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The visual splendour of the sea has never been captured before in any Indian film like it is in Blue. The opening reels of the film will have a viewer’s mouth agape with awe and beauty of the water world, caught on camera brilliantly by underwater cinematographer Pete Zuccarini, who has ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ to his credit.

But a sinking feeling begins to set in as ‘Blue’ steers into the second half and one notices that between the numerous stunts, both on land and under water, there’s hardly any depth or grip in the story to keep you glued to ‘Blue’. Thankfully, there is Akshay Kumar, once again working his charm with that flashy gummy grin of his. And, of course, there is Lara Dutta in those eye-popping bikinis to kick the hormones amid all the adrenaline rush….Enough of what one can expect for the cost of ticket and time spent on this aqua-adventure thriller.

Much of ‘Blue’ is set over land, in Bahamas. Aarav (Akshay Kumar) and Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) are good friends who bond over fishing and boxing. Aarav, who is rich and looking to be richer, seems particularly interested in a sunken ship called ‘Lady in Blue’. Why? Because it carries a treasure lost in 1949 when the ship sank on its way from England to India.

Before one wonders that how on earth did a ship from England to India ended up going down in Bahamas (which is way far off), one sees that Sagar has some emotional strings attached to the sunken ship. He won’t go there for any temptation, any except brotherly love.

Which brings us to Sam (Zayed Khan), Sagar’s younger brother, who’s left the home and is flaunting his attitude and bike-speeding skills in Bangkok. He gets into a mess with a local mafia don (Rahul Dev) and flees back to his brother Sagar in Bahamas.

From then on, Sagar is pushed into a set of situations where he’s got no option but to go looking for the sunken treasure trove with Aarav and Sam.

In this adrenaline burst of macho men, speedsters, and deep sea divers who swim with sharks, some glamour and titillation is thrown in in the shapely forms of the bikini-clad Lara Dutta and deadly-looking Katrina Kaif. There’s also Kylie Minogue, the Aussie pop icon, chiggy-wiggying with Akshay in a club song.

But what’s missing is a nice and tight story that could make the movie work besides its action, stunts and glamour. Pardon the little spoiler but the whole hunt for the treasure is justified in the end by a flimsy reason about preserving the family honour.

Watch the film for Akshay, who rocks once again. Sanjay Dutt looks tired, Lara Dutta hot. Zayed Khan does better than what we’ve seen from him in the past. Rahul Dev has a lengthier role than Katrina who’s there only for a few minutes.

Debutant director Anthony D'Souza, also the co-writer of screenplay, makes a fine debut but leaves a lot to be desired. If he had a tighter story and believable reasons to justify the motives of the characters in ‘Blue’, the film could have been an absolute delight and an edge-of-the-seat experience.

Such as it is, ‘Blue’ is still worth a dive.