Players reviews

From Khiladi to Baazigar to Race, director duo Abbas-Mustan have always managed to entertain us thoroughly and at the end of it, given us that dose... read more

From Khiladi to Baazigar to Race, director duo Abbas-Mustan have always managed to entertain us thoroughly and at the end of it, given us that dose of filmi suspense which leaves us completely satisfied (remember Gupt). But does this one manage to live up to the twisting turning style of the directors?
Ridiculously boring & disastrous, Players is akin to our Indian players in Australia right now...a Flop show.

Being a remake of "The Italian Job" one expects a fair bit of the story to be similar. Yes there is a heist at hand & there is a team in place for the same. There is also a backstabber & an eventual revenge story with some sexy Mini-Coopers involved, but beyond that framework, with some not-so-fun twirls, this shell is just hollow.

The team consists of the following:
1. Master planner Abhishek Bachchan, who looks out of shape & in need of "teleshopping networks Suraksha Kawach" to ward off his bad luck.
2. Hacker boy Neil Nitin Mukesh who puts up a fighting effort.
3. Illusionist Bobby Deol who has 3 lines, 1 expression & no magic on show.
4. Explosives expert Sikander Kher who actually doesnt speak much but is good.
5. The pick of the lot, make-up guy Omi Vaidya, who shines above the rest & breaks the stereotypical mould of his.
6. Supposedly seductive Bipasha Basu who cant get a handle on whom to excite.
7. Lastly, a weirdly 90s pulp cinema styled absolute misfit in the form of Sonam Kapoor.

To be fair, the film has been spent on lavishly as it moves from Amsterdam to Russia to India to New Zealand & a few more. The cinematography is brilliant in parts but sadly doesnt get the right support from the content department.
Pritams music can be classified as his worst effort in recent times.

One expected much more out of the Men in White as they generally manage to keep the audiences hooked. Even when they have had a lacklustre script at hand, they add in enough masala to make sure you come out getting your moneys worth. This time though, they fail.

At the end of it, the only 2 stars who shine in this film are old warhorse Johnny Lever & Omi Vaidya. The rest are just mashed-up in this weird concoction that can either put you to sleep or just make you sick. For me it was a bit of both so I would strongly suggest you to stay far far away from this one.
The first Friday of 2012 is a mega budget dud.view less

It has been a season for action movies. In the last few weeks, I've watched Sherlock Holmes, Don 2, Mission Impossible 4, and now yesterday, Player... read more

It has been a season for action movies. In the last few weeks, I've watched Sherlock Holmes, Don 2, Mission Impossible 4, and now yesterday, Players. Worst of the lot.

I haven't seen Italian Job, which I don't think matters as much in this case because I am not here to do a comparison (which even if I were to, I am sure I know which of the two would be better). The film is 3 hours LONG and based on not one, but two robberies. The first robbery is from the Russians. The team of Players head to Russia, and successfully plan and rob the Russians of their precious gold only to be be betrayed by one of their own. The second robbery is from the player who betrayed the team. The team follows him to New Zealand and boldly steal the bullion from him in 48 hours. So long and boring that I am having trouble trying to narrate the story.

The first half was unnecessary. It could have been summed in exactly 5 minutes or as flashbacks throughout the film. It's painful to sit through two very badly planned robberies and the film itself is full of flaws. One of the players is introduced as deaf but throughout the film his hearing magically seems to come back to him. Tons of other minor flaws which make the film annoying to sit through. The biggest flaw in the whole movie however was the casting. I can't say that any of the actors did their part well. Sonam Kapoor can't shed a tear to save her life, or her dying father's in the film. Abhishek Bachchan needs to give up these action, cool dude roles. His name is Charlie and within the first 10 minutes of the movie, he is in front of 3 women all wearing Charlies Angel's cropped shirts. I almost barfed. Then Bobby Deol, Neil Nithin, Bipasha, all failed to impress.

I'm still angry about my evening going to waste watching Players for 3 hours when I could have been out playing myself. The story could have easily been summed up in half the time making the film more enjoyable. view less

If a bad film entertains you is it a good film? Or a bad good film? Or good bad film? With this profound thought my new year at the Hindi movies ha... read more

If a bad film entertains you is it a good film? Or a bad good film? Or good bad film? With this profound thought my new year at the Hindi movies has begun. I am searching for a word that describes such movies. Its so bad that its good is too long.

