2 Stars (out of 4)

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“A man inherits a magical camera” doesn’t sound like a promising movie premise. But Aa Dekhen Zara is, at its core, an action movie that uses the magical camera as a catalyst to jump start the plot.

Struggling photographer Ray (Neil Nitin Mukesh) inherits a camera from his inventor grandfather. The camera has the ability to photograph the future. By setting the camera’s date dial to a future date, Ray can see what the subject of the photo will be doing on that future date at the same time of day that the photo was originally taken. A date and time stamp in the corner of each photo helps Ray keep track of future events.

Once Ray figures out the mystery of the camera, he does what any reasonable person would do: he uses it to win the lottery. Things go reasonably well until other people figure out what the camera is capable of. Eventually, one of Ray’s photographs shows an image of a death he must prevent — as seems to happen in every script where the main character can see the future.

Though the major plot points of the movie’s first few acts are completely predictable, the way Ray ultimately tries to change fate is clever, adding an element of originality to a tired premise.

Mukesh and Bipasha Basu — who plays Ray’s girlfriend, Simi — give believable performances that make it easy to accept the magical camera’s existence in a world that is otherwise totally normal. Aa Dekhen Zara is fairly violent, so it may not be appropriate for children. But, with a run time of only two hours (short by Hindi-film standards), you’ll save some money on hiring a babysitter.