What it’s about:
Blue was promoted as India’s first underwater action adventure besides being the most expensive film of all time. Its lavish mounting, non-stop marketing blitz and the combination of Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt has ensured an unprecedented opening at the box-office. If only first-time director Anthony D’Souza had kept aside a fraction of the budget for a sensible script and perhaps then this would’ve truly been a different film. Blue is all about treasure buried deep inside the sea. Aarav (Akshay Kumar) wants to get his friend -cum-employee Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) to help him get the treasure because only he knows its location. But Sagar has bad memories of the sunken ship that carried the booty and doesn’t want to revisit it, till his little brother Sam (Zayed Khan) lands himself in trouble with Gulshan (Rahul Dev). When his girlfriend Mona’s (Lara Dutta) life is also threatened because of this, Sagar has no option but to look for the treasure. And thus begins an underwater adventure, which throws up not just the loot but also lies and secrets.   

What’s hot:
On the face of it, Blue truly has an international feel about it. It’s one of the slickest movies of recent times, Anthony D’Souza gives  the film a larger-than-life look. Right from the thrilling title sequence to the sweeping shots of the Bahamas to the exhilarating stunts, visually, Blue is an awe-inspiring experience. You get your money’s worth of sharks, dolphins and men in scuba suits. The action is impressive, especially the bike sequences. Lara Dutta looks stunning in her sequined bikinis; Zayed Khan displays spontaneity; and Sanjay Dutt, despite a tad overweight, has a remarkable screen presence. Akshay Kumar, with his grey goatee, has the best lines. He uses dark  humor to sketch his character.        

What’s not:
When a film is just over two hours long and still seems burdensome, you know something’s wrong with it. And it’s all because of a lack of a tightened script and a novel screenplay. At the end of it, Blue comes across as a bunch of good-looking scenes put together, devoid of any depth or emotion. Anthony fails to even establish any connection between the characters - be it Akshay-Sanjay or Sanjay-Zayed or Lara-Sanjay, each relationship seems superficial. Sanjay’s refusal to go look for the treasure drags for far too long. And his reasoning is not even convincing. The loopholes are far too many - that’s why all the multiple bike chases, babes prancing in bikinis, blowing houses, guns and Kylie Minogue have limited impact. There’s no emphasis on the dialogues too - Akshay’s repeated ‘sethji’ and ‘sarkar’ routine gets on your nerves after a while. Katrina’s guest appearance makes no impact.

What to do:
Watch it if you’re a die-hard action fan and don’t care much for sense or story.