Players

'Players' which is an official remake of 'The Italian Job', clearly makes a fool out of itself. Though I tried my best to keep myself without comparing it with the original, compare or not, the film is like the kindergarten version of the classic. The acting lacks intensity, particularly from Sonam's end, only Neil Mukesh gets somewhere with his villainous act. The train robbery scene doesn't give any edge-of-the seat moments, making such an improbable task look like cake-walk. There are some insanely foolish humour, pushed inside the film, trying to make a masala-flick. The twists degrades the credibility of the film, making it a joke! The music is awful with laughable lyrics. But the only place where the film scores is with its cinematography, because there are some moments which captures the scene beautifully. Director duo Abbas-Mustan easily did better with Race. In all, if you are looking for some genuine and entertaining action-thrillers then you can comfortably give this a miss.

Italian Job, an action thriller which was remake in 2003 now in Indian accent again in 2012 by Bollywood and it was seriously a waste of money time and energy. I wish they would have kept the way it was, unnecessary twists, unrealistic stunts and proud gesture by actors showing that they know about the future as they are going to win anyhow. Abhishek good at times but most of the time very over confident same goes for bipasha and actor like bobby deol completely wasted. Neil nitin mukesh did good job at times but he also gets irritating most of the time and Sonam Kapoor undefinable she does not even know how to act in a glamorous character. On the whole if Italian job is 8 out of 10 then this is 1 out of 100 seriously.

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This is about only those things which as a viewer I didn't like.. When the bad guys already got accepted as protagonists in Indian films, there was no need of showing the humane side of the players.. in fact the most inhumane player – Neil Nitin Mukesh impressed the most.

Yes it is true, not only recently but since 70' and 80' whenever our hero goes out for a theft, we love it. Kohinoor, Jewel Thief, Don2, Roop Ki Raani.. etc etc.. Accepted that hero always brings in some reason to steal but the trend is changing !! You can change too..

So there is the quick NOT-TO-DO check list for Abbas-Mustan's Players.

1. Remove good motives of Robbery i.e. Victor's dream project, Ronny's daughter.. make everything emotionless, professional. Though Sonam's reason to join for Victor's death was justified.

2. Take actors which can act. For star power, couple of them are OK. like rather than investing in Abhishek, Sonam, Bobby, Neil and Bipasha, pay more to 2 stars and 3 actors.. because among the 5 only Niel and Bipasha acted.

3. Bipasha's Engine work and Bobby's illusion on train windows were something too too much of science fiction to digest. Agreed that Indian audience is watching science fiction and gradually accepting such techno gigs but at the same time people have started applying logics also, the flags on the windows were clearly showing not spraying the solutions on the entire window.

4. Reduce songs and reduce the length of the movie. Sonam's gig on Bobby, Bipasha's dance for Russian general and Sonam-Abhishek drunken songs were too too too tiring and waste of time. Instead sonam and bipasha could have used smart lines to get their men. I like the talking people do the night clubs.

5. Instead of simply showing Sonam's tense face while hacking scenes, more theoretical information about how it is possible to find Spider would be better.

6. And last but not the least, you made the robbery seems pretty easy. People watch Mission Impossible franchise in India now. If not making the mission impossible, at least make it difficult.

Note: The objective of this blog is to pick only loop holes and not so great things about the movie and NOT TO review the entire movie. General ratings from different critics holds true about the movie.

The positive thing is the makers have legally acquired the remake rights of "The Italian Job". Sadly the rest is all negative about "Players". For starters the magnanimous star-cast was grossly under-utilised as there is hardly any character depth. Next the screenplay has holes which are about the size of craters. Its evident that handling big canvas was more than what the director-duo could chew. And in order to tweak the plot to Indian sensibilities the 15-minutes of the original has been stretched out till the interval. Add to that the overdose of emotional and noble/ philanthropist sentiments thrown in at epic proportions give an impression that the lead characters are straight out of the mythological age. The serpentine twists of the "Race" seems to have found its way into the plot in an attempt to keep the interest of the audience alive. The lame humour hardly evokes any laughs. Songs hardly register an impact.

Jr. Bachchan seems to have reprising his character from "Game". Sonam Kapoor attempts on weighing out Katrina Kaif, but sadly she is miles to go before she can sleep. Bobby Deol's role can be termed as a blink-and-miss and certainly he will shout foul. Sikander Kher and Bipasha Basu were wasted. Niel Nitin Mukesh attempts "Johhny Gaddar" and is no match for Ed Norton (Irfan Khan or Kay Kay would have been an ideal choice). Vinod Khanna was disappointing, perhaps his character lacks the suave touch he truly deserves.

Verdict: Watch "The Italian Job" to relive the adrenaline moments.

'Players' is the official remake of the Hollywood classic 'Italian Job'. The director duo, Abbas-Mustan who are well known for churning out thrillers almost every year fail miserably this time in their attempt to recreate their magic.

The movie is quite stylish and the cinematography by Ravi Yadav is mind boggling. But the problem lies in the screenplay. Abbas-Mustan have tried to put too many twists and turns in the plot that at the end you feel tired and want to walk away. I wonder why Abbas-Mustan have tried to tamper with the original source with so many unwanted twists. Why didn't they just simply replicate the story of the original when they had the official license to do so? As far as the movie stays true to the original, it is watchable. Once the typical Bollywood formula of twists and songs and dances pop in the latter half, it simply sucks.

As for the performances, Abhishek Bachchan looks like he can't get over his 'Dhoom 2' and 'Game' hangover. His mannerisms and facial expressions are just the same as they had been in the aforementioned flicks. The only best performance definitely comes from Neil Nitin Mukesh. Not only does he look handsome, but his acting can give seasoned actors a run for their money. As Spider, Neil proves once again that he is in his best form after his debut 'Johnny Gaddar' and ' New York'. He proves yet again that good looking actors can act really well too. Bobby Deol is terribly wasted in this film. I wonder what made him choose such a minuscule and insignificant role. He wears a sad expression on his face throughout the movie. Thank god, he's only in it for half an hour. Bipasha Basu is always cast in a negative role in all Abbas-Mustan flicks that she has done so far. 'Players' is no exception. Still, she impresses with her acting with a new level of maturity and proves that she's really getting better with every film. Sonam Kapoor is horrible! That girl can't act to save her life. She sports a glamorous look for the first time but an actress she is not. The worst scene of Sonam in the movie was when she brags about being an ethical hacker. She seems so annoying and cannot emote with her eyes. Her emotions look fake and contrived. Sikander Kher looks bored and ready to walk away any time. Omi Vaidya irritates. Vinod Khanna is wasted. It was a delight to see Johnny Lever after such a long hiatus. He's the only one who provides relief with his comic timing in the horribly boring second half.

The length of the movie is also a minus point. The first half moves at a brisk pace once all the characters are developed. But it is the sluggishly paced second half that gets under your nerves.

Pritam's music is disappointing, unlike the previous Abbas-Mustan flicks where the music elevated the mood of the films. Dialogues are contrived and bad.

On the whole, 'Players' disappoints. Given that the film was hyped and was the first release of the year, this film might find a tough competition in the box office. I advice Abbas-Mustan to think of more 'Races' than 'Players'.