| Directed by | Nagesh Kukunoor |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Percept Picture Company T-Series |
| Written by | Nagesh Kukunoor |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Ayesha Takia Sharmila Tagore Javed Jaffrey |
| Music by | Salim-Sulaiman Bohemia |
| Release date(s) | April 3, 2009 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | Rs. 40~60 crore[1][2][3] |
| Gross revenue | Rs. 12.25 crore as of 2009-04-18 |
Plot
After a flashback to a Jai Puri as a child, "?in shock at the edge of a cliff as his parents pull him away, the film jumps to the present day, finding Jai now a forest ranger in the woods near Alberta, Canada. Jai lives in a cabin with his girlfriend Sheila, but has been estranged from his parents, Jatin and Savitri Puri. Jatin is the CEO of a privately held Canadian oil company, Canoil. That oil exploration causes environmental damage is a great source of tension between father and son.
Jai has a supernatural or mutant gift: He is able to enter a photograph and vividly experience the events preceding the time of the photograph. Jai is unable to understand or explain this gift, except to recall that it started when he was very young. Jai tries to use this gift to help people (e.g. find people lost in the woods) despite the risks to his own body. Jai can remain in photographs only for a minute, and experiences life-threatening, stroke-like effects afterward.
Jai's father drowns in a boating accident under mysterious circumstances. Jatin was aboard his own boat, the Golmaal, and was surrounded by his wife; his brother, Sunder; longtime friend and lawyer Anil; and Adit, Jatin's surrogate son. Eccentric former cop Hapibulla "Happi" Pasha, who suffers from OCD, and whom Jatin had helped emigrate to Canada and start a life there, believes Jatin may have been murdered, and that everyone on the boat at that time may have had motive. The only clue is an 8x10 photograph of the four men, which Savitri shot a few moments before Jatin fell off the boat and had a hypothermia-induced heart attack.
Jai repeatedly uses his gift to enter the photo and experience the incident through the eyes of the four subjects in it. After each entry, Jai picks up various clues from the viewpoint of the subject. Happi follows up on these clues and tries to string together a theory. But Jai his body gradually weakening from the stress of entering the photograph. As well, Sunder is found hanged, an apparent suicide, and a mysterious party in a black SUV tries to kill Jai and Sheila. Later, someone makes an attempt on Savitri's life. Happi enlists the help of a nurse, Sally, whom he had left at the altar some unspecified time ago, who though resentful of Happi helps administer medical aide to Jai in order to help him find the killer.
After the knife attack on Savitri, Jai enters the photo one last time, at great risk to his weakening body, to find the final set of clues, and is set upon by his now-grown twin, Jeet — who had been presumed dead but had survived the fall to live a hellish existence — and the unfaithful Sheila. During a tussle, Happi arrives at Jai's cabin and tries to help, but Sheila kills him with an axe. Jeet and Sheila dump Happi's body, as well as that of their betrayed confederate, Adit, into the sea, and attempt to do the same with Jai. Jai ingeniously escapes, and attempts to reconcile with his long-lost brother. Touched, Jeet kills Sheila as she fires on Jai, but her shot kills Jeet. Sometime later, Jai moves in with his mother and they put up pictures of the missing son.
Cast
- Akshay Kumar ... Jai Puri / Jeet Puri
- Ayesha Takia ... Sheila Patel
- Sharmila Tagore ... Savithri Puri
- Girish Karnad ... Anil Sharma
- Javed Jaffrey ... Hapibullah "Happi" Pasha
- Anant Mahadevan ... Sundar Puri
- Rushad Rana ... Aadit
- Benjamin Gilani ... Jatin Puri
- Pia Shah ... Sally (nurse)
Crew
- Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
- Production house: Percept Picture Company & T-Series
- Producer: Bhushan Kumar
- Co-Producer: Elahe Hiptoola
- Music: Salim-Sulaiman, Bohemia & Neeraj Shridhar
- Music label: T-Series
- Lyrics: Sameer, Bohemia & Irfan Siddique
Production
Following initial delays due to visa and luggage problems, the film's budget increased more than expected.[5] The film was further delayed too long because of the producers-distributors dispute with exhibitors over revenue-sharing terms and the IPL.The Guild had decided not to release any new movies from April 3 but paying heed to Percept Picture Company’s request later decided that the strike will commence from April 4 facilitating the movie's 3rd April release.[6]
Close to the release of the movie, 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 6.67 crore given by PPC to T-series bounced giving rise to rumours that the film may not release 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.[7]
Response
The film was expected to lure the audience to the theaters primarily because of a public holiday on April 3, but the film failed to garner much appreciation and opened to a lowly 30%–40% start at major multiplexes across the country.[8] The film was stiffly contested by Fast and Furious in the box office. Particularly in Maharashtra, the movie was highly surpassed by Mahesh Manjrekar's Marathi movie Me Shivajiraje Bhonsale Boltoy.[9].
The film holds a 6.3/10 on IMDB based on 151 reviews[10]
Filmmakers believe that the primary reasons for the movie's disappointing run at the box office was the lack of a blockbuster music 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."[11]
Box office
8 X 10 Tasveer grossed Rs. 9.22 crore in its opening week.[12]
Critical Reception
The film generally met with negative reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 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!"[citation needed] 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.[13] 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".[14] Sashi Baliga from Hindustan Times also gave the movie a 2/5.[15]
Music
| 8 X 10 Tasveer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Soundtrack by Salim-Sulaiman, Bohemia & Neeraj Shridhar | |||||
| Released | 16 March 2009 (India) | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 41:58 | ||||
| Label | T-Series | ||||
| Salim-Sulaiman chronology | |||||
| |||||
The music was composed by Salim-Sulaiman. The American rap artist Bohemia produced with Akshay Kumar a music video of the title song. The title song is sung by Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper and it also features J.Hind.
The music 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 sole rap song 'I Got The Picture' does make for an interesting hear".[16]
Atta Khan of Planet Bollyood rated the music 4/10 saying, "The music of 8x10 is a huge letdown 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".[17]
| Tracklist | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Music | Artist(s) | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Nazaara Hai" | Salim-Sulaiman | Vishal Dadlani | 4:19 | |||||
| 2. | "Haafiz Khuda" | Salim-Sulaiman | Mohit Chauhan, Tulsi Kumar | 4:38 | |||||
| 3. | "Aaja Maahi" | Neeraj Shridhar | Neeraj Shridhar, Tulsi Kumar | 4:19 | |||||
| 4. | "I Got The Picture" | Bohemia | Bohemia | 5:05 | |||||
| 5. | "Kuchh Is Tarah" | Salim-Sulaiman | Mohit Chauhan, Tulsi Kumar | 4:38 | |||||
| 6. | "Haafiz Khuda (Remix)" | Salim-Sulaiman | Mohit Chauhan, Tulsi Kumar | 3:26 | |||||
| 7. | "Nazaara Hai (Remix)" | Salim-Sulaiman | Vishal Dadlani | 4:30 | |||||
| 8. | "Aaja Maahi (Remix)" | Neeraj Shridhar | Neeraj Shridhar, Tulsi Kumar | 4:49 | |||||
| 9. | "I Got The Picture (Remix)" | Bohemia | Bohemia | 2:46 | |||||
| 10. | "Kuchh Is Tarah (Remix)" | Salim-Sulaiman | Mohit Chauhan, Tulsi Kumar | 3:24 | |||||
