Jai (Kumar) protects the environment from bear poachers. In his spare time, he's also a picture peerer.
What's it about: Jai (Kumar) protects the environment from bear poachers. In his spare time, he's also a picture peerer. The kind that looks into your 8X10 and knows your 'secret'.
He gets the news that daddy dearest (Benjamin Gilani) has suffered a heart attack. Papa pops off soon after. 
A grieving son returns home only to meet up with obsessive-compulsive detective Habibullah Pasha (Jaaved Jaaferi). This guy's a wannabe Monk (the detective from the TV show).
Mr Happy-with-an-I-not-a-Y (wonder how they some up with these names and nicknames, anyway) has Jai boy suspecting that daddy's death could be more than just ek saadhaaran maut.
For obvious reasons, the process of elimination begins with the people who were with papa last maata, chacha, family friend and childhood friend.
Intrigued by the possibility that his dad could have been murdered, Jai puts his power to use. One by one, he pieces together a puzzle.
Just one catch; every time he uses his power, he needs a blood tranfusion if not out of the trance-like state in a minute's time. What he finds are unsavoury details. Are the secrets worth the trouble?
What's hot: This murder mystery has its first song 45 minutes into the film. The only other songs run during the title and end credits. That's a relief. To know why, read on.
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What's not: The film, at two hours plus, stretches your patience with the same dream sequences over and over again (down to the very last detail).
Surely, Nagesh wasn't trying to pay a backhand tribute to masters of mystery, the Burmawala brothers (Abbas-Mustan), was he? This is not Kukunoor's turf.
And his discomfort shows. He goes cuckoo with the story, gets different perspectives of the same story (a la Vantage Point) to show you the face of the killer.
Akki's Jai is a forest ranger based in Canada, armed to the teeth to fight a poacher whose only weapon is a bear trap.
Guilty as sin, he flings it into a nearby lake. Our hero, the daredevil, rushes to extract the 'evidence' by jumping off a cliff without a moment's hesitation.
"He's a freaking madman," remarks the poacher. We couldn't agree more. The trap wasn't going anywhere. All he had to do was pick it up, later. I'm sorry....u00a0 I keep forgetting this is an Akshay Kumar film and the guy just needs an excuse to jump off cliffs for no apparent reason.
He even develops an accent; one that could rival Sallu's. Jaaferi seems out of sorts in a suit and linguistically seems more at home in a lungi.
Sharmila is cast opposite Benjamin Gilani and is supposed to be having an affair with Girish Karnad. The three (or maybe two) might be known for their acting skills, but they share zero chemistry.
Really don't know what son needs to creep up on his mom hugging a family friend and say it disgusts him? Akki's not acting in this one.
He's sleepwalking through it. Kukunoor takes too long in establishing a scene and spends too little time on judging its merits and demerits.
Has the guy truly learnt nothing fromu00a0 Bombay To Bangkok? Riddled with loopholes and marred by inconsistencies, the film insults your intelligence and assaults your patience.
What to do: Seriously? Could I paint a clearer picture?
Tasveer 8X10
U; THRILLER
Dir: Nagesh Kukunoor
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia, Sharmila Tagore
*u00bd
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