila Tagore and Javed Jaffery at their best. Javed should have been given more comic freedom in his expressions by the director as that would have added a lot to the movie. Akshay is not in form as he is always. In many scenes it looks like he is deliberately stopping himself from doing a comedy act. Ayesha Takia looks cute but lacks the depth required for the role. Benjamin Gilani, Girish Karnad and Ananth Mahadevan are OK in their short roles. Cinematography is top rate, specially the chase and actions sequences. But its time our film makers should realize that usually songs are not meant to be there in thrillers and murder mysteries. All the songs are simply unwanted and not worth remembering also. On the other hand Background score is fine as per the demand of the subject. Now about the Inspirational influences of the movie: 1. The camera view from the inside angle of an eye seems to be influenced from the movie "Being John Malkovich (1999)" 2. Akshay moving into the past and then people ready to bring him back with medical support is very close to the similar sequences in "Flatliners (1990)" 3. The movie poster with Akshay eyes staring in, has similarity to the poster of Anthony Hopkins brilliant movie "Instinct (1999)" In the end I would only like to say that after watching "8X10 Tasveer", I came to one conclusion that, both the talented director, Nagesh and hugely successful actor, Akshay now urgently need to re-invent themselves once again.

one of the best thrillers ever to come up in recent years.I just wonder about the stupidity of Indian critics who just tried to play down this movie.this movie ain't a work of art and it is not intended to as kukunoor's other's film. it's a plain thriller that keeps u on the edge. To start with the the script of the film is superb.it written by kukunoor himself.as some critics have pointed out,there are some loopholes for example the character of Jeet is not well defined.how he gets to Canada befriends sheila etc remains unanswered. all this are however overshadowed by Kukunoor's slick direction.he controls the characters very well with is apt treatment. cinematography,background score are of top notch quality.performance wise Javed Jaffrey as Happi happy with an i is superb.he steals the show handsdown!. as for Akshay Kumar one expects a better performance from him as Jai. However the real hero of the film is Nagesh kukumoor.one of the most important faces of Indian cinema, is the real hero of the film. I just hope that good sense prevails over the critics and in near future they don't come up with their trash and dump over films like this.IF RAB NE BANA DI JODI DESERVES 2 STAR BY RAJEEV MASAND , AND 3 STAR KHALED MOHAMMAD 8 X 10 DESERVES 10 / 10.

Simply one of the best Bollywood films of 2009. The film is a unique genre rarely tried by Bollywood but it proves to be an amazing movie from start to finish. The storyline of the film has an interesting plot and contains great suspense. Incredible acting by Akshay Kumar, one of his best thriller movies. The cinematography of the film was also superb. This movie is not the typical Bollywood movie with a high degree of romance, comedy, and musical items. It is definitely worth a watch if your a fan of suspense and thriller movies and Akshay Kumar. Overall, I am glad I watched this movie on the big screen on the first day of its release. My favourite Bollywood release of 2009 at this point. 8 by 10 is 10/10.

The moment the opening credits show on screen you know that you are not going to watch any typical Bollywood movie..That mood stays all throughout the movie,that of a haunting, mesmerizing and fantastically paced thriller..Any typical Bollywood film fan a request stay away..It has got no songs, no comedy and no slapstick..Its a classic Whodunit with some very gripping moments..Its a brilliant mix of supernatural with a near perfect murder mystery..Some scenes are just awe-inspiring.Like the Akshay's Houdini act.Wow..Brilliant camera work,fantastic musical score and a perfect well paced Akshay Kumar far from anything you have seen him in till date..Nagesh Kukunoor proves again that he is one of India's best and most underrated.. If any friend of yours comes and tells you anything about the story just run away from there..You wouldn't want to miss the thrill.. In my opinion one of the best thrillers of all time in Hindi cinema..and a must watch !!!! 9.5/10.

