A look back at Nagesh Kukunoor’s ambitious suspense thriller 8×10 Tasveer, which starred Akshay Kumar, as it turns 16. We also hear from the director about the challenges of making this film and much more.
No wonder the director sent off an e-mail before the film’s release requesting that the suspense not be revealed in the reviews. The plot of 8×10 Tasveer unravels with such elegant dexterity that you are tempted to spill the beans. However, doing so would be a crime worse than the multiple murders attempted and achieved in this understated, gently violent, and subtly tongue-in-cheek movie.
Normally, Indian whodunits are so hysterical in tone that you rue the day the Dolby sound was invented. But Nagesh Kukunoor’s narrative uses sound to create a delectable and subtle distinction between crime and lyricism. The characters move through a labyrinth of heightened luxury. Canada’s sun-kissed lakes and valleys open up a vista of narrative possibilities, some realised, many unexplored. Either way, the plot obtains its bridled energy from the director’s clear and present understanding of the danger that could underline the most beautiful and desirable surfaces. All you have to do is scratch.
Kukunoor definitely knows the finest suspense creators of celluloid—from Alfred Hitchcock to Brian de Palma to Manoj Night Shyamalan. In these masters, Kukunoor discovers his magic and metier. He converts the history of the whodunit into a crackling currency of characters and plot twists that make you in the audience touch the goings-on without really embracing them.
A perfunctory attitude underlines the storytelling, creating within the high level of aesthetics a murky interior where knives are used to cut the human body rather than succinct meat on the baroque dining table. The supernatural element is used with a delicious and devilish delicacy. Believe what you will, says the director. But you have to admit that there are times when logic simply takes a backseat.
Providentially, Kukunoor keeps the supernatural element on a believable scale. Having Akshay Kumar to go into intermittent premonitory bouts helps. Akshay doesn’t fight the tides of improbability. He goes with the flow, riding the waves with a twinkle-eyed, ever-grin, sometimes grim graciousness that allows him to get real without forfeiting his heroic image.
When Akshay is not busy being self-righteous or cocky, he is very likable in this film. Without revealing the climax, it would be appropriate to say here, more than anywhere else, the gripping elements of noir cinema kiss the masala conventions of Hindi cinema in 8×10 Tasveer. It’s a heady brew cooked at an even temperature that reaches the boiling point without bubbling over.
Kukunoor is unarguably an adept storyteller. His triumph with the whodunit is manifested in delicate details that draw inspiration from the masters of the murder mystery and yet redefine the culture of filmed crime in a language that is derived from the director’s own sensibilities.
The film could have made its end-game a little less wedded to Hindi cinema’s formalistic conventions. But the concession to commercialism doesn’t compromise the suspenseful equilibrium of a canvas where a family photograph speaks a thousand words.
The film’s quiet, restrained rhythm of expression is palpable. You can’t miss the artery of understatement even when that gloved hand with the knife gleams on the polished exterior. That is when we begin to see what the film wants to do. It takes the whodunit into a land of murderous silences.
Greed underlines the crime. But the director is not greedy. He refrains from reaching out for all the armoury of the suspense genre. For telling us that less can be more, even in a whodunit, Kukunoor and his leading man must be applauded.
Recalling the experience, Kukunoor says, “The most frustrating thing about shooting the film was when the first Canadian schedule went awry. The rest of the shooting was badly affected. In fact, all of us were badly affected. Akshay had clearly set aside 40 days for the Canadian schedule, whereas we actually shot for just around 17 days. This wasn’t a situation conducive to a happy work atmosphere. Akshay was booked throughout the year, and he kept making the time as and when he could. I am not used to working this way. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it. We just played the catch-up game throughout. I can say many things, but I’d rather let you watch the film. His comic space is not my cup of tea. I was very clear I wanted a big star for 8X10. I was also clear I wanted the non-comic Akshay Kumar. He was the first actor we approached, and he agreed. And to his credit Akshay was a thorough professional on location. John Abraham during Aashayein was exactly the same. No khit-pit. Both would work and go home. To get a performance out of them was my responsibility.”
The director, however, had to face problems during the Canadian schedule when the stunt director turned out to be a bit of a fraud. Kukunoor decided to direct some of the stunts himself. “We were conned. We had selected a stunt director who turned out to be a stuntman. The local Canadian agents, a couple called Raj and Bina, messed up on everything. It was a complete disaster. I did a few stunt scenes. And I’ve never had more fun. Just like when I directed a dance number for the first time during Bollywood Calling. The next big schedule in South Africa had a full-blown action director, Sham Kaushal. He’d done the action in Slumdog Millionaire. And I couldn’t have chosen better. My action sequences were finally in place.”
