WATER BABIES: Lara Dutta and Sanjay Dutt play with dolphins in the deep in a scene from the highly successful adventure movie Blue

There was a clash of three big-name movies at the box office this year - All The Best, Main Aur Mrs Khanna and Blue, which has thus far been declared the most success-ful of the three releases. The slick action adventure is also a first for Bollywood and marks the arrival of another talented director, Anthony D' Souza.

THE STORY:

The film revolves around three characters, the wealthy and arrogant Aarav (Akshay Kumar), his friend, Shetji (Sanjay Dutt), and Shetji's younger brother Sam (Zayed Khan) who flees from Bangkok to the Bahamas when he has a nasty encounter with the Mafia. When more tragedy strikes and someone is kidnapped, the brothers, with the help of Aarav, go in search of sunken treasure that was once being carried by the ship "Lady In Blue". In the process, some old wounds are opened and a game of deception begins.

DIRECTION:

Movies like Blue have been made numerous times in Hollywood, which means it has a fresh appeal to the Bollywood audiences. But the fresh and stunning "look and feel" has to be credited to D'Souza, who proves he is a force to reckon with. The underwater scenes are visually brilliant and the story packs a punch for most of two hours running time. However, it is the climax that lacks the expected energy and excitement.

PERFORMANCES:

Though credit has to be given to the lead stars for venturing into new territory with the action and underwater thrills, they all give competent perfor- mances. Akshay Kumar has done simi- lar work in Ajnabee, while it's good for Zayed Khan to be appreciated in a role that suits him perfectly. Sanjay Dutt is reliable as usual, while Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif don't get much scope.

WHAT I LIKED:

There's lots to enjoy in Blue, inclu- ding the bike scenes, and, yet again, the beauty of the marine life is captured in fine splendour, and gives feeling that the viewer is enjoying a trip to the aquarium. One also can't help but like Kylie Minogue groove with Akshay Kumar in the hit song Chiggy Wiggy.

VERDICT:

This is one of Bollywood finest adventure movies ever made and will surely set the trend for more to follow. Does the movie live up to the all hype? Absolutely!