You tend to expect the moon when a keenly-anticipated film hits the marquee. And if the film is produced by an actor's production outfit, with the leading music company as partners, the expectations are enormous, gargantuan, gigantic.

LUCKY, directed by debutante Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, is amongst those films that is expected to bail the film industry out of its crisis. With millions invested in the enterprise, a lot is at stake for sure.

LUCKY has its share of plusses and minuses…

You do encounter roadblocks as you embark on the journey called LUCKY, but despite the obstacles [in the first half specifically], the final outcome is fulfilling enough.

Mercifully, LUCKY works primarily because of four factors -
 

• Breath-taking locales of Russia. The film makes a tremendous visual impact.
   
• Adnan Sami's music. The mellifluous tunes linger in your thoughts even after the show has concluded.
   
• Fresh pairing. The on-screen chemistry between Salman Khan and Sneha Ullal is endearing.
   
• Vibrant action [Mahendra Verma, Sergei, Oleg]. You really don't mind the gun-shots and blasts, for a change!

Most importantly, LUCKY heralds the arrival of two talented names - Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru. Yes, the duo falter in the writing department [the screenplay could've been taut and the dialogues classier], but the impact they create in the post-interval portions deserves praise.

Set against the romantic and majestic backdrop of St. Petersburg, LUCKY is a tale of love that brings together two people who probably wouldn't have met if not destined.

Lucky [Sneha Ullal] is the quintessential dreamer - soft, beautiful and gentle. Her one big belief is that if you search from the bottom of your heart, you will find not just the rainbow, but also the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.

One fine morning Lucky is riding to school, praying that she clears her test, scheduled on that date. But her journey to school becomes her desperate journey of survival.

Caught unawares by an unexpected wave of insurgency in St. Petersburg, Lucky tries to reach for safety. As dread and fear overtake, she meets a stranger, a fellow countryman Aditya [Salman Khan], who's smart, wicked, charming.

They have nothing in common. She's excessively naïve and he blasé. They are bound together by just one common goal - to reach home safely.

And now begins an unforgettable journey, from burning highways and moldy cemeteries to abandoned theaters and icy snowdrift. A journey where violence and tragedy stalk them constantly…

As they march through savage ambushes and the icy wilderness of a foreign land, they discover the limit of their endurance. Amidst all commotion, an Intelligence guy, Colonel Pindidas Kapoor [Mithun Chakraborty], helps them reach home.

It's common knowledge that a love story works if and only if it's high on emotional quotient. And the moments linger in your memory. LUCKY walks into your heart gradually!

The film starts off well, but the story comes to a screeching halt the moment Salman and Sneha find themselves stranded in a cemetery. The conversations between Salman and Sneha at this juncture are dull and boring, which is a glaring flaw from the writing point of view. The grip is clearly missing!

But the pace picks up gradually in the post-interval portions. And it gets all the more engrossing the moment Salman and Sneha are held captives by the terrorists. From thereon, right till the finale, LUCKY goes higher and higher on the graph.

If Radhika and Vinay score as technicians - the film wears a Hollywoodish look all through - they don't deserve as many marks as writers. From the writing point of view, Mithun looks more like a buffoon than an intelligence officer. Also, you often wonder how Mithun reaches the right place at the right time - there're no explanations offered!

Besides, what is the idea behind making the characters talk in Russian to a large extent? Fine, it has to look authentic, but sub-titles for such sequences are a must. How do the makers expect the Hindi-speaking audiences to fathom what's being discussed time and again?

Even the dialogues [Milap Zaveri] are pedestrian at times and oft-repeated at places. The dialogue writer is at a loss while penning some mushy, romantic, sensitive one-liners.

Despite the hiccups, Radhika and Vinay have handled most parts of this 'offbeat' love story well. Every frame looks well worked upon and the two principal performances are worth noting.

Adnan Sami's music is soul-stirring. 'Jaan Meri Ja Rahi Sanam', 'Sun Zara', 'Lucky Lips', 'Chori Chori' and 'Shayad Yehi To Pyaar Hai' are tunes that you'd want to hum again and again. The impact of the music is elevated thanks to the lavish picturizations. Cinematography [Sudeep Chatterjee] is award-worthy. The locales of Russia enhance the impact to a major extent. Background music [Monty] makes a valuable contribution as well.

Salman Khan goes over-the-top in the first few reels, but he delivers a knockout performance in the second half. Looking dapper [as always!], the actor handles the emotional part with amazing maturity. Sneha Ullal is photogenic, acts confidently and most importantly, looks the character - a school girl. Her sequences with Salman, in the post-interval portions especially, are cute.

Mithun Chakraborty does not deliver. His portions seem forced in the screenplay. Kader Khan is wasted. Vikram Gokhale, Navni Parihar and Ravi Baswani are adequate.

On the whole, LUCKY works for the aforesaid four reasons [fresh pairing, soul-stirring music, vibrant action and breath-taking locales]. And with terrific promotion undertaken by T-Series, besides no major opposition for the next two weeks as well as commencement of summer vacations, LUCKY should keep its investors in the plus, from the business point of view.