Whats it about? Charlie (Abhishek Bachchan) along with with Bobby, Bipasha, Sikander, Neil & Omi Vaidya plan to rob gold bars worth (I forgot how many crores) from a moving train. The plan is chalked out by Victor Dada (Vinod Khanna) that requires the best of players who have no replacement and the above mentioned actors are the best we have to play the best players (dont laugh). What follows the train robbery is a repeat of twists and turns which we saw in Abbas Mustans last release Race.

Should you watch it? - Yes (in the theatre with a bunch of friends)

Why? Like I mentioned above Players is a bad film that entertains. It is unintentionally funny to the extent that you will forget that you are watching an action thriller. Dont believe me? Sample some nuggets worth one bar of gold each. Bobby Deols name in the film is Ronnie (I cringed every time someone called out his name), Vinod Khanna says Main fakr hoon beti but you hear Main fucker hoon beti. Jhonny Lever says Ghoda, Kutta, Bandar teenon aa chuke hai and we see Sikander, Abhishek and Omi Vaidya enter. Please help me decode whos who.

These lines by Neil Nitin Mukesh will echo in your ears long after the film is over open the door baby, close the door baby, play it baby. Not a single actor comes across intelligent enough for us to believe that they can actually pull all of that in the film. Omi Vaidya is the only one who irritated me the most and Johnny Lever is the only one who genuinely entertained me the most. Bipasha Basu plays an automobile expert and in one of the scenes she says maine booster laga diye hai. This time the director duo went for a complete new set of writers. 3 credited for story & 2 for screenplay so it took 7 players to make a mess out of the Italian Job.

Final few words: The tag line said Go for Gold. I went straight for the beer bottles in my fridge to celebrate what I saw.

Rating: ** (Above average)

Ticket meter: Worth 100 bucks
view less

Players is supposed to be based on The Italian Job. I have not seen that one but can bet my last plunging Rupee that it does not have thieves who g... read more

Players is supposed to be based on The Italian Job. I have not seen that one but can bet my last plunging Rupee that it does not have thieves who give an excuse of setting up an orphanage to rob huge amounts of gold. It is this obstinacy of so many mainstream film makers to stick so closely to the formula that it makes a travesty of even the best plot. A crime thriller based on a moralistic premise is doomed from the start.

There is a huge sum of gold being transported from Russia to Romania which a bunch of players try to steal, lead by an ex con who is retired from crime but wants to build that orphanage so that other kids dont take to a life of crime Yuck. Anyway, they pull off the heist and then one of them turns around, kills a few of the team mates, thinks he has killed all of them and runs off with the gold. Of course the rest are not dead and they plot a revenge to get the gold back with the help of the daughter of the retired gangster (who is also killed). Mind you, she is doing it not for the gold but to avenge her dads death. All this makes up the post interval part of the film.

A thriller I think by definition is fast paced, nail biting suspense. Here I was nodding off in my chair bored with the stupid item songs, the needless emotional scenes and the downright amateurish gadgets and schemes. If the only time I perked up was during a Johny Lever scene then you know what I am talking about.

The other thing wrong is that none of the players seem to use their core competencies in which they are supposed to be world class. Omi is a make up guy who only makes one prosthetic, Bips is a thief who does not steal anything important and the one thing that Bobby is supposed to do he almost botches up. I guess the Dada who assembled the team must have been senile or something when he chose them.

Abhishek adds some sophistication to his role but cant do much. Neil Nitin Mukesh as the villain is pretty cool, Omi is cute, Sikandar Kher competent (though why his character has to be deaf beats me, since it neither hinders nor helps him in his role) thank God Bobby Deol dies pre interval, Bips has upped the hotness quotient to make John fry in Jealousy and Regret Hell and I wish Sonams character had not been invented. She cannot act, has no screen presence and does not even look halfway pretty.

I would urge you to stay away from this movie whole-heartedly. Unless you are an insomniac and need something to help you catch a long nap
view less

Players is an odd film. It is not engaging and definitely not a good thriller. Yet it is not altogether unwatchable and boring. A mish mash of Ital... read more

Players is an odd film. It is not engaging and definitely not a good thriller. Yet it is not altogether unwatchable and boring.

A mish mash of Italina Job and Race, Players is intended to be a fast paced thriller. At two hours forty odd minutes, that definitely doesn't happen- the film is far too long to sustain its flimsy apology of a plot line. To top it all, Players has some of the worst dialogues written in recent cinematic history, coupled with the most wooden cast ever.

Abhishek looks funny trying to look kick ass, sans his Dhoom smug, he does look a little better though. One can't decide what is more obnoxious, Sonam's clothes or her lack of expression. Bobby dies early on, and one is thank full for that. Rest of the cast would pale out even before a blank wall. The few good things include Jhonny lever's insipid comedy and Bipasha in a two piece.

