8 x 10 Tasveer


8 x 10 Tasveer is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, and produced by Percept Picture Company, starring Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Takia Azmi. The film features Sharmila Tagore, Javed Jaffrey, Anant Mahadevan, Girish Karnad, Benjamin Gilani, Rushad Rana, Andrea Tully, and Pia Shah in supporting roles. In March 2008, the cast and crew filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and a few parts were noticed to be the Western Cape of South Africa. It was previously called Tasveer, but changed due to the director's insistence that the title was jinxed. The film's music is composed by Salim–Sulaiman with a title track by Bohemia.
The film follows an Alberta-based forest ranger who has the mental ability to enter a photograph from a person's point of view and re-experience the events witnessed by the person. When his father dies under mysterious circumstances, he is compelled by a former detective to use his abilities in order to catch the killer despite everyone believing it to be a natural death. He soon finds himself hunted by rivals who don't want him to learn the truth.
The film was released theatrically on 3 April 2009. Following the mixed reception, it became a commercial failure.

Plot

Jai Puri, a forest ranger in Alberta, Canada, has the ability to enter a photograph and re-experience the events from a person's point of view. While partying on a boat, his father Jatin meets with an accident. Following his death, a former detective Habeebullah Pasha "Happi" meets Jai and tells him that Jatin had done him a lot of favors, due to which he wants to catch his murderer. Jai initially believes Jatin died naturally due to a heart attack, but decides to use his skills and enter an 8x10 photograph of Jatin, his brother Sunder, his longtime friend and lawyer Anil, and his surrogate son Adit, clicked by Jai's mother Savitri while on the boat. He enters the photo from Jatin's point of view and sees him falling to his death. However, due to staying within the photograph for more than a minute, Jai gets admitted to hospital. He suspects Sunder who watched Jatin fall to death, and chases him but the latter escapes. Happi believes someone gave Jatin extra beta blockers since he had suffered from two heart attacks earlier, and falling into the cold water led to a heart attack. Jai re-enters the photo from Sunder's point of view and sees him mixing the pills into Jatin's drink. Jai is readmitted to the hospital and tells Sheila about everything including his abilities, before they break into Sunder's house and find his strangled corpse. Soon, Jai and Sheila are pursued by a black SUV that tries to kill them. Jai chases the vehicle but the driver manages to flee.
Happi enlists the help of Sally, a nurse who helps with medical aide to Jai as he enters the photo from Anil's point of view and sees him talk to Savitri about something she doesn't want a part in. Jai re-enters enters the photo from Adit's point of view and realizes it was him who gave Sunder the pills to mix in Jatin's drink. Adit, realizing Jai knows the truth, tries to kill him but flees when Happi returns after receiving a message from Jai about Adit being the killer. Later, Anil reveals that Jatin wanted to give his wealth to Jai's environment company, due to which the three men planned to kill Jai so that they don't lose their share. Jai realizes Savitri is in danger as she's about to transfer the money, and gets stabbed before Jai arrives and a chase ensues. The attacker manages to escape, but Savitri tells Jai to look for a box inside a room, which he does. He gets an adrenaline injection from Sally, and informs Happi that Jatin saw someone before falling, and that was what he wanted to tell Jai about earlier. He re-enters from Jatin's point of view, and is left in a stupor when the attacker enters and burns the photograph.
The attacker and the last person Jatin saw turns out to be Jai's twin brother Jeet, whose falling from a cliff led to Jai gaining his ability. Jeet, who was assumed dead, believed Jai pushed him on purpose, and a doctor advised Savitri and Jatin to erase Jeet's memories so as to cure Jai. Sheila had been working with Jeet and helped him copy Jai's lifestyle and habits so that he can replace him after killing him. Jeet had also disclosed his identity to Savitri after stabbing her, due to which she told Jai to look for the box containing their photos. However, Jai gains consciousness due to having injected the adrenaline and a brawl ensues, leading to Happi getting killed by Sheila and Jai getting thrown into the water, where he also discovers the corpse of Adit but manages to free himself. Jai holds Sheila on gunpoint and convinces Jeet that his falling from the cliff was merely an accident. He assures him that they can reunite, before Sheila shoots Jeet and herself gets shot by him.

Cast

Following initial delays due to visa and luggage problems, the film's budget increased more than expected. The film was further delayed because of the producers-distributors dispute with exhibitors over revenue-sharing terms and the IPL. The Guild had decided not to release any new films after 3 April, but paying heed to Percept Picture Company's request, decided that the strike would commence after 4 April facilitating the film's 3 April release.
Close to the release of the film, rumors spread that the release would be stalled due to certain misunderstandings between the producers Percept Picture Company and the music distributors T-Series. Cheques of Rs 66.7 million given by PPC to T Series bounced giving rise to rumours that the film would not be released on the stipulated date. However, PPC CEO Navin Shah, confirmed that the cheques had bounced but also stated that a demand draft had already been given to the music partners and that film's release would be on schedule.

Release

The film was expected to lure audiences to theaters primarily because of a public holiday on 3 April but the film failed to garner much appreciation and opened to a lowly 30%–40% start at major multiplexes across the country. The film was stiffly contested by Fast & Furious at the box office. Particularly in Maharashtra, the film was highly surpassed by Mahesh Manjrekar's Marathi film Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy.
Filmmakers believe that the primary reasons for the film's disappointing run at the box office was the lack of a blockbuster soundtrack and a less targeted promotion. Vivek Agnihotri stated "I saw the film in an empty theater. One of the main reasons why I think the film didn't even take an opening is due to Akshay's brand promise which is pure entertainment. I think makers couldn't exploit it's a result, they not just wasted an opportunity but also annoyed viewers who love Akshay. Also, no one understood the genre of the film."

Box office

8 x 10 Tasveer grossed 235.80 million worldwide. It was a disaster yet Akshay Kumar commented that the film is one of his favorite films he had done.

Critical reception

The film was panned by critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 1.5 out of 5, saying, "The film goes wrong, in fact horribly wrong, in the penultimate 20-25 minutes, which is the lifeline of any suspense-thriller. Nagesh Kukunoor has missed the bus this time!" Most of the critics criticized the second half of the movie. Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN also criticized the movie and rated it a 1/5. Nikhat Kazmi for The Times of India rated it an average 2/5, saying, "There's nothing really to cheer you up in the desultory proceedings, unless you want to watch chubby-cheeked Ayesha and lissome Akshay go mountain biking when he's not squirming in the time machine". Sashi Baliga from the Hindustan Times also gave the movie a 2/5.

Music

The music was composed by Salim–Sulaiman, with lyrics by Neeraj Sridhar and Irfan Siddiqui. The American rap artist Bohemia wrote, produced and sang the title song for Akshay Kumar.
The music's reception was average. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the music 2 out of 5 stars and said, "8x10 Tasveer has an average soundtrack with "Nazaara Hai" being the pick of the lot. The two romantic numbers do not go an extra distance though the solo rap song "I Got The Picture" does make for an interesting hear".
Atta Khan of Planet Bollywood rated the music 4/10 saying, "The music of 8x10 Tasveer is a huge let down and I'm surprised it got the backing of Nagesh based on the high standards he set for previous soundtracks. It just sounds rushed, lacks synergy and is utterly forgettable".