Tashan Review - Just Another Stylized Timepass Flick

Tashan Review - Just Another Stylized Timepass Flick

Rating: **.75 (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma and Others.
Action: Peter Hein.
Art: Sukant Panigrahy.
Background Score: Ranjit Barot.
Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant.
Cinematography: Ayananka Bose.
Costumes: Aki Narula-Mehma Tibb.
Editing: Rameshwar S. Bhagat.
Lyrics: Piyush Mishra, Vishal, Anvita Dutt Gupta & Kausar Munir.
Music: Vishal-Shekhar.
Sound Design: Ali Merchant.
Executive Producers: Aashish Singh-Sanjay Shivalkar.
Writer & Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya.
Producer: Aditya Chopra.
Presenter: Yash Chopra.
Banner: Yash Raj Films.
Release Date: 25th April, 2008.

Kareena Kapoor and Akshay KumarAfter Race a few weeks ago, this is another glitzy, stylish flick with great bodies, reasonably good songs and some good ole' dishum dishum. No logic, keep-your-brains-at-home and no substance.

Plot Jitendra a.k.a. Jimmy is a call centre employee who also teaches English outside. Pooja is Bhaiyyaji's secretary, and requests Jimmy to teach him English. Turns out Bhaiyyaji is UP's biggest Don, and Jimmy had been unwittingly leaking information about moneyed people to him, who were threatened or kidnapped. Pooja tells him she has to pay off her father's debt to Bhaiyyaji and they decide to steal his money. It's not so easy, for Jimmy's left in the lurch while Pooja runs off with it. Bachchan Pandey, a small-time thug enters, and his quest is to find Pooja-with Jimmy by his side.

Story, Screenplay and Direction When Pooja and Jimmy first take the money, only one bag is shown. When Bachchan Pandey takes the money back, there are more than five. This is just the beginning of the lack of continuity and the complete disregard for logic or detail. Events happen in the screenplay just to suit the actors profile and not for the need to tell a story; in fact, the screenplay itself is written to cast the actors and not the other way round.

The stunts are over the top and get a little boring towards the end. The video game style is old hat, and doesn't hold viewer interest anymore. The movie has no good people, and (another similarity with Race) no one has a conscience. Anil Kapoor's character, Bhaiyyaji, with his English-Hindi lingo is amusing for a while. There is some humor, and two of the songs are a visual treat (Kareena sizzling in a bikini included) and Saif Ali-Kareena-Akshay chemistry and timing steals the show.

It has Saif narrating to the camera till the break, when Akshay takes over and tells his side, then the narration becomes third person for the last 30 minutes or so. From Rajasthan to Kerala, the director takes us to all travel destinations, with the silliest pretext-Pooja 'hides' her money with people in huts all over the country. Why? Oh, she's diversifying. The movie's full of that, including Jimmy, a call centre employee, managing a gun, shooting people and doing stunts suddenly in the second half, while in the first, he makes himself look city-bred and fragile while Akshay is his contrast.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali KhanPerformances Anil Kapoor fits the role and does it so that you cannot imagine any one else playing the character. Of course, Javed Jaffrey in Salaam Namaste was a riot with his lingo, but Kapoor is inimitable and has a presence. Saif Ali Khan has now joined the big league and will stay there, because he's found his comfort zone. Akshay Kumar again, has found something he can do, and he can do well, and has perfected it-action and comedy, and so he does it again and again and again. Fortunately, the audience is not tired of it, yet.

Kareena Kapoor gives a convincing performance in this grey character and though the entire thing turns a little corny towards the end, she manages to make her statement.

Song and Dance The songs and their picturization is pretty good, but Vishal-Shekhar have done better work. Still, it is a plus for the movie.

Bottom-Line Tashan has two sides to it-timepass, but silly and repetitive to say the least. The timing of the release, the star cast, the gimmicky nature of the entire movie will assure an okay viewing to the audiences, but nothing more than that.

Source : Cinegoer