Game – Hindi Movie Review

The movie is fast paced and slick but fails to create any real excitement after all the hype generated by Excel entertainment.

The story:

The story centers on Anupam Kher’s character (Kabir Malhotra), the billionaire recluse.  He brings four strangers together atop his island in Samos, Greece by luring them with false promises of mutual benefits and monetary gain to each of them.  The four strangers Boman Irani(O P Ramsay), Abhishek Bachchan(Neil Menon) , Jimmy Shergill(Vikram Kapoor) and Shahana Goswami(Tisha) arrive at the island, they realize that his game plan is to make their lives miserable and land all the men behind bars.  This is all because of the story he reveals of a girl named Maya (Sarah Jane Dias), whose life is intricately connected to each one of them.  Maya is his daughter born to his lover Mallika who was dead.  He delivers a surprise bomb to Shahana that she is the twin of Maya (non-identical) and therefore his daughter as well.

The reason for his revenge was to make the three men suffer for all that they did to his daughter, prior to her death and for it.  He exposes in detail what each one of the characters is in reality (a scheming politician, drug mobster, an actor) and makes them fear for the morrow by saying that he has proof of all his accusations and will hand it over to the vigilance officers the next day.  The movie begins to roll when, the next day, a gun shot sound makes them all run thither, only to discover that Kabir Malhotra is dead.

Seah Agnihotri (Kangana Ranaut) and her vigilance team takes over the investigation of the crime.  Another character in these scenes is his personal assistant Samaina, who reveals the videos taken by Kabir Malhotra of the exposing conversation amongst the guests unintended and him in his library, where he drops the individual and personalized bomb to them.   Soon, Seah receives an order from her superior to drop the case against the three men and allow them to return to their respective lives inspite of the evidence of the video which would not hold out as concrete proof.

Then, the entire focus shifts to Neil Menon, Abhishek’s character, who goes after the other two men and forces them to confess their sins and dying in the process.  A romantic angle becomes clear to the audience in the form of Neil and Maya . Neil is closely followed by Seah who a little later realizes that she has been made a fool of, by her superior officer when it is revealed by Neil, that he is a superior commanding officer in the vigilance department.  Soon, it becomes clear that the answers to the puzzle lie within the will of the dead Kabir Malhotra.  The film then takes its viewers down a really straight road without unnecessary confusion to the murderer or should we say murderer(s) seat.

In the film:

Boman Irani’s character was unnecessarily loud.  Kangana looked like she was doing a spoof on the original role offered to her.  Anupam’s role though very small, was the only one which had a resemblance to its actual.  Even Jimmy Shergill came off okay in the movie. Abhishek, played his role as a suave and slick character and portrayed a new age fit cop/drug dealer.  The romance angle was shown as if the director needed a motive for moving the story forward as it shows Abhishek’s character making a late realization to avenge the death of his lady love a while later.

The first half of the movie really took the audience nowhere, not even on a wild goose chase.  It actually had the potential of being very slow and fluid but also seeming to be fast paced.  The saving grace of the entire flick was the second half of the movie.  The real shadow of the movie, the suspense factor, was explored here which did admittedly keeps the viewer glued to the seat whereby the mind played with the movie as to its “whodunit” premise.  The last suspense scene of the movie was well taken and maneuvered smoothly by Abhishek.

The music is nothing to write home about, apart from “Maine yeh kab socha tha”.  The background scores are heart pumping as befits most thrillers.  Though, the movie is shot in Bangkok, Thailand and Greece, the focus is not on the backdrops.  Kangana’s scenes are really disappointing, what with an actress with as good an acting caliber as portrayed in a movie like “fashion”.  The only thrilling scenes are when Abhishek, is revealed as an undercover cop and the last suspense scene.  If you are looking for adrenalin pumps here, please fasten your seat belts and let your imagination run itself wild.

This movie is very important for Junior Bachchan whose performance seemed to be average; though it could also be blamed on the flick which failed to deliver its actual price.  It fails because it does not match up to its pre-release hype and thereby making it an average flick which is only watch-able for its turn and clarity in the second half.

Cast & Crew:

Banner: Excel Entertainment, Eros International Media Ltd.

Production: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani

Direction: Abhinay Deo

Star-casts: Abhishek Bacchan, Sarah Jane, Kangana  Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Boman Hirani, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sahana Goswami and others.

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Cinematography: Karthik Vijay

Verdict:  Visual treat with a poor content