Luck

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.

Now here's the thing about action films. Most of them aren't particularly smart, but you're willing to overlook that if they make for a dramatic and thrilling experience. The problem with Luck is that it's neither smart nor spectacular. Sanjay Dutt stars as Musa, a gambling kingpin who's made a fortune in human betting. His faithful henchman Tamang (played by Danny Denzongpa) is entrusted the job of travelling the world and recruiting the luckiest people he can find to participate in a Fear Factor-style series of dangerous challenges, while loaded gamblers place bets on them. Lured by the promise of a fat cash prize to the one who survives all challenges, a motley bunch of misfits – including Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Ravi Kissen, Shruti Haasan, Chitrashi Rawat, and a handful of your staple foreign extras from Colaba Causeway – volunteer to jump off helicopters and enter shark-infested waters. Borrowing his premise and key scenes quite liberally from a handful of films including Spanish thriller Intacto, French cult-favorite 13 Tzameti and Hollywood B-movie The Condemned, writer-director Soham Shah delivers a mangled mess of a picture that fails to engage because the characters are all stereotypes and you really couldn't care less if they lost their lives in those dangerous stunts.To be honest, I can think of many reasons why Luck is a dumb film, and chief among them is the fact that there's more bak-bak than dishoom-dishoom, even though it pretends to be an action-adventure. What's worse, every single character in Luck speaks alike, rattling off metaphors, using the third-person and generally dishing out the kind of filmi punchlines that went out in the eighties. The incredibly gifted Danny Denzongpa is saddled with the film's corniest lines including my personal favourite, a dialogue he delivers to a morose Imran Khan. It's priceless, and the film is packed with such gems. The action scenes are all designed to look so cool, there's no nail-biting tension or even a hint of realism when the characters risk their lives in those dare-devil stunts. In all fairness, only one sequence grabs your attention – the film's opening set-piece in which Sanjay Dutt and a handful of others run blindfolded across railway tracks, dodging oncoming trains is a scene to behold. Constructed from a screenplay that relies too heavily on coincidences to take the narrative forward, Luck is ultimately a tiring watch. Of the cast, only Ravi Kissen succeeds in making a real flesh-and-blood character out of his loosely written part, and Mithun Chakraborty and Chitrashi Rawat do the best they can with their half-baked roles. Imran Khan can't rise above the flawed material which doesn't allow him scope to do more than arch his brows, and camera-friendly newcomer Shruti Haasan delivers dialogue with deadpan expressions. Yet it must be said that at least each of them tries. Unlike Sanjay Dutt, who sleepwalks through his scenes again, without making the slightest visible effort to contribute anything of consequence to the film. Luck is often unintentionally hilarious for the clunky dialogue, and particularly for the ridiculous climax scene which is unquestionably the silliest you've seen in years. Indeed only a stroke of good fortune could save this one.

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".