review '8x10 Tasveer'

8x10 Tasveer’ is the story of a young man with a unique supernatural gift of looking into the past of dead people.

Akshay Kumar takes a break from comedies and over-the-top roles to play a restrained, subdued and complex character in this film by director Nagesh Kukunoor .

The movie stars Akshay, Ayesha Takia , Sharmila Tagore , Javed Jaffrey , Girish Karnad , Anant Mahadevan andBenjamin Gilani.

Akshay plays Jai Puri, a thirty-plus man who has a unique supernatural gift to see into the past of dead people by touching an object belonging to them or by seeing their photos.

His family, friends and even he at times is skeptical of this power. But Jai manages to eke out a living in this land so steeped in belief of the supernatural.

Ayesha Takia plays Jai’s wife and also the breadwinner of the family. She grudgingly believes in her husband’s powers.

Jai is not on talking terms with his father Jatin Puri (Benjamin Gilani), who is an oil baron, living a lavish life of luxury and fame. Jai never wished to follow his father’s profession but nonetheless loved him deep within.

Sharmila Tagore plays Jai’s mother Savitri, a woman torn between her husband and son. She sincerely wishes her son to return to the family fold.

A personal tragedy provokes Jai to use his supernatural powers to unravel a mystery that seems impenetrable to an ordinary mind. But Jai’s mind is not ordinary.

The film has Akshay Kumar doing some death-defying stunts. In one scene he jumps off the edge of a high cliff and lands into water. The stunt was shot with the help of safety cables.

In another stunt, Akshay, tied with chains, sinks underwater where he can’t use his arms to swim back to the surface. It’s almost a Houdini kind of stunt where Akshay unshackles himself.

Director Nagesh Kukunoor describes ‘8x10 Tasveer’ as an action thriller. Apparently, Akshay and Nagesh had their differences in the initial days of shooting but soon they got used to each other’s style of working.

‘8x10 Tasveer’ is written by Kukunoor and has music by Salim-Suleiman and Bohemia.

The film is produced by Percept Picture Company.

‘8x10 Tasveer’ is set for release on April 3, 2009.