The audience verdict on this one is likely to be split. For the people like me, who are completely in touch with Hollywood, who've seen films like 'Into the Blue', who've seen National Geographic and Discovery undersea documentaries, we're going to find nothing new here in terms of locales / settings and a very weak storyline. For all the others, it promises to showcase the beauty of the big blue, as never seen before on Indian screens and a story that is about average when compared to most other Indian films.
The story involves the mystery of a treasure ship, 'Lady in Blue', a mysterious character named Aarav (Akshay) who seems to be rich, but no one is sure of how much or even how, Saagar (Sanjay Dutt), who is befriended and employed by Aarav, but has a mysterious reluctance to share the whereabouts of the missing treasure ship. Then there is Sam (Zayed Khan), Saagar's younger brother, who wants to be all mysterious and cool but ends up coming across like a spoilt brat, the kind who are good for nothing and assume the world owe's them a living. All he does in the film is get the bad guys to come after the good. Gulshan (Rahul Dev) is the official bad man, a role he plays well. Mona (Lara Dutta) is the official eye candy, while Katrina tries to be the eye candy but the miniscule length of her role and her dreadlocks seem to impede her from doing so.
What the film does well is the underwater shots – its beautiful, nice, aesthetic and sensuous. Apparently, the first question Akshay had asked when the script was narrated was 'can you pull this off ?' and here his worries proved to be unfounded as debutant director Anthony D'Souza manages to get this part right. My only crib here, in fact would be that there wasn't enough action sequences set underwater. It also does justice to its two locales, Bahamas and Bangkok, capturing the relaxed Bohemian spirit and the natural beauty of the former. And the contrasting concrete jungle, seedy underbelly / steaminess of the latter.
Where it is a let down is in terms of the script / story
too complicated / unnecessary sub-plots (involving the parents of some of the characters) and even worse, not enough done with all the 'mystery' – the answers to the treasure / Aarav's past / Saagar's reluctance are too trite, lacking depth and therefore leave you with an incomplete feeling. Also, none of the characters are built up well enough – you feel nothing for any of them – it is critical for us to care for the main leads of an 'action' film else they become nothing but 'action figurines', which sadly enough, they do in this case.
Finally, casting is a serious issue in terms of Sanjay Dutt, who I fear is no longer suitable for action roles – he is clearly overweight and unfit and it shows. Also, his nickname in the film is 'Sethji' ? What was that about ? He is also way too old for Lara and so their romantic scenes together leave you bemused more than anything else. Akshay is fine but here he was let down by his poorly fleshed out role and also, once again, by his desire to look cool – his goatee doesn't suit him and neither do some of his costumes. Rahul Dev, in the most uncomplicated / straightforward role, is actually done well. And Lara is lovely – bubbly, easy on the eye and refreshing in a bikini. Always looking good.
This film seemed intent on spending a lot of money. The whole sequence with Kylie was unnecessary, fitted even less into the story than Denise Richards in Kambakkth Ishq. There were several vehicles blown up, which didn't need to be. They should've spent more time and money fixing the script, maybe even eliminating some of the characters (Zayed ?). Then, even with possibly half the production budget and definitely a fourth of the marketing budget, it would've been a better film and a bigger hit. More reviews on apurvbollywood.blogspot.com
