Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

Preceded by a much hyped media campaign, which gave an impression of being perhaps the best ever cola commercial, the latest Thumbs Up commercial is disappointing to say the least.

Expectations were sky high for this latest campaign starring Akshay Kumar that has been filmed on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, the 60-second commercial currently on satellite channels surprisingly lacks the fizz. Reasons are two fold - a) There is too less of Akshay Kumar and b) The action looks fake too with a strong sense of deja vu as there isn't much novelty around the overall car chase sequence.

Most of the Akshay Kumar shots in the promo are in close ups which makes one wonder how much was Akshay's time really involved in the stunts. Secondly, the car sequence is hardly enthralling and doesn't boast of high adrenalin rush that one has seen in earlier Akshay commercials.

Malaysian director Farouk Aljoffrey may have had all the reasons to believe that he had a winner in hands with Akshay in the project. However, by the look of things, it seems he would have to wait for another day!