The story of the movie is no doubt straight from the pages of kids adventure cartoons and comic book series and in that sense holds value for younger viewers. The movie starts off with Professor Kapil Malhotra(Trilok Malhotra)-a archaeologist who... ... comes across an ancient map which holds the secret to a deep and powerful mystery. Another evil archaeologist Baali(Jackie Shroff) too is after the same map, and he corners Professor Malhotra, who gives up his life and ruins the map rather than let it fall into evil hands.
20 years later his son Vicky(Vivek Oberoi) comes across a copy of the same map by chance and leaves on a journey to discover what the secret was that his father died protecting.
Baali too on the other hand has been in search for the map for all of these years, and when he finds out that Vicky has a copy of the map he abducts him. In comes Veer(Sunny Deol) who is Vickys half brother and has been sent by Vickys mother(Navni Parihar) to get him home safe and sound. At first Veer is adamant to send Vicky back home, but once Veer finds out that Vicky is searching for the same secret as their father was and more the fact that Baali is the same man that killed their father, the two brothers team up together on a journey to unravel the mystery that the map contains before Baali does. What is the secret that the “naksha” contains? Do the two brothers succeed in their mission? Or do the evil forces win?
Well in terms of a story, as I said before the movie takes bits and pieces from various adventure films and merged it into one big Bollywood khichdi by takings bits and pieces from the Mahabharat to form the mystery of the Naksha and its secret. The story is rather simplistic and to believe something like this requires the viewer to suspend belief and have a active imagination. However its not the story that’s the problem. Milap Zaveri/Tushar Hiranandanis screenplay is the worst offence ever. What had the potential to be a fairly interesting buddy movie/treasure hunt/revenge actioner turns into a rathe boring and dull affair. The sequence of events neither excite nor interest the viewer and they abound in boring cliché after cliché. I read a lot of reviews stating that this movie contains a lot of good old fashioned “Masala” and in that sense, I guess it does have a certain nostalgic value to it, but that is completely covered up by a horrendous screenplay.
As a director Sachin Bajaj is a disappointment. He had a mammoth budget, big stars and a rather interesting story idea however his execution leaves a lot to be desired for. It is evident that he understands the genre that he is directing well, however his execution is faulted. One must give him credit for taking a relatively complex story for the mystery as such(Mahabharat) and making it easy to decipher for even the common man who is not familiar with the Mahabharat however his direction is so 80’s and clichéd despite being technically slick that it just bores the viewer. As a buddy movie this fails horribly basically because there is just NO chemistry between Sunny Deol and Vivek Oberoi and the two try VERY hard to trying to be funny and charming yet their efforts come across rather embarrassing. I suggest Mr. Bajaj watch KACHCHE DHAAGE which in a lot of ways had a similar story to an extent(two step brothers on an adventure) but where there was a conflict between the two brothers in KACHCHE DHAAGE, here the two brothers have no conflict and they team up for a common “aim” relatively soon after. In terms of a adventure film the movie fails too basically because it is just too predictable and clichéd. The movie just doesn’t connect with the viewer. The action packed scenes however are superbly canned and have a definite nostalgic feel with all the right “masala” elements although the theme of the two brothers taking revenge isn’t explored much at all either. However I do give credit to Sachin Bajaj for trying something relatively NEW and different. He is no doubt a director who had thought of making something quiet “big” and the grandeur of the movie and the manner in which he captures the ambience and aura of a adventure movie is commendable and maybe with a better screenplay next time the man can really impress.
In terms of performances the movie is below the mark.
It has been a while since one saw Sunny Deol in a relatively fresh product and one can say that he is looking better here than he has in some of his previous releases. The role/character doesn’t require any great acting from him at all, and its merely a action vehicle where Sunny Deol goes through the motions and does what he does best-------punch, kick, and blow things up. The few moments of comedy that he is given in the first half seem forced mainly due to the lack of chemistry between him and Vivek. The “Dharmendras punch” lines seem to get tiring after the first time they’re said. What evident here is that Sunny seems at ease in front of the camera in what is obviously a Dharmendra inspired performance, however an actor of Sunny Deols calibre is deserving of a lot more than this!
Vivek Oberoi is downright annoying. After a few hardcore ANNOYING performances with films like KYUN…HO GAYA NA, KISNA, KAAL and HOME DELIVERY I had actually enjoyed his performances in PYAARE-MOHAN and OMKARA specially. However I found Vivek very irritating here and he completely overacts. Vivek has got to realise that he is a utterly CRAP comedian and his comic timing is so atrocious that he gyrates on the viewers nerves. He is just so forced here and once again his cocky and arrogance ruins his performance on every level.
Sameera Reddy should get the Award for “Worst Actress of the Year” or “Most Poorly etched out Character of the Year”. One seriously wonders what made Reddy sign the movie as she barely has a few scenes/dialogues and a couple of songs. Her character has NO relevance at all what so ever to the story and its downright pathetic.
Jackie Shroff is as convincing as ever as the villan and plays his part aptly. He too like Sunny is capable of much better.
Suashini Mulay and Navni Parihar barely leave a mark. Mridula Chandrashekar iam assuming is the scantily clad girl? She has no significance to the movie either and is pathetic though I won’t complain much about her as she has a killer body!
At this juncture I would like to question critics like Taran Adarsh who gave the movie nearly 4 stars out of 5? On what basis? Comments were written by Adarsh like “NAKSHA will prove to be a turning point in Sunny Deols career”?. Comeon..please don't make a fool out of your readers.
Technically the movie does stand out for the most. Vijay Aroras camerawork is seriously breath taking and he captures the dense forrest scenes to the snow capped mountains perfectly as well as really creating the right ambience for the genre of the movie. The action sequence by Allan-Amin are well executed and lavish and with keeping in mind Sunny Deols image.
The art-work and sets are a bit over-the-top and look fake in parts.
Pritams music didn’t gel much with me either. The “JAT YAMLA” number had a nostalgic value as Sunny Deol shakes a leg after a long time, however numbers like YOU AND I and SHAKE IT seem forced and don’t leave an impact.
All up NAKSHA is a movie that seriously fails to entertain the viewer. The movie had a fair amount of potential but a weak screenplay as well as lack of chemistry from the leads and some misguided direction really lets the movie down badly despite technical finesse. Even the most hardcore fans of Sunny Deol may feel cheated with this movie.
Final Rating: * *
