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.

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.

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.

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.