Players
Movie Info
Synopsis
Players is a 2012 Indian action thriller heist film directed by duo Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla and jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Burmawala Partners. The film features a stellar ensemble cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol, Sikandar Kher and Omi Vaidya in the lead roles, while Aftab Shivdasani appears in a cameo. The theatrical trailer premiered on 3 November 2011, and the film was released on 6 January 2012. It is an official remake of the 2003 Hollywood blockbuster, The Italian Job, which itself is a remake of the 1969 British caper film, of the same name. Players employs the same plot as the 2003 version, while making the characters and incidents completely different.Wikipedia
Starring Cast
Players Reviews
5
There's an uncomfortable truth about Abbas-Mustan's latest film 'Players' that few critics will admit to – it's not all bad! This fast-paced khichdi of two previous 'Italian Job' movies and the director duo's own last film 'Race' has so much going on all at once that you're left with little time to dwell on the gaping plot holes, the laughable dialogue, and the wooden performances.
3
The one thing Abbas-Mustan films practically guarantee, despite the degree of theft or ‘inspiration’ from Hollywood flicks, is pacy entertainment. The plot of `Players’ is not stolen, but honorably bought, and has a terrific pedigree : the original ‘Italian Job’ had the groovy Michael Caine as super-thief Charlie, and lots of lovely lolly; the remake nearly 40 years later had the beefy Mark Wahlberg reprising Charlie the Chor’s role, and the very dishy Charlize Theron as the bad-good girl. Both films gave us the kind of enjoyment the best heist movies do : slick thieves with slicker moves, blonde bombshells, zippy car-chases and worthy villains.
3
A few players intend to share the loot, given the plan or plot (borrowed from Hollywood) is already in place. That’s the story of this film. It could be the related stories PLAYERS PROMO EVENT: Sonam raises middle finger!
4
The real problem with this official remake of The Italian Job is that instead of reproducing a perfectly nuanced screenplay as it is, it tries to act too smart, with excessive elements and needless tampering, in the process making a complete fool of itself. Why can't you stick to the plan, Bollywood? All this time we witness our filmmakers rip-off Hollywood scene-by-scene but the minute they acquire rights, they are hit by an army of brainwaves or an insuppressible need to improvise (read flounder).
6
Players, the official remake of Hollywood’s heist flick The Italian Job (itself a remake of a British caper film of the same name) is no frame-by-frame copy. There’s enough desi masala to make it an entertaining action flick to kick off 2012 for Bollywood.
7
After making a career out of surreptitiously remaking foreign films forever, director-duo Abbas Mustan have proved their recycling capabilities credibly enough to win the opportunity of directing an 'official' remake of a Hollywood flick. They have stars, budget, virgin locations and also a readymade film (rather two of them) for reference. But that know-all impudence of the directors to Indianize The Italian Job is like having a pizza with Punjabi tadka topping.
4
Players is hilarious. I haven't chuckled this much at a movie in a long time. The first time I laughed hard was when Victor dada (Vinod Khanna) introduced each 'Player' to Charlie (Abhishek Bachchan). After introducing Ronnie the 'illusionist' (Bobby Deol), Bilal the 'explosives guy' (Sikander Kher) and Sunny the 'make up artist' (Omi Vaidya), Khanna turned to Riya (Bipasha Basu). Her job description - "the hottie who charms every man she comes in contact with", or something to that effect. This was followed by a shot of Bipasha strutting around in a bikini, assets on display. Cut to close-up of Khanna sporting a leery grin, winking at Bipasha.
5
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Burmawala Brothers’ Players (UA), the official remake of the Hollywood film, The Italian Job, is about a gold heist adventure. Charlie Mascarenhas (Abhishek Bachchan), a chartered accountant by profession, learns from a DVD he receives from Shehla, the widow of his deceased friend, Raj (Aftab Shivdasani in a friendly appearance), that gold worth Rs. 10,000 crore is going to be transported from Russia to Romania in a train. He approaches Victor Dada (Vinod Khanna), who is serving a jail sentence, and seeks his help in putting together a team to rob the gold.
8
It's a given that hi-voltage action thrillers enthrall and electrify viewers no end. The existing inclination within the industry is to opt for remakes [of South Indian films specifically], though Abbas-Mustan have continuously, in their three decade career, tilted towards western thrillers to be specific. PLAYERS, their latest offering, is the official remake of THE ITALIAN JOB. But it's not a scene to scene adaptation of the classic that was attempted twice in the West. The core conception remains the same, but the screenplay is amended significantly to suit the Indian sensibilities.
5
The 2003 Hollywood release, THE ITALIAN JOB was a decent flick. The movie opens with the heist of $35 million in gold bars from a Venetian mansion. And although PLAYERS, Abbas-Mustan's latest offering is a straight lift from the Hollywood flick, they fail to even lift impressively. I mean, you have a ready plot, you know what each actor's role ought to be and the screenplay is well laid out. All they have to do is adapt it to the Indian audience which, frankly speaking requires a little imagination. That's where they suffer!
4
The names Abbas-Mustan evoke images of racy thrillers with twists-n-turns, dashing heroes, sexy femme fatales and good music. Their movies may lack logic at times but they rarely lack in entertainment. So it was with expectations of getting thoroughly entertained that I sat down to watch their latest offering, Players, starring Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin, Mukesh, Vinod Khanna, Johnny Lever, Omi Vaidya and Sikander.