8 x 10 Tasveer, it's a failure on all counts and a film best avoided. Intended as a suspenseful thriller, 8 x 10 Tasveer is a hopelessly dumb film that suffers on account of an ill-conceived script that's ridden with logical loopholes. At every turn you find yourself questioning the film's ridiculous logic, befuddled by all the inconsistencies and creative liberties that you're expected to turn a blind eye to. When the suspense finally unravels, 8 x 10 Tasveer delivers a back-story so convenient, you could throw your hands up in the air and laugh at the sheer stupidity of the enterprise.Over the years, and with a few exceptions like Hyderabad Blues 2 and Bombay To Bangkok, director Nagesh Kukunoor's name on a film's credits has come to represent a fairly high standard in storytelling. Even without big budgets and fancy resources, the director delivered engaging stories and endearing characters like those in Iqbaal and Dor, to name just two. With his latest, 8 x 10 Tasveer though, Kukunoor turns in his most poorly executed effort. Random scenes are slapped together arbitrarily, loose ends never tied, and the narrative suffers from pace problems. x 10 Tasveer is neither thrilling nor imaginative, and apart from the lush photography, it's an exercise in futility. Director Nagesh Kukunoor attempts a film-making format he seems neither familiar nor comfortable with, and as a result the film lacks the integrity of his previous successes. For Akshay Kumar this film marks another misguided step after the ill-fated Chandni Chowk To China; this is after all, neither the mindless entertainment he has come to master, nor the art house credibility he aspires for.On the whole, 8 x 10 TASVEER disappoints. The film goes wrong, in fact horribly wrong, in the penultimate 20-25 minutes, which is the lifeline of any suspense-thriller. Nagesh Kukunoor has lost the plot this time!

It's probably a coincidence that the latest Bollywood offerings the last week had to do with photographs. In Aa Dekhen Zara, Neil Nitin Mukesh plays a photographer who discovers the secrets of a camera that has (well, I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag) powers to do with time. And in 8x10 Tasveer (photograph), Akshay Kumar plays forest ranger Jai, working for Environmental Protection in Alberta, Canada, who possesses the supernatural ability of transporting his soul back to the past, assuming the point of view of the person in the photograph whom he's staring at. Unlike The Butterfly Effect, his abilities are more passive. He cannot manipulate events as experienced by the body he's staring out from, and neither can he linger around for more than a minute, as each transportation brings about some severe weakening of his macho physique, akin to being knocked out by a heavyweight champion. So it's a risk he has to undertake in order to assist strangers who sought him out to help in locating their loved ones, and nothing will prepare him to use this power to solve his dad's murder aboard a luxury yacht. Akshay Kumar didn't get plenty of love from the box office for his previous kung-fu movie Chandni Chowk to China, which I had enjoyed actually. While I find this suspense thriller an above average flick thanks to Kumar's charismatic presence, one just cannot shrug away the sense of familiarity and deja vu in having watched a version of this film somewhere (someone jog my memory please!). 8x10 Tasveer still contains a decent "whodunnit" storyline that will keep you guessing, but only because it has that rug on standby just beneath your feet, which I think some would cry foul in being thrown an unexpected spanner from the blind side into the works. Supporting Jai in his quest to seek the truth, even as he subscribes to unorthodox methods, is ex-cop Happi ("Happy with an I") played by Javed Jaffrey (who voiced the villain Charlie Anna in Roadside Romeo), taking an interest in the publicized death just because he was on the receiving end of tremendous assistance given by Jai's father in helping him to settle down in a strange new city (of Toronto!). Happi's an interesting character injected just for some light hearted laughs though, being a character afflicted with OCD and kudos to Jaffrey in having to play this socially awkward character misfit who should have deserved more screen time. The narrative did feel draggy for a bit, despite clocking just under 2 hours with only one short musical ballad serving as a romantic interlude between Jai and his lady love Sheila (Ayesha Takia). And while you know that at some point Jai will have to perform a brute-force investigation by peeking through the eyes of everyone in a photograph, it just takes a while to get to that stage, before shifting into high gear during the last 30 minutes where you're likely to be surprised with a sudden turn of events. On one hand there was a sudden lift in the lull of the mystery, but on the other you'd feel it's one of those plot developments that felt a little of a cop out. It did answer some questions should you rewatch the film though, but seasoned mystery fans would likely clamour for more than the usual. And does anyone think Akshay Kumar does look like Nicholas Cage with that hang-dog look and closely crop hairdo? That 8x10 Tasveer poster did make Akshay resemble Cage in that Ghost Rider poster, and this film did feel like one which Cage would have no problems stepping into as well. 8x10 Tasveer is decent, though there's nothing that will particularly make you sit up and exclaim Wow.