Yet, Players is not totally bad. The unintended comedy of errors does elicit a few laughs here and there. Plus there is the heavily Bollywoodized action sequences that keep the attention on the screen and not on the popcorn.

Watch Players if there is absolutely nothing else to do. Or with a gang to kill time. Else stay clear. view less

The first week of the calendar year has been an inauspicious date historically. No One Killed Jessica did break that jinx last year, but I guess th... read more

The first week of the calendar year has been an inauspicious date historically. No One Killed Jessica did break that jinx last year, but I guess that had more to do with true content and performances than anything else.

This film is director duo Abbas Mustans Indianised official remake of The Italian Job of 2003, which itself is a remake of the British original of 1969.
Charlie (Abhishek Bachchan, Game, Dum Maaro Dum) is a chartered accountant who is advised of the idea of stealing gold bullions being sent by Russia to Romania. He seeks the help of his mentor Victor Dada (Vinod Khanna, Dabangg), who helps him assemble the best players in the world. So we have an illusionist Ronnie (Bobby Deol, Thank You, Yamla Pagla Deewana), a prosthetics expert, Sunny (Omi Vaidya, 3 Idiots, Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji), an auto expert Riya (Bipasha Basu, Dum Maaro Dum , Aakrosh) and Bilal (Sikander Kher) an explosives expert. Along with the help of Dadas daughter Naina (Sonam Kapoor, Mausam, Thank You), they manage to track down Spider (Neil Nitin Mukesh, 7 Khoon Maaf) a computer hacker, required for the job. Did I tell you that Naina is a hacker too, an ethical one at that!
The robbery ends with a betrayal and that leads to Dadas death. The team seeks revenge on the traitor with another robbery but this time with the help of Naina, who wants revenge.
There is no one to be blamed for the film but the director duo. They have mastered the art of adapting Hollywood films, Indianizing them and presenting the same with much style. Be it Baazigar A Kiss Before Dying, Daraar Sleeping with the Enemy, Baadshah A Nick of Time, Ajnabee Consenting Adults.
Style is something which comes naturally to them. Race being the best example till date. It had style, an intelligent story, unbelievable twists and to top it all, excellent performances. I guess that is where Players goes wrong. It tries too hard.
Abhishek should stop playing these cool dude type of roles that he is getting stereotyped in. Game being the most recent example. And this is the biggest problem in the film! Mark Wahlbergs Charlie Croker was a sincere thief working without any smugness. Our desi Charlie is too much about the suits, the shades and the know it all attitude. This is where the creative team goofed up. Whilst in the Italian Job, Charlies earnesty made you feel impressed with his Venice heist, feel his pain at the loss of his mentor, made you want him to succeed in regaining the gold. Players does not engage you in any sort of a connect with its characters.
Bipasha too has to try something different than the regular amount of skin show that people have got used to. Same style of short outfits, similar hair styles and the same expressions too.
Bobby Deol is wasted in this film! Why did they have to mess with his character at all! He was the ideal choice for reprieving Jason Stathams get away driver. Making him India ka sabse bada magician and then making him goof up at that doesnt gel at all. Complete waste of an opportunity.
Sikander Kher again a waste. There is no characterisation for him at all. Inspite of being deaf, he barely has any hearing issues. Inspite of being a explosives expert, the kind of stuff that he is shown using, would make wannabe gangsters of Shor in the City seem like pros!
Omi Vaidya is again wasted. Neither does his character have any depth nor does he deliver a performance any different than an extension of Chatur.
Neil has the best role, but in an attempt to overdress, he underacts.
Sonam Kapoor, the less said the better. Neither can she act, dance, emote, nor can she look glamorous in the outfits that she wears.
The only saving grace is the action by Allan Amin, but then again too few too far.
Besides a poor script and dialogue by Rohit Jugraj and Sudip Sharma, their screenplay is the deal breaker. Everything happens for the sake of convenience and too easily. Long drawn explanations and stupid dialogues like planning ka waqt khatam teri expiry date khatam and my favourite by Sonam maine computer hack kar diya hai!
Abbas Mustan let you down big time here. In a remake, since the characters have already been established and accepted, the people playing them have to be stars with persona and acting skills too. In Players besides Omi, all are just star kids!
What again they missed out to encash upon was exploring and exploiting the fact that you had 2 star sons, whose fathers were one of the best on screen buddies of their times with an array of hit films to their credit, Amitabh and Dharmendra. Instead of using that, they stuck to useless style over substance. Pritams song seems prophetic in the film Buddhi de bhagwan.
Does Players manage to break that jinx? Forget it! On the contrary, it might jinx your year!
Does it have The Y Factor:NO!
Rating:4/ 10
view less

