By Jilawatan

How odd — two films in quick succession that more or less dabble in the same premise. Aa Dekhen Zara featured a camera that took photos which predicted the future, while in this one Akshay Kumar plays a character who can look at a photo and recreate the past, and both aren’t picture perfect!

The only significant difference is that this one has better actors and a more capable director. However, even that doesn’t elevate it anywhere above time-pass status, which raises an immediate question. Why would Akshay Kumar, a physical actor who needs to flex every sinew, every muscle in his body to project, would want to work with a director like Nagesh Kukunoor who appeals more to the thinking actor?

The answer is simple: both want the same thing — recognition, Akki to prove he really can act while Nagesh to convince doubters he can get the best out of big stars.

Unfortunately, that’s where the problem begins as Akshay spends so much time physical- ly exerting himself by running helter skelter that Nagesh rarely taps into the consider- able psychological angle that was required for this intended supernatural thriller and, therefore, fails to extract anything more out of Akki than what we’ve witnessed previously. It results in a thriller with plenty of physical activity but not enough by way of mental stimulation.

Oddly enough, Aa Dekhen Zara encountered the exact same fate but for one important distinction, the efforts of its cast didn’t justify the cost of an admission ticket, while this one does, but only just.

Akki plays forestry officer Jai Puri, a pretty adventurous guy who stumbles upon the fact that he is able to mentally step into a photograph and follow the events of the very next minute to transpire from there.

An 8X10 photo taken by his mother (Sharmila Tagore), featuring his late father (Benjamin Gilani), becomes the tool towards unravelling the cause of his father’s death, but it requires the guidance of an eccentric cop named “Happi with an i” (played by Javed Jaffrey) and Jai’s supportive girlfriend Sheela for him to know where to begin.

The mystery unravels slowly until a far-fetched twist leaves one wondering whether it was necessary or even contemplating that Kukunoor threw it in just for the sake of it.

Akki’s attempt to better himself is laudable but Kukunoor may have made more of it. Akki tries hard giving the necessary expressions and attention but the overall impression is that so much of his time is spent on the move that there’s no time for sufficient contemplation.

Ayesha Takia’s career is going nowhere fast, and now that she’s married, she may well become more selective. Takia was magnificent in Kuku- noor’s Dor, which was a role that offered much more scope, and although she does little wrong here, she’s barely stretched.

Jaffrey raises some laughs and the seniors in the cast make their mark. Salim Sulaiman’s soundtrack has its moments with Hafiz Khuda and Aaja Maahi standing out. Another attraction is the crisp Canadian locales that provide an eye-pleasing setting.

Sitting through it made it obvious that Kukunoor is best suited to an alternate form of cinema, where the script takes precedence over the size of the budget and the cast. His track record proves he is capable of doing a lot with a little but here he offers very little with a lot.

FOOTNOTE: Kukunoor’s filmography includes the wonderfully off-beat Hyderabad Blues, one of India’s finest sports films, Iqbal, and Dor, about two women in rural India. He has a reputation as a maverick filmmaker with a flair for the unconventional, making it doubly disappointing for something that is so entirely straightforward.