Tashan has been in news for a long time now. The movie stars Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor in the lead. Akshay Kumar seems to be unstoppable with 4 back-to-back successes in 2007. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are on an all time high after the super success of Race and Jab We Met. Anil Kapoor’s last two movies have been blockbusters (Welcome and Race). The curiosity around Tashan has built up steadily over the past few weeks, major credit of which should go to the star cast. Does it live upto the enormous expectations? Will Kareena sport a bikini? Is it a out-n-out Akshay Kumar movie or does Saif Ali Khan have some part to play? What about the chemistry between Saif and Kareena?

Before the review, let me introduce the characters of Tashan.

Lakhan Singh urf Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor) is a trigger-happy gangster who enjoys gunning down people and speaking English in his own inimitable style.

Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor) is a girl whom you just can’t trust. She doesn’t mind playing with anyone’s feeling to achieve her goal. She uses her beauty and jawani as her main tool to make others dance to her tunes.

Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan) works at a call center but his main job is to flirt with girls. He is not a bad guy but doesn’t mind turning to one just to survive. He is more like a chameleon in his characters. He changes his side just to escape out safe and sound.

Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar) is an electricity stealer. He can climb, jump and fly with the support of just about anything. He can break all bones of the body and the result will always be 100%.

Bhaiyyaji is hoping to sign a big project with some foreign delegates. But just then Pooja with the help of Jimmy steals his money. Pooja abandons Jimmy and runs away with the money. Just then Bachchan Pande comes into the scene. He is appointed by Bhaiyaaji to catch hold of Pooja and get him his money back. In search of money they all go on an adventurous journey across spectacular India that changes the course of their life altogether.

Tashan Review

Tashan is yet another Yashraj movie with a wafer thin and nonsensical storyline. A few stupid twists and turns make the characters look like fools!

Vijay Krishna Acharya, add another name to the long list of below average directors in the Yashraj camp! The first half drags endlessly, its honestly tough to sit through it. Comparatively, the second half is slightly better, thanks mainly to the scenes involving Akshay Kumar.

At most times the change of sets and locations is totally absurd. How can someone travel from extreme North to extreme south of India in just seven days by lorry, jeep, boat or on elephants? Also our characters have traveled from North to South and again back to North in what seems like minutes.

The same goes with the fight scenes too. Although the action sequences are interesting at times, why make it so unrealistic? When will Bollywood learn to create action sequences that look realistic? The strength and flexibility that our Bachchan Pandey possesses and his power to turn even the hardest object into spring to help him jump high, is something that may not even have crossed the minds of Hollywood directors. And seriously how can a normal freaking human being survive, without a single expression on his face, after being electrocuted? Also, the camera angle during most part of the fight scenes is inexcusable; it gives away the magnetism that is usually seen in Akshay Kumar’s stunts.

The placement of songs is bad and they act as speed breakers. Dialogues are bad at most times, Anil Kapoor’s Hinglish is hilarious in the beginning but later it tends to get monotonous and even difficult to understand at times. Music by Vishal-Sekhar is just average. Dil Haara and Chaliya stand out.

Tashan Performances:

Akshay Kumar is the only saving grace of Tashan. He delivers a power packed performance and manages to entertain like he always does. Anil Kapoor is equally good.

Now, what is an actor of Saif Ali Khan’s caliber doing in a movie like Tashan? He has absolutely nothing to offer. Very disappointing!

Kareena Kapoor too has no scope for histrionics. She looks smoking hot in a bikini, although probably a bit too skinny. The chemistry between Kareena – Akshay is better compared to the Kareena – Saif Jodi.

Overall, Tashan is weak in content and quality. The movie is high on Tashan (style), glamour and action but the content is sorely lacking.

At the box-office, the hype and Akshay Kumar’s star power will ensure a huge opening. But there are quite a few things that could go against the movie in the crucial first weekend. The lack of promotion by the makers, Indian Premiere League being the talk of the nation, negative word-of-mouth and the fact that the movie hasn’t released in any multiplex in India..

All said and done, a good movie would succeed against all obstacles, unfortunately Tashan is a major disappointment from Yashraj. This could just go the Jhoom Barabar Jhoom way!

Rating: Avoid!