Blue: Hello, where are you?

KATHMANDU, Oct 21: If we can digest Kaun Banega Crorepati, a ditto of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, how can we not be comfortable with Anthony D’Souza’s Blue for it has a lot similar to do with John Stockwell’s Into the Blue? Of course not to miss is, D’ Souza’s Blue is rich with Bollywood tadkas and spices making people convinced that they don’t miss anything that they love in Bollywood flicks. [break]



The entire movie is a rollercoaster ride between the land and sea level in and around the breathtaking Bahamas.




For those who still have not got the chance to watch this underwater escapade, it must be loud and clear that the movie does not come close to your expectations that you have having watched its trailers. No, you will not find Akshay Kumar breaking bones of the deadly sharks though you get to see a lot of marine inhabitants throughout.



Packed with action scenes, mostly underwater, director D’ Souza should have limited the action scenes, for at many scenes you stop to question yourself: what are the actors fighting for? Besides, because it’s shot mostly underwater, it is quite difficult to identify whether they are really the cast characters who are performing the stunts, or are they stuntmen, or let’s say, professional divers!



Motorbike actions are too much to tolerate at many takes. There and then you question again to yourself: do skidding wheels and some somersaulting cars constitute a substantial action film? Even though one scene is shot commendably when Akshay Kumar and Zayed Khan are seen speeding motorbike above the train and then right before the train on the track. Again, because both actors put on full-cover helmets, you cannot claim that they are the real heroes. And it’s nothing new to see Sanjay Dutt and Akhsay Kumar performing some daredevil action scenes.







Blue begins with Arav (Akshay Kumar) and Seth Ji (Sanjay Dutt) as two best friends who are engaged in fishing business though they are never shown doing their work even for a day. The maximum that describes their profession is that they are mostly around the sea of Bahamas on a ship, either gossiping their professional ideologies or dipping their toes in the serene blue sea.



Arav is high on ambitions and is a millionaire while Seth Ji is a complete opposite character who prefers to remain grounded. Seth Ji’s girlfriend Mona (Lara Dutta) has her own dreams to achieve but she is willing to sacrifice them because Seth Ji says he cannot fulfill them as he does not dream of earning more than his requirements. Sam (Zayed Khan) is a younger brother of Seth Ji’s. He is a professional biker who lives on his own in Bangkok where one day he races with Gulshan (Rahul Dev), and upon winning gets into a huge trouble. He falls in love with Nikki (Katrina Kaif) who is a business partner of Gulshan’s. Because Gulshan threatens Sam to death, he leaves Bangkok to live with his brother in the Bahamas.



On the other side, Arav keeps reminding Seth Ji of a mysterious “lady in blue” which Seth Ji regards a bad dream and gets annoyed whenever Arav talks about it. This is when the screenplay drives you crazy, filling in a lot of anticipations in you about the “lady in the blue.” But a time comes when Sethi Ji has to face with “lady in the blue” because he is left with no other option to save Sam’s life than paying US$50 million back to Gulshan for Sam.



The treasure hunt thus begins underwater.



Blue is a world above sea level that leaves you longing for oxygen. The water stunts are neat but quite overdone at times. Not to blame the characters for they did what they were told to. Director D’ Souza must have cared enough to bring control into the characters. Often in the midst of deadly stunts, you realize how the characters perceive their own existence. Camera works are done neatly to capture what the world looks like beneath the surface. Marine faunas, lobsters, oysters, sharks, dolphins and starfish are shown in detail, like never shown in other Hindi cinemas. But what about the characters in prime roles? It’s probably only during Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta’s romantic number under the sea when you can actually figure out the faces. During the rest, it is just skin diving with scuba apparatuses like oxygen pipes that are visible clearly. Lara Dutta is a WOW in bikini and lingerie, she surely can carry them off but Sanjay Dutt should have put off at least 10 Kgs before performing water stunts in a fitting swimsuit.



Kylie Minogue is of course sensual, and yes, she has made superb moves in chiggy wiggy as her guest appearance in the film. But do we really care? Her guest appearance has nothing to do with the film rather than giving it some publicity stunts. Indeed AR Rahman’s music is good listening to. Oh, Hello! What has Katrina Kaif to do in the entire film is what you realize gradually.



What is good to see is how the actors give their best to keep the movie going despite some failures in screenplay, writing and direction. At last it’s good to see how the movie ends because this is only where you feel good. You feel good because the movie has come to an end, and it does not end in a traditional Bollywood style.

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