8 x 10 Tasveer

Plot

Jai Puri (Akshay Kumar) is a forest ranger in the woods near Alberta, Canada. Jai lives in a cabin with his girlfriend Sheila (Ayesha Takia Azmi), but has been estranged from his parents, Jatin (Benjamin Gilani) and Savitri Fakri (Sharmila Tagore). Jatin is the CEO of a privately held Canadian oil company, Canoil.

Jai has a supernatural 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. He tries to use this gift to help people, despite the risks to his own body. He 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 (Anant Mahadevan); longtime friend and lawyer Anil (Girish Karnad); and Adit (Rushad Rana), Jatin's surrogate son. Eccentric former cop Hapibulla "Happi" Pasha (Jaaved Jaaferi), who suffers from OCD, believes Jatin may have been murdered, and that everyone on the boat at that time may have had a 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. He 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 feels his body gradually weakening from the stress of entering the photo. 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 (Pia Shah), who helps with medical aide to Jai in order to help him find the killer.

Jai enters the photo one last time to find the final set of clues, and is set upon by his now-grown twin, Jeet (also Akshay Kumar) who had been presumed dead but had survived the fall from the cliff to live a hellish and abusive childhood.After Jeet reveals himself, Sheila is shown to have been working with Jeet, betraying her "love" Jai.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 escapes, and attempts to reconcile with his long-lost brother. Touched, Jeet kills Sheila as she fires on Jai, but her shot kills Jeet. At the end, Jai moves in with his mother.

Cast

Production

Following initial delays due to visa and luggage problems, the film's budget increased more than expected. The film was further delayed because of the producers-distributors dispute with exhibitors over revenue-sharing terms and the IPL. The Guild had decided not to release any new films after 3 April, but paying heed to Percept Picture Company's request, decided that the strike would commence after 4 April facilitating the film's 3 April release.

Close to the release of the film, 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 66.7 million given by PPC to T Series bounced giving rise to rumours that the film would not be released 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.

Release

The film was expected to lure audiences to theaters primarily because of a public holiday on 3 April but the film failed to garner much appreciation and opened to a lowly 30%–40% start at major multiplexes across the country. The film was stiffly contested by Fast & Furious at the box office. Particularly in Maharashtra, the film was highly surpassed by Mahesh Manjrekar's Marathi film Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy.

Filmmakers believe that the primary reasons for the film's disappointing run at the box office was the lack of a blockbuster soundtrack 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."

Box office

8 x 10 Tasveer grossed Rs. 12.5 million in five weeks. It was a disaster yet Akshay Kumar commented that the film is one of his favorite films he had done.

Critical reception

The film generally met with mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 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!" 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. 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". Sashi Baliga from the Hindustan Times also gave the movie a 2/5.

Music

The music was composed by Salim-Sulaiman with lyrics by Neeraj Sridhar and Irfan Siddiqui. The American rap artist Bohemia wrote, produced and sung the title song for Akshay Kumar.

The music's 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 solo rap song 'I Got The Picture' does make for an interesting hear".

Atta Khan of Planet Bollywood rated the music 4/10 saying, "The music of 8x10 Tasveer is a huge let down 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".