The moment the opening credits show on screen you know that you are not going to watch any typical Bollywood movie..That mood stays all throughout the movie,that of a haunting, mesmerizing and fantastically paced thriller..Any typical Bollywood film fan a request stay away..It has got no songs, no comedy and no slapstick..Its a classic Whodunnit with some very gripping moments..Its a brilliant mix of supernatural with a near perfect murder mystery..Some scenes are just awe-inspiring.Like the Akshay's Houdini act.Wow..Brilliant camera work,fantastic musical score and a perfect well paced Akshay Kumar far from anything you have seen him in till date..Nagesh Kukunoor proves again that he is one of India's best and most underrated.. If any friend of yours comes and tells you anything about the story just run away from there..You wouldn't want to miss the thrill.. In my opinion one of the best thrillers of all time in Hindi cinema.. 9.5/10.

Its not bad as it's projected to be. Akshay Kumar's flop-series have resulted in denting the prospects of 8x10 Tasveer. In my opinion, 8x10 is indeed quite an intelligent movie and deserves intelligent audience to appreciate it. Akshay Kumar:: Delivers a good performance. And yes, special mention to his fresh look. Seems like he is back in shape. Jaaved Jaffery:: At the risk of being repetitive, he indeed has potential. Pity Bollywood doesn't pay attention. The rest of the star-cast is adequate. The look of the movie is very much Hollywoodish and this cannot be refuted. Even the cycling scenes are aesthetically done. Notice the execution when the GMC revves the engines - indeed Hollywood standards. And yes, the execution and portrayal of Akshay Kumar ability is of top standards. The narrative deserves special mention here. At a given point in time, the audience is shown what is warranted thereby keeping the suspense alive. Kudos to Mr. Kukunoor (well, he has followed this format in Teen Deewarien earlier). I seriously hope 8x10 gets critical acclaim for Mr. Kukunoor for he well-deserves it and indeed catapults him into the big league.

Now that's what we call a film ..errrr sorry a B-grade film.. Sux bigtym. The film looks like it was hurried for release, but that's not the case coz it has been ready for release for d past 5-6 months or so. Then why does the film look so unpolished?? Even there was no ample publicity for the film. Akshay Kumar was OK-OK but the rest of the cast really let it down. I wonder what was Aayesha Takia doing there. She only has a single expression on her face n dat of "uninterested" type. She seemed to be quite uninterested in the film. Action scenes were few, and the ones that were there didn't look convincing. The storyline could have been better. The script should have been developed. there's no element of surprise in the film and for a mystery film this is the end of thrills. Also the fact that at the end the director and the scriptwriters choose to go the 80's and the 90's type of bollywood thriller movie. A long lost twin brother returning back even though there was a change here, the long lost brother turns evil and wow they thought they had something new in their hands. That really made me and many other people laugh out loud. Also i remember a same plot although not entirely but do you remember "Andaaz Apna Apna"?, yes the comedy caper starring Aamir and Salman Khan, now do you remember paresh rawal's character? aka the twins??, yes you got it, now you see, the director wanted this movie to be a laugh riot like "AAA" but what the hell was that?. the first half of the movie was really quite decent. I really had some hopes while going back in after the interval, but how cheated i felt. The second half of the movie turned into a silly B-Grade bollywood thriller. I wish i had a photograph taken right before the script writing for this movie started, so that i could know who is behind this piece of crap. I go for 2 out of 10 for Akshay Kumar's 8x10 Tasveer Watch it at your own risk or better go and watch a b-grade bollywood thriller, at least you won't have high expectations with that type of a movie.