T-Series Films and Wakaoo Films’ Khel Khel Mein (UA) is a comedy. Four friends and the spouses of three of them meet at a social event and decide to play a game which turns out to be fun as well as dangerous.
Rishabh (Akshay Kumar) is married to Vartika (Vaani Kapoor). This is his second marriage as he had lost his first wife. He has a grown-up daughter, Anaya (Maahi Raj Jain), from his first wife. Harpreet Singh (Ammy Virk) and Harpreet Kaur (Taapsee Pannu) are a couple. Samar (Aditya Seal) is married to Nayna (Pragya Jaiswal). They are all friends who assemble in Jaipur to attend the wedding of Radhika (Diljot Kaur Chhabra), sister of Vartika, with Varun (Gaurav Manwane). Another friend, Kabir (Fardeen Khan), is expected with his partner but he arrives alone. The mood is set for fun but the fun these friends have, borders on danger of a different kind. They decide to keep their cell phones on the table and not use it individually. In other words, all conversations on the phone will be on speaker so that everyone can hear them. Similarly, all whatsApp messages and SMSes as also emails received are to be read out aloud.
What begins as an innocent and fun game turns out to threaten the very foundations of the marriages of Rishabh-Vartika, Harpreet-Harpreet and Samar-Nayna, besides their friendship too. Skeletons come rolling out of the cupboards of the participants as they struggle to cover up their past actions while maintaining or pretending to maintain their composure. What happens in the final tally?
The film is based on Italian film Perfetti Sconosciuti. The story of the Hindi film is written by Mudassar Aziz. It is both, funny and entertaining. However, although it has its share of tensions too, the tense drama does not offer nail-biting thrills. The screenplay, written jointly by Mudassar Aziz and Sara Bodinar, is enjoyable at places but not consistently so. Besides, the entertainment will be appreciated by the class audience only but not by the masses if only because the very concept of the game and what follows are likely to be appreciated, understood and enjoyed by the classes rather than the masses. Mudassar Aziz’s dialogues are good and go well with the drama.
Before talking about individual performances, it must be said that each of the seven lead actors has put his/her best foot forward. Akshay Kumar is fantastic in the role of Rishabh, making the scenes in which he appears extremely funny. Fardeen Khan springs a wonderful surprise with his free acting as Kabir. He delivers well. Ammy Virk is outstanding as Harpreet Singh. His expressions and body language are phenomenal. Aditya Seal makes a lovely mark as Samar. Taapsee Pannu lives the role of Harpreet Kaur and shines with a natural performance. Vaani Kapoor looks very glamorous and acts beautifully as Vartika. Pragya Jaiswal makes an interesting and impressive debut as Nayna. She looks pretty. Gaurav Manwane makes his mark as bridegroom Varun. Diljot Kaur Chhabra is alright as Radhika. Maahi Raj Jain makes her presence felt in a brief role as Anaya. Chitrangda Singh makes a fine mark in a special appearance. Talat Aziz and Ishita Arun, both in special appearances, lend adequate support. Kiran Kumar and Alka Badola Kaushal leave their marks as Vartika’s parents. Others do as desired.
Mudassar Aziz’s direction is very good. Not only has he narrated the drama in an easy-going manner but has also taken excellent work out of his cast members. Having said that, it must be pointed out that his narration and script will hold appeal for a section of the audience only rather than being universally appealing. Music is fairly nice but should’ve been better. Tanishk Bagchi, B. Praak, Saji Ali, Rochak Kohli, Guru Randhawa, Raj Ranjodh, Intense and Jassi Sidhu have composed entertaining numbers, the best of which is Hauli hauli (by Guru Randhawa). Lyrics (Kumaar, Jaani, Khadim Hussain, Guru Randhawa, Raj Ranjodh, Jassi Sidhu and Rahul Gill) are alright. Song picturisations (by Raju Khan, Piyush-Shazia and Jani) are quite alright, the best being for the Hauli hauli (Piyush-Shazia) number. John Stewart Eduri’s background music is impactful. Manoj Kumar Khatoi’s cinematography is appealing. Action and stunt scenes (by Amar Shetty) are functional. Rupin Suchak’s production designing is of a decent standard. Ninad Khanolkar’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Khel Khel Mein is a fair entertainer but it will find favour among the classes only, and hence will score more in multiplexes and the big cities. Business, therefore, will not be up to the mark.
Released on 15-8-’24 at Inox (daily 5 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: very good. Opening: dull in spite of the Independence Day holiday; impacted adversely because of the mammoth opposition of Stree 2. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak at most of the places.