Jasmine, if you ask my choice for the worst movies of the decade, then Blue will figure prominently in that list. Primarily for the reason that it’s a film that promised the ocean and a creepy worm streaked out of the oyester instead of a pearl. At the crack of the intermission, one asked-out-loud, what’s this! And the atrociously insipid climax strengthened your belief that Anthony Desouza took you for an inglorious ride that may very well put you to sleep.
Blue is Luck Part 2 where tame sharks coyly hover around Sethi Ji (Sanjay Dutt) and Sarkaar (Akshay Kumar) as they go for treasure hunting in the deep blue-green sea. Yes the big fishes surreptiously encircle a lost-n-coveted ship Lady In Blue but when the hunters sneak inside, they face no resistance from the giant killers. Akshay jumps in the sea on his bike and would-you-believe-it, the air in his bike’s tyre serves as oxygen for him in the bed of the storm hit ocean. Guys, there are many such incredulous bloopers that make you startle with disbelief.
Mayur Puri’s dialogues are the cheesiest bits of lines that you’d have heard in a long time. The conversations between Akshay, Sanjay and Zayed are so childish at times that it seems, why-the-hell can’t such seasoned actors refuse mouthing silly-inane lines. The story is so simplistic that you know the answer to the mystery all the way. Also, you can easily guess with whom Katrina Kaif will finally hook up.
It will also go down as one of the worst films of Sanjay Dutt. In this supposedly slick film, his bloated-beyond-repair persona is an oddity. As he romances oomph-personified Lara Dutta, it looks like an incestuous relationship (he looks like her father). Anthony also reserves Sanju for some of the silliest lines-n-moments. As Rahul Dev and his gang of men attack Sanjay and Lara, Dutt prefers to wear his shades/glares before he takes position to start retaliating. Unintentionally hilarious.
Akshay Kumar will repent doing Blue. He looks suave, super fit and is charming too. But his entire character graph is topsy turvy. The reasoning for his actions in the climax are bizarre and very unconvincing. Since one expected less from Zayed Ali Khan, he churned out a decent performance although he doesn’t have much to do except wrooming off on his bike now-n-then. Lara Dutta looks delectably sexy but she has nothing to do except looking good. You may not like Chiggy Wiggy as a song but it works as a well shot video. Songs, in general, don’t really fit into the story.
Laxman Utekar’s cinematography is one of the best ever seen in Indian cinema. The manner in which he has shot the beautiful marine life is simply brilliant. Resul Pookutty’s sound design, as expected, is terrific. You can literally Feel the waves splashing you in all its fury. Choice of Bahamas as the location for the film was a master stroke. It looks as virgin as the prettiest girl in a man’s fantasy. But the problem is that in spite of being technically superior, the film fails miserably as the pathetically minimal attention to storyline deprives you as a viewer of any plausible reason to sit through it. For the sea life, well there’s always National Geographic. Right!
Debutante director Anthony Desouza built up a mamoth hype around his film. He seems to have done his marketing right but if only he had spent a bit of time on thinking up a decent story then his audience wouldn’t have felt cheated.
Blue is a film that will disappoint you as a viewer. Get drowned at your own risk.