Cast – Akshay Kumar, Ileana D’Cruz, Esha Gupta, Arjan Bajwa, Pavan Malhotra, Kumud Mishra, Usha Nadkarni
Director – Tinu Suresh Desai
Writer – Vipul K Rawal
It is supposed to be a thriller loosely based on the Nanavati case of 1950s . But it actually is an entertainer with some suspense, lots of twists and nationalist flavours added.
It opens directly to show the killing in question and the rest of the story unfolds in back and forth style through interrogation and court room drama. Honestly, it kept the suspense till quite the end.
The story and mystery unfolds in a layered way which was quite interesting and did hold the attention relentlessly.
The costumes and the looks were very stylish at the cost of being garish at certain places.
Ileana looked pretty… Esha looked every inch the vamp in terms of looks, costume and body language… Akshay looked good but wore overtly stiff expressions throughout (of course he had the garb of a naval commander and that too a wronged one… but some more expressions would have been welcome)
The support cast of Pawan Malhotra is worth mentioning, and so is Kumud Misra, Anang Desai and Brijendra Kala who add a touch of humour.
The screen play and art direction might not be found too great quality wise. Do not look for accuracy and facts. There were glaring loop holes at places.
The chemistry between the leads was missing which should have been a pivotal reason for such a crime taking place. Neither was the movie taut and crisp, specially the investigation.
The court room drama had a lot of humour which infused laughter and light moments but that could be held accountable for taking the sting away. I’m sure the film maker knew what he was doing and he chose to entertain.
Overall, in spite of all the glitches, the movie managed to hold attention, made us laugh, entertained us and kept us glued till the end. I think that qualifies it as a good one time watch and probably some more for Akshay fans.
Score 7 on 10