Cast: Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia, Jaaved Jafferi, Sharmila Tagore, Benjamin Gilani, Girish Karnad, Rushad Rana, Anant Mahadevan, Uttara Baokar

Director: Nagesh Kukunoor

In his latest, Nagesh Kukunoor dumps earthly pleasures for supernatural hi-jinks, by making his hero capable of seeing the third dimension: Akshay stares deeply at photographs and zip, zap, zoom, he’s back at the time the pictures were taken. Mumbo-jumbo or Ripley’s Believe It Or Not?

Canada-based Jai (Akshay), protector of grizzlies, loves his girl-friend Sheela (Ayesha) and hates his dad’s (Benjamin) big business interests. And then one day the latter pops it, in the middle of an ocean, on a pristine-white yatch, surrounded by wife (Sharmila), and cronies (Girish, Anant, Rushad). Accident or murder?

Kukunoor uses the lush green of the Canadian countryside to give us one of the most picturesque films we’ve seen in a while. His story is interesting too, though you get the niggling feeling that it depends, for its tone, a tad too heavily on sundry Hollywood thrillers: it’s got a live-in couple (Akki kneels on the rumpled bed and asks if Ayesha will marry him; the latter clasps her French-manicured hands, and nods, eyes brimming over), a mom who wears well-tailored pants and jackets, a weirdo sleuth (Jaaved) who suffers from an obsessive compulsive disorder, and a colourful psychic (Uttara) who reads cards.

‘8X10 Tasveer’ sucks us in with a nice, brisk start, but Kukunoor doesn’t make of his surprising change of genre—from situational comedies to freaky thrillers—as much as he should have. Situations get into a repetitive loop, and the pace flags. As Akshay prepares to go into one of his many, many trances—hold up photo, stare, let head loll back, breathe loud, and voila, see what happened—you wonder what the film’s editor was doing.

The lead role is tailor made for Akshay, who displays splendid dare-devilry in breathtaking jumps off cliffs, and racing up and down steep slopes. But the rest of it keeps going off track. And the over-stretched climax, involving Akshay and Ayesha and guns and a bloody shovel, is just plain cheesy.

Banner: Gopi Krishna Movies Pvt. Ltd.
Cast: Prabhas, Krishnamraju, Anushka, Namitha and others
Direction: Mehar Ramesh
Production: Prabhod and Narendra
Music: Manisharma

1. Prabhas Looks 2. Stylish Representation 3. Manisharma's Music 4. Gripping First Half 5. Stunning Action scenes 6: Anushka's Looks 1 . Weak Climax 2: Lack Of comedy in 2nd half

Prabhas as the ruthless Billa is a revelation. Stylish, menacing and electrifying, he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and has completely lived up to it


Action scenes are the highlights. The car chase sequences are first of its kind in Telugu , with Prabhas’s racing image adding to the grandeur. Sound effects are perfect and in sync with natural sound and the credit goes to

Manisharma does it once again. The pictursising of the songs is quite appealing

. The two biggest assests of the film are costume department and cinematography section.The cinematographer’s work is of superlative nature and the result is an absolute visual delight. Seamless editing adds to the flow of the film.

On the whole, neatly packaged, Billa has lived up to its hype. If you are looking for an enjoyable fantasy ride, you wouldn’t be disappointed.


BO verdict : Hit