Blue (2009)

Bollywood goes underwater and comes up a winner. Blue is fresh and fulsome, boasting of some great deep sea shots ( by Pete Zuccarini, cinematographer, Pirates of the Caribbean fame), stunning above sea level action sequences, a crackling background music score and sound design by India's two Oscar winners (AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty), a short and engaging reel length that keeps the proceedings pithy, two hot girls (Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif too in a glam guest role) and a whole lot of guy stuff....Like, bare-bodied Akshay swimming with the sharks and stingrays, lean and mean Zayed blasting away on designer bikes, Sanjay Dutt, sadly with a paunch, sparring with Akshay in the boxing ring and the threesome donning their diving gear to discover a hidden treasure in picture postcard Bahamas.

All this, when they are not pumping up the adrenalin with some rumbustious chiggy wiggy with Kylie Minouge who gets to shake a leg to the quintessential bhangra beat too, with our desi Singh is King.

Yes, Blue, touted as Bollywood's most expensive film (Rs 100 crore) dazzles with style more than substance. More than the storyline, it is the action sequences, the chases, the marine splendour and the opulent canvas of the film that gives you bang for your buck. Of course, you do wish the sharks were meaner, the treasure hunt more perilous, the danger more palpable instead of a climax that wraps up tamely. But the underwater ease with which the trio discovers the sunken loot is compensated with some stunning biker mayhem, atop trains, forests and the alleys of Bangkok and the Bahamas. Add to this, some neatly choreographed song-dance sequences, coupled with moodswings between dosti and dushmani amongst the main protagonists and you have a film that keeps the popcorn crunchy till curtain call.

Most of the drama springs from the unpredictable friendship between fisherman Akshay Kumar and his employee Sanjay Dutt who happens to be the best diver in the Bahamas. Is Akshay truly his buddy or does he need his diving skills to unearth a treasure that lies hidden in Lady in Blue, a British ship that sank in 1949 enroute to India? The entire first half is spent by Akshay in cajoling a reluctant Sanjay Dutt to jump into the ocean and retrieve the treasure. But Dutt has a sordid past which precludes him from taking the big leap, until it becomes imperative to do so...He must fish out the moolah to save his errant kid brother, Zayed Khan, from a biker gang that is desperate for its pound of flesh. Needless to say, the happiest person in this troika is Akshay, the archetypal gold digger who believes greed is truly good. Or does he have another motive up his dapper sleeve?

Amongst the lead players, Sanjay looks a bit out of shape, Zayed is fresh and adequate, while Akshay keeps you guessing about his ethical moorings. The girls, Lara and Katrina, sashay down the screen with aplomb, adding the requisite oomph in this high-on-visuals drama. Go, feast your eyes on brawn and cheesecake.