I do not know what possessed me to stand nearly two hours worth of bad acting and shoddy stunts but since I took the time to watch Naksha so I may as well review it.It is nothing more than a rip off of the 2004 Hollywood movie ’The Ntional treasure’ I say rip off, and not homage or remake, because no writer from the original movie is credited and no previous screenplay is mentioned. Other than that it’s pretty much the exact same movie.
NAKSHA starts with the search of an archeologist named Professor Kapil Malhotra [Trilok Malhotra], who prefers to die with the ancient map, rather than let it fall into the hands of evil [Jackie Shroff]. Years later, his son Vicky [Vivek Oberoi], aided by a copy of the same map that he comes across by chance, leaves on a journey to discover what it was that his father dedicated his life in searching.
But he is kidnapped by the villain. Help comes in the guise of Vicky’s elder step-brother Veer [Sunny Deol. Vicky is grateful to be rescued, but not too happy about his brother’s mission to take him back.
Now starts a tug of war between the two brothers. Along this journey, they encounter one more ally in Ria [Sameera Reddy]. Pursued by the villain and his forces of darkness, this trio sets off on the journey to unravel the mystery behind the map..
The storyline sounds interesting, no doubt, but its execution by director Sachin Bajaj saddens you.You expect Nksha to be a joyride but the outcome is bland, unexciting and, at times, slapdash.It has style but mish-mash content. It has the required gloss, but lacks soul.
Director has chosen a script that meanders between mythology and modern era, but in the final tally falls into nowhere. The film takes off well and succeeds in arresting your attention right till sunny appears in the scene, which is the turning point of this flick.A few sequences in the first half are truly riveting and keep the audience interest alive.
Regrettably, the film fail in the post-interval portions!You expect the drama to gain momentum in this half.But nothing happens.Even otherwise, the second half has a plenty of unpalatable sequences. But the one that takes the cake is the way Jackie is eliminated.
If direction is terrible, the script Bajaj has chosen is half-baked. Besides a faulty screenplay , the placement of the songs is faulty.The songs pop up without valid situations, acting as speed-breakers in the process. The only saving grace in this half is the rafting sequence which is breath taking.
Music is of a mixed variety. Barring ’MERI AANKH LAD JAA, the remaining numbers are just about okay.Cinematography is awesome. The sets are imaginative. Editing is loose. The stunts are pulsating, especially the CAVE fight in the climax.
Sunny is good in a restricted few sequences only and that’s thanks to a substandard screenplay. Sameera has no role to talk of. Vivek’s comedy falls flat but it is Jacky who steals the show with a fantastic performance.
Naksha does not meet the gargantuan expectations generated from a film of this magnitude Disappointing.