8×10 Tasveer has an interesting idea – that a guy can look at a photograph and travel back in time to when the photo was taken.
The film is an exciting tale around a person Jai Puri (Akshay Kumar) who is naturally gifted with psychotic powers to peep inside people’s past gazing through their photograph for a minute. But this power is very risky as it can even take his life after that dreadful minute. 8×10 Tasveer movie review…
Jai is a forest ranger in the woods near Alberta, Canada and lives in a cabin with his girlfriend Sheila (Ayesha Takia). He has been estranged from his parents, Jatin Puri (Benjamin Gilani) and Savitri Puri (Sharmila Tagore). Jai’s father is the CEO of a privately held Canadian oil company whose oil exploration causes environmental damage, which is the cause of tension between father and son.
When Jai’s father dies due to an accident, one Inspector Mr. Happi (Javed Jaffery) thinks otherwise. This leads Jai to look at his dad’s picture which was taken before he died as he wants to check the past about how his father died.
The accident appears mysterious, and it Jai doubts everyone in the picture, including his mother who was at the time of the accident which took place in a yacht and Jai’s father drowns under mysterious circumstances. His father was aboard his own boat, and was accompanied by his mother; his uncle Sundar (Anant Mahadevan), longtime friend and lawyer Anil (Girish Karnad) and Adit (Rushad Rana)..
The only clue Jai has is an 8×10 photograph of the four men, which his mother shot a few moments before his father fell off the boat and had a heart attack.
Once Jai stares at a person in the photograph, with his supernatural ability of transporting his soul back to the past, he cannot manipulate events as experienced by the body he’s staring out from, and neither stay there for more than a minute, since the transportation brings about some severe weakening of his physique, almost risking his life.
He had used this power a few times back to help someone recover her husband who was found miraculously alive stuck in a crevice in the mountains.
Now Jai has to do it for his father. And each individual in the photograph has to be scanned which would make him weaker and weaker.
But he is determined, and tension builds up as events unfold. There after it leads to the climax which has an unexpected suspense.
Akshay acted very well, while Ayesha’s performance is just average in 8×10 Tasveer. Sharmila Tagore has acted well. Cinematography is top notch quality and the open countryside of Canada is exploited well. Javed Jaffrey as Happi – ‘happy with an I’ is brilliant. Hope Javed appears in some more bollywood films now onwards.
8×10 Tasveer is a classic mystery-thriller with some very riveting moments, and a brilliant mix of supernatural with a near perfect murder mystery.
Cast of 8×10 Tasveer:
Jai Puri – Akshay Kumar
Sheila Patel – Ayesha Takia
Jatin Puri – Benjamin Gilani
Savithri Puri – Sharmila Tagore
Anil Sharma – Girish Karnad
Hapibullah “Happi” Pasha – Javed Jaffrey
Sundar – Anant Mahadevan
Aadit – Rushad Rana
Nurse Sally – Pia Shah
Credits & Crew of 8×10 Tasveer:
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Production house: Percept Picture Company & T-Series
Producer: Bhushan Kumar
Co-Producer: Elahe Hiptoola
Original Music by Bohemia, Salim Merchant, Neeraj Shridhar
Story – Nagesh Kukunoor
Music: Salim-Sulaiman, Bohemia & Neeraj Shridhar
Music label: T-Series
Lyrics: Sameer, Bohemia & Irfan Siddique
Art Direction by Abid T.P.
Stunts coordinator – John Smith
8×10 Tasveer, movie review