Film: Blue
Director: Anthony D'Souza
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta
Rating: **
The prospect of an underwater treasure hunt set in the Bahamas and Bangkok offers a potentially delicious spectacle of adventure and cinematic thrills. Put in an insane budget (over Rs100 crore) with a multitude of stars, and the stocks rise even further. But in the wrong hands, the film would have as much chance of surviving as a fish in a tank of sharks.
Aarav (Akshay Kumar) is Sagar's (Sanjay Dutt) employer in the Bahamas, in what looks like fishing business. But what Aarav actually wants is Sagar's help in finding a treasure ship that sunk in 1949. Sagar is vehemently opposed to searching for it.
The situation changes when Sagar's brother Sam (Zayed Khan) lands up with a $50 million debt. The debt collectors kidnap Mona (Lara Dutta), Sagar's girlfriend. Forced into the deep end, the three go off "to find the treasure" with predictable consequences and an unexpected (but hilarious) finale.
Technically, Blue is remarkable. The underwater scenes are shot brilliantly by cinematographer Pete Zuccarini. With excellent sound design by Resul Pookutty, the visual treat filmed by cinematographer Laxman Utekar might encourage you to take your next vacation in the Bahamas. Alas, the good news ends there.
The money spent on locations, technicalities and stars seems to have left the producers with little surplus so they could not hire a script or dialogue writer. The plot is wafer-thin.
The stunts and action scenes are boring and might have been somewhat cool if it wasn't so obvious that stunt doubles were used. The storytelling and writing are juvenile. The first-half ends with just an introduction to characters and no storyline. The second-half packs the rest in, leading to a disappointing ending. And this has to be one of AR Rahman's most uninspiring soundtracks.
An out-of-shape Dutt is horribly miscast. He looks uncomfortable, particularly in pot-belly hugging diving suits. Shooting him in extreme close up does not cover up Zayed Khan's lack of acting talent. If you are looking for Kylie Minogue, you might just end up noticing the botox and bad make-up.
Lara Dutta's addition of glamour is restricted to a couple of scenes in bejewelled bikinis. She looks worth a million bucks, but there is something creepy about watching Dutt romance the much younger Dutta.
Dutta and Kumar are also handed some of the worst dialogues in cinematic history, like when in the middle of a frenetic 'Face-Off' style gun fight, Dutt first slips on his shades while she suggests resolving the matter with a conversation. Or when Kumar casually says "let's get the treasure" like it is available at a nearby mall.
Kumar's role is weakened by a poor script and characterisation. He wears an unnecessary frown with a pink suit and salt-and-pepper goatee and shows none of the spunk he is famous for.
D'Souza may know his filmmaking craft, even if he resorts to some strange camera angles, but he has also sunk a colossal amount in style. Watching Discovery Channel on a home theatre system is better value for money. As you leave the theatre, you will be singing 'ballooo' involuntarily, but not in a good way!
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