LUCK
This A grade production with A grade actors is ironically cheesy enough to satisfy your B-movie cravings
by Vishal Verma

A Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd Presentation with Studio 18. Released by Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd.

Producer : Dhillin Mehta
Writer- Director : Soham Shah
Screenplay : Soham Shah & Renzil D'Silva
Genre : Action –Thriller
Target Audience : Action buffs in general

Shooting Locations (City & Country) : South Africa
Shooting Studios : Filmcity

Starring

Sanjay Dutt...... Moussa
Mithun Chakraborty...... Retd. Colonel Veer Pratap Singh
Danny Denzongpa...... Tamang Thapa
Imran Khan...... Ram Mehra
Ravi Kissen...... Raghav
Shruti K. Haasan...... Angela
Rati Agnihotri...... Ram's Mother
Chitrashi Rawat...... Shortcut
Snita Mahey

Technical Analysis

Soham Shah (Kaal – a loser) & Ashtavinayak Cinevision (Maharathi – a dud after the success of Golmaal Returns) come up with an idea for a reality show & again echo the concern of quality control in established bollywood production houses.

The movie is written and directed by Soham Shah, ‘Luck’ premise is very loosely based on ‘The Running Man’ which inspired ‘The Condemned’, sharing the "last man standing" theme bollywoodised with gambling, kismet & romance.

Fortunately, the film is visually riveting enough to make you forget its absence of originality. But the action takes its own sweet time. Soham wastes the opportunity to crack a punching deal at the B.O. & dodges on & on by wasting time in character establishment & that too without much conviction, only Ravi Kissen as Raghav & Sanjay as Moussa get their share of sensationalism. The other players are drearily established. Wasting time in plunging you right into the action & by the time the first casualty occurs its popcorn time outside the exhibition area.

Sadly, this action –thriller (as said in the promotion) plight doesn,t end here, it then starts getting lost in the thanda romance angle between Imran (disappoints, humble suggestion - stop studying start acting) & Shruti ( too early to comment, had nothing much to do, needs a proper opening) Still, Soham manages to please a certain section of the gallery Courtesy: Sanjay & Danny. Both do a brilliant job and of course have a superb screen presence especially Sanjay. The surprise is Ravi Kissen who impresses & his antics may go well in the Bhojpuri pockets.

Those who expect showdown between the three veterans Mithun Da, Danny & Sanjay will be disappointed. Despite the dwindling execution of a marvelous thought, the dialogues which are actually restructured idioms, the cheesy action sequences, the eccentric comic relief (the heart at the wrong side thingie ) this campy B-movie adds up to a slumming cinematic experience.

Very much like a cinematic explanation of the reasonably popular reality series - ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’.
Tech aspects are solid enough. Production values are first rate. Lense job by Santosh Thundiyil is attractive. Editing is jerky mostly in the end. Musically nothing much to talk about. 

The movie gets 2 out of 5.

One for the action which will impress the B- movie followers.
One for Sanjay, Danny, Chitrashi, Ravi, & Mithun Da.

The Story

Luck follows the tale of mafia kingpin Musa (Sanjay Dutt) who has one obsession; to revolutionize the betting industry. For him life is a gamble, and what better way to skew the odds than play with those with luck on their side! Luck is a gripping saga with different characters from different parts of the world, each with Lady Luck in their favour. With millions at stake, how far will each of them go in courting danger and deceit?

Promotion

Actually, the recovery of the movie is from the interiors, B & C centers. The AXN, Fast & Furious Metro audience will not find anything engaging in this action thriller. 
As luck would have it, ‘Luck’ promotion is surprisingly more concentrated towards the Metro audience. Music is also not helping either.

Business Analysis
This action thriller from an A –grade production house has enough material to please the audience from B & C centers, hindi belt & those areas where AXN or other action channels, reality shows are not available. Metro auds will not be enthusiastic enough to discuss this. Careers associated with this film will not have much to add to their resume.

Other Credits

Cassettes and CD's on T-Series: Lyricist: Shabbir Ahmed & Anvita Dutt Guptan. Music Director: Salim Merchant & Sulaiman Merchant. Cinematography: Santosh Thundiyil. Action: Allan Amin. Art: Narendra Bhagat. Sound: Hari Dwarak. Media Relations: Parag Desai (Universal Communications). Publicity Designs: Soham Shah. Reviewed at PVR, Phoneix Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai on July 23, 2009.

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