Apr 01, 2011 05:15 PM
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(Updated Apr 01, 2011 05:17 PM)
Murder mysteries always have a tremendous fan following. Whether reading a book or watching a film of this genre, the pleasure is immense as it not only the characters of the story, but you yourself are using the grey cells of your brain to find out the killer. However, the expert stories are those where you won’t be able to guess the culprit till the end and that’s where the satisfaction lies. And that is where Game falters. Minutes before the unveiling of the killer’s identity, the viewer correctly guesses it. Although the film has its moments and surprises, the kick you get after watching a good whodunit is clearly missing in the case of Game.
The story of the movie: Kabir Malhotra (Anupam Kher), a reclusive billionaire, invites 4 strangers – Neil Menon (Abhishek Bachchan), OP Ramsay (Boman Irani), Vikram Kapoor (Jimmy Shergill) and Tisha Khanna (Shahana Goswami) on his private island in Greece. Neil runs a casino in Istanbul as a cover up to his drug business, Ramsay is a leading prime ministerial candidate in Thailand, Vikram is a famous film actor of Bollywood while Tisha is a crime journalist in London. All 4 are tempted to come to Kabir’s island although they neither knew Kabir, nor do Kabir knew them. Once at Kabir’s island, they find themselves trapped in an ugly game and they also realize the connection between the 4 of them-Maya (Sarah Jane Dias).
The first hour oscillates between good and some not-so-good scenes. Boman feeling threatened when asked the source of the party’s funds seemed hard to digest. Abhishek’s entry was brilliant. Anupam’s welcome speech to his guests was engrossing. However, it’s the murder sequence that sets the real mood of the film. The second half gets better as the Abhishek-Sarah flashback and the chase sequence are pretty engaging. The way the whole mystery gets solved and killer found was very smart and witty. Sadly, it’s the execution that lets down the script. Besides, the script itself has some loose ends. And as said before, you guess the identity of the killer even before it’s unveiled and that’s the biggest blow to Game. The writer did add a twist in the finale but sadly it doesn’t work.
Talking of performance, Abhishek Bachchan is excellent as the sly and mysterious Neil Menon. Right from his entry till the end, he was totally cool and he’s one of the reasons why Game works to an extent. It’s sad to see Abhishek’s last 2 films (Raavan, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey) were flops at the box office and Game too doesn’t have much chances. This makes it 3 flops of Abhishek in a row! Hopefully, his next Dum Maaro Dum which looks like a hot product will redeem his prestige! Debutant Sarah Jane Dias is an important part of the story but has a supporting role. Nevertheless, she does a confident debut and rocks in the freezer sequence. Kangna Ranaut (as Sia Agnihotri) gets a chance to do something very hatke and excels. But her hairstyle was pathetic! Shahana Goswami was alright. The script and her character fail to give her a chance to display her talent and her million-dollar smile, which is her biggest asset! Same goes for Jimmy Shergill. Throughout the film, he was simply crying! Boman Irani as usual was excellent. Gauhar Khan looks charming and performs well. Mohan Kapur supports adequately. And lastly, Anupam Kher is easily the best performer of the film! His role was well-etched compared to his fellow actors and had a different look too! And he makes full use of it and comes up with a riveting performance! Others also do a good job.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music was strictly alright. The title song is better than the rest. However, Ram Sampath’s background score was terrific, especially in the chase sequence. Kartik Vijay Thyagarajan’s cinematography was terrific. The locales of Greece and Turkey are very well captured. Amitabh Shukla’s editing was slick. Allan Amin’s action was great as usual.
Farhan Akhtar’s dialogues were simple and smart. Althea Delmas Kaushal’s story and screenplay was good even with the glitches. Abhinay Deo tries his level best to direct it well. Sadly, he falters at places. Besides, the other problem is although it was a good murder mystery, it seemed ordinary because of audience’s exposure to some brilliant films of this genre from the West and also because of sitcoms like CID and Adaalat. That’s also why films like Red and Sunday also failed to impress. Hope, our filmmakers get the drift and come up with better and more shocking murder mysteries in future!
Some of the best scenes:
Neil’s entry in the narrative
Kabir Malhotra gives welcome speech to his guests
The murder on the island
The intermission point
The entire Abhishek-Sarah romance track
Chase sequence
O P Ramsay gets trapped
Neil in Sia’s hotel room
The last 15 minutes
On the whole, Game is an ordinary murder mystery but has its moments. This and Abhishek and Anupam Kher’s performance make it a one-time watch. The film has taken a bad opening at the box office while its competitor F.A.L.T.U. has performed better at the ticket window. Thus, Game has chances at the box office and is heading for a doom. In spite of a decent attempt, this Game, at the box office, will get Over soon.
(DO READ MY LATEST DP IN CASE YOU HAVENT: https://mouthshut.com/diary/fajeonmtr/EK-BANDAR-DELHI-KE-ANDARMy-2nd-Short-Film)
