Starring Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan, and Lara Dutta. In Hindi with English subtitles. Rated PG. Playing at the Empire Studio 12 Guildford and Granville 7 cinemas

Blue proves yet again that a massive film budget is worthless without a good story. This film has all the elements of a Diwali-season blockbuster, with its global sets, impressive underwater filming, and all-star ensemble cast. However, it lacks the most crucial element: any semblance of a script.

The film opens in the Bahamas, where Aarav (Akshay Kumar) is the wealthy owner of a boating company and Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) is his friend and employee. Sagar is an expert diver who may or may not know the location of a ship that sank years ago with a treasure of Indian jewels. When Sagar’s estranged brother, Sam (Zayed Khan), flees Bangkok pursued by a Mafia boss demanding his lost millions, the justification for a treasure hunt is complete.

The rest of Blue consists of mind-numbing motorcycle chases, illogical shootouts, and a series of long underwater sequences in which the three male leads don wet suits and swim around with real tropical fish and CGI sharks.

Unfortunately, there is simply nothing in this film to care about. The dialogue is laughably stilted and the acting is unbelievably bad. While Kumar has never been known to impress, Dutt is capable of better work (see his Munna Bhai films, for example).

Blue leads one to believe that the action scenes were shot first and the story constructed and tacked on later as an afterthought. Indeed, the film ends abruptly, with the plot tied together in a phone conversation. Without any compelling reason to emotionally engage with the film, one is left to ponder more interesting questions, like why a ship en route from England to India would sink in the Bahamas.