INSTEP Magzine

From the onset, Tashan was promising to be one of the biggest films of 2008. It was the first time Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan were coming onscreen since their whirlwind romance began. The film was reuniting Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan for the first time in six years – after both of them have come into their own as actors and stars – and coupled with the Yash Raj banner behind it, it all seemed like the film would be a rollicking ride.

Sadly, it is anything but that.
Hindi films are undergoing a massive revamp of sorts where the traditional girl-meets-boy storyline is over and done with. Bad girls and bad boys are the order of the day.

Somewhat similar to this thought process is Tashan. And like most Hindi films, in the heart, even the bad are good, driven by circumstances to be where they are.
Casanova looking for a different girl is Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan) whose meeting with Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor) changes his life.

Kareena has a boss, Bhaiji (Anil Kapoor) who wants to speak English as well as George Bush and Jimmy being an English champion, with full throttle accent is brought in by Pooja.

A couple of murders, millions of rupees and everything unfolds. No one is what they seem to be. Pooja is AWOL, Bhaiji is furious and Jimmy is heartbroken but not the weepy kind but more of the revenge kind.
Then enters Bachchan Pandey (Akshay Kumar), a huge fan of the notorious Bhaiji and along with Jimmy he travels up north and down south in search of Pooja. And so begins their journey…
Tashan as a film however doesn't live up to the hype and expectations.

First, there is Anil Kapoor's language that makes you want to throw things at the screen.
Throughout the film, he speaks in a strange mix of Hindi and English. And while it seemed funny at first, eventually it is just too darn irritating and too hard to even decipher.

And then there is the problem of the story. It is in fact not half bad but Tashan loses all its hope in the execution.

Not enough is said about the characters and what their past is, until the very end and even by then, you just want to get it over with.

The sequences are as unreal as they could've been. The climax when Akshay Kumar beats up maybe 50 or more goons is like a scene from The Matrix. The only problem is, The Matrix had a story and Neo was in fact the one. This guy is just pure, simple human.

And then there is the acting.
For someone as credible an actor as Anil Kapoor, Tashan is a huge disappointment. He has fantastic comic-timing and perhaps this is what director/writer Vijay Krishna Acharya was hoping to achieve when he got Anil Kapoor to perform like a wannabe angrez but really, it's awful to watch him. You can't understand the man.

Saif Ali Khan, on the other hand, is wasted completely. He has little scope in the film. In Race, he was the star and he looked incredible. Here he neither has a decent role nor is he looking remotely cute.
With films like Omkara, Race and Being Cyrus behind him, it is a mystery why he even agreed to do this role.

Kareena Kapoor looks stunning. Her acting, while not at its peak, is pretty good considering the role. But the similarity of her character to her role in Fiza is pretty close. She was a heartbreaker, money was involved and here it is the same deal.

The real star and the saving grace of this film is undoubtedly Akshay Kumar. From the minute he enters the frame, he overshadows Anil and Saif. His lines with Kareena and the chemistry truly works. Part adorable, part buffoon and a warrior to boot, it is Akshay Kumar alone who delivers on the hype that Tashan has caused.

Another saving grace are the locations and the cinematography. The rugged terrain of Greece makes for a beautiful sight and cinematographer Ayananka Bose captures it gloriously.
Some songs likeDil Hara Ray' – shot on Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor – is gorgeous. Sukhwinder Singh is on his best on vocals and it is in this one song along that you get to see Saif and Kareena sizzle together.

Another number that is surely a winner is Dil DanceMarey that features Akshay, Kareena and Saif. It is funny, upbeat in sound and ultimately a true modern Indian flick number in all its sparking colours.
Beyond that, there is nothing that is cool about Tashan. Just like the name, it is all "tashan" and nothing else.
Watch it if you love Akshay Kumar. Otherwise skip it.
-- Maheen Sabeeh

*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME