Movie Preview: Players

Players
Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu
Directed by Abbas Mustan
6 January, 2012

Players, directed by the talented duo of Abbas-Mastan is about a team of thieves who plan to steal back gold bullion from a former associate who double crossed them. Whether it’s a good thing that Abhishek Bachchan essays the role of Charlie (played by Mark Wahlberg and Michael Caine before him) is something we can judge after the film’s release. However, this time around, it is not going to be just the men who hog all the ‘action’, the women will get a chance to show off their skills too. How progressive!

For those of you who watched The Italian Job (which incidentally is also a remake of a 1969 film by the same name), Players might seem like a frightening thought when you think of a Bollywood remake of the 2003 blockbuster. Admittedly, the original had all the right ingredients to make the movie sell. Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and probably one of the most ingenious heists seen in a Hollywood flick. Don’t get me wrong. There have been several con men who have managed to wow the audience with the perfect combination of charm and wit. The Ocean movies and even the 2003 Confidence had some brilliant robberies. But that’s beside the point. What we have to ask is will Players live up to the expectations of the audience? And will it do justice to its original? We’ll just have to wait and watch.

By Charlene Flanagan

Movie Preview: Ghost

Ghost
Shiney Ahuja, Sayali Bhagat, Tej Sapru, Deepraj Rana
Directed by Puja Jatinder Bedi
16 December, 2011

Horror movies never get old. Bollywood horror on the other hand is invariably a laugh riot. Take for example Vikram Bhatt’s Phoonk or the very recent Haunted 3D. Let’s not forget that Ragini MMS most certainly needed to be revaluated as a horror film. So can we expect something different with Ghost? Let’s review…

City Hospital witnesses a chain of brutal murders that go beyond human comprehension and the hospital is left to deal with the aftermath. A leading investigative agency entrusted with the case, assign it to their most competent officer Vijay Singh (Shiney Ahuja) and Dr Suhani (Sayali Bhagat) is amongst the first to be questioned. What follows is a journey into the unknown as what lies beneath slowly begins to surface.

Horror fans gear up. Pooja Bedi’s horror film seems to have just the right masala to make it a hit. But one might question how even in times of terror, people can fall in love. Then again, this is Bollywood and blurring the lines between being realistic and outright bizarre is not too much of an issue. The film claims to have portrayed the most frightening encounters between good and evil with blood and gore being the main highlights. Well, let’s hope we have a scary good time!

By Charlene Flanagan