Most hindi movies which have been "inspired" by hollywood movies, dont acknowlege the fact and well...dont do so well. Here is one movie that has been publicised as an official remake of "The Italian Job" and to be honest: Abbas-Mastan have done a pretty decent job.
The movie is a classic hollywood style story with a villian (Vinod Khanna as Dada) trying to turn for the better because of his daughter (Sonam), A master thief (Abhishek Bachan) who wants do a big job and retire, his girlfriend(Bipasha) whom he meets every six months to do a robbery and then part ways. (Sonam (Naina) is, as they would have you believe a Masters in Computer Science (and can type with manicured long nails!!!! amazing) who is co-opted into undertaking a big heist (Gold worth 10,000 crores). The job is similar to the one in The Italian Job. Steal gold when it is in transit with multiple variables (Decoy trucks, unbreakable locks, hundreds of security men, secret passwords blah, blah, blah ...) Basically the message is that its an almost impossible job to pull off.. but the team comprising of Abhishek, Sonam, Bipasha, A explosive expert called "Behera" (Sikander Kher), a failed actor and successful makeup artist (Omi Vaidya), A master illusionist (Bobby Deol) and a computer hacker (NN Mukesh as "Spider") pull off the seemingly impossible job with military precision in Murmansk.
The twist in the tale is that some members of their team dont want to share to loot and double cross them. The second half is full of one upmanship and betrayals that would make John Le Carre proud. The basic story now is to recover the stolen gold from the double crossers (here the Italian Job style robbery is almost played out to perfection).
Abbas-Mastan are known for their action flicks and they dont disappoint. The movie is fast paced, with only song (below par) providing some distraction (not needed). The stunts are excellent (the train robbery is superbly shot), acting is good in parts(Abhishek is competent but looks detached sometimes, NN Mukesh is believable as a baddie- he is a natural), Bipasha is hot..but not a very believable thief. Sonam is just not believable as a hacker and Johnny Lever as a car dealer and mechanic is just so-so and not very funny. Direction is good and the pace of the film is fast...redeeming points. However, something's lacking- The thrill is not there. Maybe we have become too blaise or cynical.
Bottom line - Players is a decent flick and makes for a decent watch as the first film of the year. Abhishek deserves a hit and I hope for his sake this film is.....:). I would rate is 3 out of 5. (I have chosen the standard rating to maintain consistency :) )
To watch the movie online check out this link. Read Taran Adarsh's review here and the Times of India Review here
No comments:
Post a Comment