8 x 10 Tasveer (2009)

8 x 10 Tasveer: Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. With Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia, Javed Jaffrey, Girish Karnad. A forest ranger with the ability to visit the past by looking at photographs attempts to solve the mystery behind his father’s sudden death.

“This is set in Canada where Akshay Kumar plays a Park Ranger. It seems he has a small psychic ability among his skills. On occasion he can gaze into a photo and drop into trance briefly where he is able to see what happened about the time the photo was taken. He doesnu0026#39;t do this often as it taxes him physically. His father drowns apparently from a heart attack but a former policeman who knew the father believes it was murder. A photo has been taken just prior to the drowning. The Akshay character then goes into the photo a number of times seeking the perspective of each person in the photo at the time. I hadnu0026#39;t been sure about getting it. The cover photo is very dark and references to it make it sound quite violent. Actually we found it was no more troubling than an episode of u0026#39;Midsommer Murdersu0026#39;. In fact there are a few more murders after Dad goes down but they are circumspect and not graphic. The description on the back of the DVD didnu0026#39;t even seemed to match the plot of the movie: almost like weu0026#39;d got a heavily edited version or different one. The emphasis was on the supernatural but really a bit of going into a photo is pretty minor u0026#39;supernaturalu0026quot;. It says he can touch the past of dead people by touching something belonging to them BUT THAT WASNu0026#39;T IN THE MOVIE- all he could do was the photo-trance thing! (this wasnu0026#39;t the only inconsistency) The Indian reviewers found the movie left a few questions, and described the revelation of who had done it as u0026#39;shockingu0026quot;. We agreed with that we queried some of the plot at the end but not enough to ruin it by any means. Nor were we at all shocked by the revelation of the killer. It isnu0026#39;t a song u0026amp; dance Bollywood nor is it art-house. The music is in the background. Canada looked picturesque and the plot unfolded at a good pace. Akshay Kumar did a fine job with the character (and we wish heu0026#39;d skip comedy and stick with straighter movies.) They flirted for a moment with adding a silly side to the former policeman that wasnu0026#39;t necessary but otherwise everyone acted well. This is a movie that didnu0026#39;t do well in India and has received mixed responses) perhaps because it is more Western) but was quite a watchable and respectable thriller/whodunit. There is suspense but it isnu0026#39;t scary, dark or violent.”