Nakshatra Review

Milind Soman probably needs to sign any film that comes his way, but Anupam Kher? Nakshatra is a mystery thriller, but the kind that wouldn't look out of place in a Tinkle comic. How they got Kher to come on board, we'll never know, but the members of the crew who're making their debut with this film sure have a ton of favours to repay him.

The movie deals with a museum heist, in which an aspiring young script-writer Ajay (Shubh Mukherjee) is framed. When he's hired by a group of producers to write a film, he weaves a story around the famous "Constellation", a diamond necklace with origins in the Golconda mines, that has just found its way into the local museum.

All evidence of the robbery indeed points to Ajay, and Inspector Gupte (Milind Soman) is hell-bent on throwing him behind bars. Ajay's girlfriend Jiah (Sabina) helps him in his search for the culprits who hoodwinked him into the mess. Jiah, we are told, is a high-flying software executive, with skills that include accessing RTO databases and stamp duty applicant records.

We don't know if this could have managed to be a better film - Nakshatra is a limited-means execution of a rather half-baked, childish script. The story is technology-challenged, and contains the usual ridiculous over-simplification of things like security passwords, "phone-tapping" and museum alarms. Like we said, this is the kind of plot that'd work in the Ajay The Detective series in Tinkle, and not in a film that is not even posing as a kid flick.

There's a bunch of newcomers in the cast, with the hero, Shubh Mukherjee displaying quite a bit of talent and the heroine not clued into the fact that there are tons of acting classes out there on all days of the week. Milind Soman looks tired and haggard, even with all those hi-tension chases and stunts, and Anupam Kher doesn't seem thrilled at all about being in this film in the first place.

Some splendid indoor settings don't make up for the fact that no one's really going to watch this movie unless Salman Khan's personally doling out fitness tips for those who survive it till the end. Rent it and play it at home when you're not in.