6
It all starts when Charlie Mascarenhas’ (Abhishek Bachchan) friend Raj (Aftab Shivdasani) discloses a possibility of heist when gold worth ten thousand crore would be transported from Russia to Romania. Together with Riya (Bipasha Basu), an expert machinist, Charlie gathers a band of professionals: Victor Braganza (Vinod Khanna), the head of the gang, Bilal Bashir (Sikander Kher), an explosive expert, Ronny (Bobby Deol), a magician, and Sunny Mehra (Omi Vaidya), ace make-up artist.
Audience Reviews for Players
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first half hollywood range ,second half kollywood range
0July 24, 17 -
2012 is upon us & along with it kindles the hopes of an even bigger, better year for the industry. With quite a few of them such as "Bodyguard", "Ready", "Don 2" etc. racking in big bucks, this week witnessed the release of "Players" with similar hopes from the director duo of Abbas Mustan. This dynamic duo have craved a niche for themselves for their stylish films which is high on dare devilry stunts & interesting twists. So can their latest venture with an ensemble of stars be the first blockbuster of the year???
Bollywood is well known for their absolute disregard & shamelessness for ripping off from Hollywood flicks without even batting an eyelid. However, there has been a welcome change with Abbas Mustan obtaining the rights for remaking the blockbuster "The Italian Job". Since many of my friends has seen the original, I dont believe this review requires much of an insight into the plot. Charlie (Abhishek Bachchan) plans on a gold heist from the Russians & is assisted in his mission by a team of the best tacticians which is put together by his mentor, Victor Braganza (Vinod Khanna). Though they successfully pull off the heist, the team gets double crossed by one among them. This unfolds further twists & turns; & how they manage to get even.
Abbas Mustan has always been the masters of suspense & twists but unfortunately they fail to inject a sense of surprise this time around. It's true that they have Indianised it & remained true to the original with a couple of twists of their own which however fails to excite us. The stunts are stylish & the cinematography by Ravi Yadav deserves a word of praise for the stunning locales. Another dampener is the mediocre scores by Pritam with hardly any song worthy enough of tapping our foot. But the biggest flaw is undoubtedly the unimaginative screenplay by Rohit Jugraj & Sudip Sharma, as the heist lacks the zing or originality of "Italian Job".
Now comes to the most important part of actually enacting it on screen, Abhishek Bachchan has done a decent job of being the man in command. Sikhandar Kher & Omi Vaidya fails to impart much impact while Sonam Kapoor yet again proves that she doesnt have a clue on how to emote on screen. Neil Nitin Mukesh displays his skills with his meaty role while Bobby Deol was wasted. Bips does keep the mercury rising with her oomph factor.
Verdict: "Players" will fail to make any impression in the box office & in all likelihood going to burn the producers hands. In short, you may as well watch the original in case you missed it!!!
Rating: 2/5
Regards...Ben
0September 18, 16 -
Well, let me begin the review on a positive note. Director-duo Abbas Mustan have come up with yet another stylish thriller that is awesome to watch in its cinematography. They have added yet another feather in their already crowded cap. And my positivity ends here. Let’s begin the review now in right earnest. The movie has style but misses out on content and acting. It has shadows but no substance. The movie could rightly’ve been named JOKERS!
The joke doing rounds on the internet: Abbas-Mustan were approached by Dharmendra Deol, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapoor, Nitin Mukesh, Prem Shivdasani, Abbas Alibhai Burmawala to resurrect their star kids’ careers. A-M duo agreed. And their New Year bomb ne unka band baaja baja diya. Flops ki madad kee aur khud doob gaye. The duo are unlikely to recover from this massive failure. Viacom18 has already terminated their third film contract after this dud. And Puri Jagannath has booted out Abhishek from Businessman. Players has sadly nothing going for it except its directors, who churn out The Indian Job (sorry, The Italian Job). After that it is sorry, sorry and sorrier. The gold heist story couldn’t have been more pathetic given the choice of blank actors, with bland performances. They are simply unable to emote. They have only two standard emotions – first is ONE emotion and second is NO emotion. There is no place for a third emotion or other ranges. After all, we are dealing with a bunch of starry duds, flops and strugglers (who never say die).
With so many duds in the movie, who cares for the story or even the movie? Some in the audience are tearing the seats while others are tearing their (non-existent) hair. No one wishes to look for songs that are staple of Hindi movies. There is some solace package in the form of Johnny Lever (62) and Omi Vaidya (29), who try to cure audience’s depression. Bipasha Basu at 32-40 is over the hill. This babe should seriously think of matrimony. Her shape is not fit for red bikini but for shaadi-byaah. I don’t know if John Abraham had a lucky escape. The surprise package of this movie is SHWETA BHARDWAJ. This 26-something infuses enough life with her vamp’s role that I did remember her seductive number. She should have been on the banners and trailers and promos. Maybe audience’d’ve rushed to theatres. But like I said, she is a (pleasant) surprise item. Kudos also to singers Mauli Dave, Priyani Vani, Ritu Pathak, Shruti Pathak and Yashita Yashpal. Let me put this in a nut-shell: If you’ve not seen this movie, you’re hale and hearty. But if you’ve, you may need a psychiatrist so that you can be strong enough to view the next star kids’ duds. If only the director-duo had considered Sanjay, Salman, SRK, Hrithik, Ranbir for the roles. I guess, they couldn’t get them for free and settled for duds. Watch it if they offer u free tickets, coke, popcorn, to-n-fro travel, time-waste money, saridon... On second thoughts, ask for a refund on free tickets.0August 13, 13