For any film that advertises itself as a thriller, the most unflattering thing you can say is that it inspired boredom. And it makes for an altoget... read more

For any film that advertises itself as a thriller, the most unflattering thing you can say is that it inspired boredom. And it makes for an altogether under-thrilling statement, because the said film is an official remake of the Mark Wahlberg-starring 2006 film The Italian Job.
Players another heist-soup from the now-foreseeable style of director-brothers Abbas-Mustan has such an incompetent narrative, the actors in the motion picture react with an unintentionally true expression: Being Clueless.
Abhishek Bachchan an actor getting exceedingly worse with every passing film, plays cool boss Charlie, who had a friend in Aftab Shivdasani who left him with a 10,000 crore-worth plan of stealing gold from Russia which actually belonged to Romania in an Oliver Twist book. Khool. Charlies a Chartered Accountant who wears ridiculous suits, has weirdly a mentor in Vinod Khanna a convicted robber, but an acclaimed one there, who supplies players for the 10,000 crore Romanian gold robbery from a Juhu hospital. They include Sikander Kher a technical wizard, whos meant to be half-deaf but looks full-dumb in the entire film, Omi Vaidya master of prosthetics, Bipasha Basu mastering in God-knows-what skills but we see her pumping up the speed of a train, and the most tragic of them all A Bobby Deol. Yes, you read that right. Bobby Deol plays, what Vinod Khanna describes, India ka sabse bada magician. Together they track Neil Nitin Mukesh the Edward Norton of them who does a surprisingly charmless job as a computer-hacker-traitor.
These bunch of seemingly scared heist-groupies mastering in superficial intelligence and skills that we get to see very little of, set off to Russia to extract the gold bullion from a train routed to Romania. Then you-know-who dumps and pumps bullets (and truck) in to the rest of them and escapes to build a multi-crore (animated) mansion in New Zealand. But in Abbas-Mustans thriller style, everybody wears bullet-proof skins and escapes without a scratch. Some mumbo-jumbo lethargically unfolds where Sonam Kapoor says lines like Maine computer hack kar diya and AB says, Planning ka waqt khatam where Neil says, Teri expiry date khatam and to top them all, a thoroughly annoying Omi Vaidya, with a role that seemingly is a recycled extension of Chatur Ramlingam, says painful lines like, Aaja meri whale, aur sone ke ande de de
Which brings us to the root of the flaws that suffocate Players into becoming the corrupt step-cousin that The Italian Job wouldnt want to acknowledge in a generation.
Apart from a universally incompetent cast that cannot say one single line with assurance, (and where Sonam Kapoor passes with distinction) the contrived humor arouses that sort of response thatd make even a flourishing stand-up comedian land up in a cell in Arkham.
Deliberate convulsions which Abbas-Mastan would want to believe as clever-twists ironically stops them from any reaching sort of a logical closure and the one which they do is the one David Dhawan would think of, when he meets F. Gary Gray.
Although the collective bad acting toasted further below by the inept dialogue is unforgivable, a little characterization on the writers part would help Players sustain some status. But such a shabby job is done in that department. For instance, theres no acceptable background check on these Best Players in the world gang. They are such caricatures, and deeply uninspired, they dont leave any room for sympathy. So when an Abhishek Bachchan is hanging between two moving trains, you dont really give a damn whether they make it or they dont. A hefty amount of blame goes to Abbas-Mastan who Race this film up, but with dramatically poor direction.
Which brings us to the bloody-hilarious climax of this nearly 3-hour claptrap, where Neil Nitin Mukesh gets bashed up by every member of the cast (and Bipasha Basu feels suicidal)
In Players, which probably is the most embarrassing film Neil Nitin Mukesh has been a part of, he looks surprisingly camera-conscious, and lacks conviction in his lines, menace in his look. An over-the-top attire of glittering jackets and expressions of psychotic angst, all of it superficially makes for a dark character which seems to be forcefully drawn, even comical at points, when he says, Baaby, open
For 2012, at the movies, it couldnt get any bad than Players. While the commercial prospects look alarmingly so-so, we can take the film as a learning lesson (yes, with a whack right down the rear).
When you pay money to remake a film with an enviably tight script, reproduce frame-to-frame. Nobody will complain.
If you anyway go to the West shopping legitimately, learn the way they buy too (Read David Finchers Dragon Tattoo).
That unless you are a Scorsese adapting a Hong Kong crime-thriller. view less

its really a nice movie by abhishek.

another average movie by AB

an average & OK movie