Luck

It was something that I had not expected at all and therefore was rather taken back by its contents. A Mafia kingpin is obsessed by gambling not in the usual way but with peoples lives and he finds those who are in need of money and puts them through tasks, which can result to be very costly if they decide to leave or aren't able to complete.

Starring Mithun Chakraborthy, Sanjay Dutt, Imran Kham, Ravi Kishan, Danny Denzongpa and Chitrashi Rawat. Shruti Hasan, daughter of Kamal Haasan, is introduced in this, while Rati Agnihotri makes a special appearance. This is directed by Soham Shah and Salim – Suleiman provide the music score.

This is Imran Khan's third film in which he is in action for the second time, the previous being "Kidnap" and he is good in some scenes but unfortunately, his character of a person who needs money, goes from convincing to unconvincing as the movie progresses. Shruti Haasan, making her debut in this, has shown signs of potential talent and also has the looks as well and given some time, she will accelerate in this career. But the two actors who were conspicuous throughout are Sanjay Dutt and Danny Denzongpa but the same cannot be said for Mithun Chakraborthy as his was rather on the weak side and felt that much more could have been done to his character but was not.

Director and writer Soham Shah has tried to introduce a new type concept with its theme of gambling and having the characters play Russian roulette and has added on some stunts, which are not anything new but do look spectacular and nothing else. But somehow, the film does manage to keep the audience stick to their seat and yet it fails to click as no one who is in the right frame of mind would play Russian roulette with their lives even if they need money.

This film just does not appeal or click but is just about watchable but unfortunately is a flop.

Luck starts off a good note. The style, action and execution is heavily inspired from Dhoom 2 and Race. Sadly its ends up as an overdose of it. The storyline is good and indeed had the potential to join the league of yet another stylised thriller.

For starters, the "game show/betting" should have been given more screen time for the concept to sink into the audience. Too much time was devoted for Imran Khan's background and too little for a few.

π Imran Khan:: Attempting for a chocolate-hero-to-action-hero makeover too-much-too-fast. Chaacha Chowdhary's inputs required desperately.

π Shruti Haasan:: Lookswise has an uncanny resemblance to Sonali Bendre. In terms of launchpad, Luck is no-doubt a very bad choice in every aspect. Be it too much of skin show or entry into the storyline just before interval. Kamal Hasan's tag/ genes can be too much of weight to bear and it shows. In terms of performance it feels that she is delivering more than warranted. Nonetheless, has a great screen presence.

π Sanjay Dutt:: Sometime ago, he wanted to attempt sequel to Kaante and perhaps the idea has eventually translated into Luck. There are too many similarities as well - for instance the entire assemble in Kaante is orchestrated by Sanjay Dutt. Anyways, in Luck there was no meat to his character.

π Chitraashi:: The character got dwarfed amongst the biggies.

π Mithun:: His track was a straight-lift from "Major" Kaante. Koi Shaq?

π Ravi Kishen:: Desperate attempt to copy Anthony Hopkins, albeit failed one.

π Danny:: Passable.

π Rati & Rupa Ganguly hardly had any presence.

Mr. Renzil D'Silva (Rang De Basanti), you were absolute let-down.

Soham, it obvious that you failed to learn "all-that-it-takes" from the master.

PS:: There is no normal sentence in the movie, every character barks "dialogues".

Luck has an impressive star-cast full of talented actors--established and new--whom we don't get to see too often. The movie has a unique, twisted storyline where Sanjay Dutt plays a don who runs an underworld betting organization that puts money on certain people's luck. These people have been hand-picked from around the world based on their "luck," which uncannily puts odds in their favor in major tasks, challenges, obstacles, or games. Players get a high gambling on the lives of these "lucky elite" who participate in suicidal tasks.

The film's USP is definitely its amazing action sequences. What is even more surprising is that the stars did actually perform several of the stunts themselves. Skydiving, swimming among shark-infested waters, and running on a train are just some of the beautifully captured scenes in marvelous African locales. Cinematography and special effects are great. Music is quite good too, accompanied with nice videos.

Luck had every element in it to be a good watch, but it fails big time. The plot is good, it should have been written well. Actors were great in the movie, but then also it does not lives up to expectation.

World knows Imran Khan is a horrible actor. But why does he want to prove it to the world with the worst possible manner ? Shruti Hasan's Hindi is just as great as her father's(pun intended), no big deal. But did she read the script as if it was a zombie movie ? And of course, there's Sanjay Dutt. I get the feeling this movie was made to give incumbent captain of the Indian Cricket Team an identity crisis.