Players follows a typical structure. The protagonists work out a plan, antagonists are revealed in flashbacks, and the confusion about who’s the actual bad guy. [break]
Sadly this hide and seek game is no longer interesting for the audience with Abbas Mustan’s sub plots now becoming routine. Anyone who’s watched films from this banner will recognize the suspense element. It’s disheartening that the most sought after director in this genre of the present Indian cinema fails to surprise or convince the audiences.
Also, the film sometimes comes off a bit tele-serial like; watch how after every bang moment, each actor’s face is shown for reaction. The editor Husain Burmawala could have made the flick so much tighter.
It’s not just the directors, even the actors have done no wonders.
Abhishek Bachchan is Charlie, a high profile master thief, who in the very first scene steals an ultra expensive diamond necklace from Amsterdam. He has friends around the world who make a living off high profile robberies, one of them being (Raj) Aftab Shivdasani who is killed by the Russian mafia.
Now, Raj has been eyeing a huge quantity of Romanian gold, surrendered to Russia during the Second World War. The present day Russia, in order to improve relations, decides to return the Gold to Romania.
He asks Charlie to do the job but with a warning--the job can’t be done alone. It is here our Charlie forms his team choosing his players. (Note how each of the player uses a Samsung phone and Apple’s products: Macbook, I-pad and I-pod. Thank god for the Players staying true to The Italian Job’s use of Volkswagen beetle instead of a Tata Nano. We do see Nano though!)
Sonam Kapoor, as a computer savvy daughter of Victor (Vinod Khanna), looks ravishing. Her hair, her clothes (she owns at least a dozen denim jackets), her jewelry everything looks custom made. Every time she appears it’s almost like she got a makeover at some world class salon. If only she had put in as much effort into her acting she wouldn’t look like a showpiece.
Bipasha Basu (Riya) stands neck to neck in the good looks factor. A bikini scene to con a South African, a wired dance in a club to entice a Russian and the amazing capability to steal masterpieces (exquisite paintings) are her skills. She is in an on-again-off-again relationship with our hero. While in love, her eyes are full of tears and she can sacrifice the world for her love, but, out of it, she is one big player!
Although the character is that of a womanizer, Neil Nitin Mukesh is probably the best thing to happen to this movie. As the worlds best computer hacker, spider, he is an important player of team. The make up on his flawless white skin, sometimes looks odd but you’ve got to give him credit for being the best actor in the movie.
Bobby Deol’s (Ronnie) sad role is made even sadder by the fact that he does not have much to do. A couple of dialogues keep his role from being a cameo but in whatever little he is asked to do he doesn’t disappoint.
Sikander Kher (Bilal) and Omi Vaidya (Sunny) try providing comic relief while giving out messages on India-Pakistan relations. Johnny Lever, as a car mechanic with a foreign Ramu kaka and a foreign wife who carries out Satya Narayan Puja, is funny at times.
Pritam’s music only makes the film worse. The songs come out of nowhere and none of them are hummable.
The plus point of the film is the cinematography. Ravi Yadav, the cinematographer has proved his capabilities adapting to various locations from India’s Goa, to New Zealand’s Wellington, and to Russia’s Siberia. The man deserves a pat for making the film, which has a weak script and plotline, look good.
All in all the film offers some excitement, but a lot of waywardness. The plot twists and turns but the added spices might sometimes come off as a bit dim-witted.
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