“Parda toh Utth Gaya, Par Kya Garda Udd Gaya?”
Shuru karne se pehle ek zaruri suchna- iss review main parde main kuch nahi rahega, parda utth gaya hai aur spoilers se bachna hai toh skip to the verdict section! Now with that spoiler warning let’s begin this review ka khel.
Khel Ka Premise Khel Khel Mein
Directed by Mudassar Aziz, Khel Khel Mein is an official remake of the 2016 Italian blockbuster Perfect Strangers. The story revolves around a group of seven friends who decide to play a game wherein their phones become public properties (quite literally). What follows is pure chaos and unexpected twists leading to shocking revelations. What I liked about Khel Khel Mein is that the movie doesn’t shy away from delving into topics such as modern day relationships, depression, infidelity, sexual preferences, parent-child relationship, etc. The movie is very woke, but it is unlike the other sorry attempts that have been made that touch upon similar topics. Here, things are real, complex, sometimes a little preachy, but never feel irresponsible.
Iss Khel Ke Khiladi (Characters and Performances)
The movie stars an ensemble of Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Ammy Virk, Taapsee Pannu, Aditya Seal and debutant Pragya Jaiswal. The whole cast does a commendable job with the standouts being Akshay and Taapsee. Akshay in comedies is a joy to watch fr!
Another thing that I liked about Khel Khel Mein is that each character has been given a backstory and layers. None of the characters feel unidimensional. This elevates the emotional quotient of the movie and you feel engaged and genuinely interested about what next is going to happen.
Comedy
Khel Khel Mein is marketed as an outright comedy entertainer which I feel is not right. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is genuinely funny with the situations it creates, but calling it an outright comedy takes away from the strong emotional quotient of the film. Ignoring the marketing angle, the funny bits in the movie are actually funny. That entire confrontation scene when Ammy Virk is assumed to be a gay because of the phone swapping between him and Fardeen Khan is HILARIOUS. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. Similarly, the cameo of Chitrangada Singh and the meta commentary and references from Desi Boyz bring a large smile on your face.
The comedy in Khel Khel Mein is subtle and not in your face. It is spread stringently throughout the movie wherever required. Comedy acts more as a catalyst to the engaging narrative of the movie. The movie becomes wildly chaotic towards the end and this is exactly the type of chaos which you love to watch!
Drama, Thrill and Emotional Quotient
Khel Khel Mein is high on emotions. The revelations lead to frequent heated moments and fights that feel intense. The solid premise surprises you with several unexpected twists, turns and revelations. The entire daughter-mother and daughter-father relationship commentary was beautiful. That scene where Akshay’s daughter calls him asking for help was truly heartwarming and extremely relevant as well.
The true hero of the movie is its relevancy. The topics it explores and commentary it does on those topics be it Akshay’s climax monologue, Fardeen’s hesitancy coming out of the closet, Taapsee’s breakdown, Aditya-Pragya’s relationship and the earlier mentioned phone call between Akshay and his daughter, every single thing works.
Symbolism
A very minor yet very appreciable thing in the movie is symbolism. The mood of the movie is cleverly communicated with various statues present in the room. What proves that is not just a coincidence is that separate shots were taken focusing on them. Another good thing was when Fardeen finally comes out of the closet the camera focuses on the tattoo on his fingers which spells ‘FREE’ and when he leaves the wedding, we see a closer look at the tattoo on both hands which spell ‘FREE LOVE.’ Just a small thing, but these small things enhance the movie watching experience.
Negatives
Aapko kya laga sirf taarif hi hogi? Aise kaise bhaiya.. The movie is far from perfect. First off, when will the makers understand that not every movie requires songs. Not a single song in the movie does anything effective for the rather engaging narrative. The only song which I felt was somewhat acceptable was Durr Na Kari that shows us the love story between Akshay and Vaani, but even that could have been avoided and communicated way better with a good 10 minutes of screentime that would dwell deep into the inception of their romance.
Except for the songs, all the appreciation that I did for the emotional quotient, despite still being true, looses a tad bit of impact because of over dramatisation of certain sequences where the messaging starts to flirt into the preachy category. One more thing I would like to nitpick from the movie is the horrible visual effects. The scene where Akshay, Fardeen, Pragya and Aditya are on the terrace, bhai kya tha vo? Inse green screen ka kaam theek se nahi hota hai yaar.
Moreover, I still believe that the script that they had in hand was very solid and could have been executed way better than how it is done. The difference between what is and what could have been is huge.
Verdict & Rating
Dekho movie ki achhi baatein aur kamiya toh bata di aapko. Ab jo first paragraph padhke sidha verdict pe aaye hai unke liye yeh kehna chahta hu ki bhai dekho, movie mazedaar toh hai. It is fun, entertaining, chaotic and emotionally strong as well. You will not be disappointed after watching it. It delves into deep topics toh family ke saath dekhna ya nahi yeh tum pe hai. Baaki sirf comedy expect kar ke mat jaana it is much more than that.
Manage your expectations, because movie is not perfect thoda melodrama hai, unnecessary songs hai aur execution bhi better ho sakta tha. Anyways, I would still recommend giving it a watch because of its merits and responsible messaging.
OCD Times Movie Rating: 3.5/5
Also check out: A World Record By Khel Khel Mein
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Author: Kshamik Vadecha
