The highlight of the film - and what Govind Nihalani always seems to excel at - is cinematography. Mr. Nihalani’s strength lies in images. He is able to take a relatively average-looking heroine (Tabu) and present her as ethereal with his brilliant sense of photography. The shots of Ajay Devgan singing interspersed with images of Tabu's face are simple yet stunning. Even the action sequences throughout the film are shot in a very slick manner.

The script falters. Although the dialogues are brilliant, the story just limps never really moving forward to take you on a journey. There are several extraordinary scenes - most featuring conversations between Suman and Ishaan or Sunny and Ishaan - but lacking flow. And the randomly scattered songs don't help the disjointedness of the film.

Performances from all sides here are first rate. Ajay Devgan is playing his usual angry/confused young man, but he does it too well leaving us no space to complain. The versatile Rahul Bose (formerly of "English August" and "Bombay Boys" fame) makes an impressive mainstream debut and possesses the perfect unconventional look for the part. Tabu is Tabu - intense when she speaks; just as intense when she is silently breaking down on a street sidewalk. She looks gorgeous throughout the film. Where she really surprises us is by considerably improving her dancing skills. She executes the bharat natyam sequence very well. And in "Rang De" - Tabu hints at the fact that she might just be in the league with Sridevi and Madhuri. Newcomer Nethra Raghuraman does not have a whole lot to do other than show some skin. She lacks charm and personality, but has one golden performance moment in her final scene. A.R. Rehmans music is a sellout though you cant compare it with his previous ventures like Roja and Dil se.

The end of the movie is not exactly an end of the story. But public memory is short and Thakshak is not one which would remain in that for long.