Playing Clueless

CAST: Abhishek Bachchan,Anupam Kher,Sarah Jane Dias,Kangana Ranaut,Jimmy Shergill,Shahana Goswami,Boman Irani,Gauhar Khan

Rating: **1/2

Game is a good Bollywood example of a bad Hollywood film: all slick surface,nothing underneath. What sets out to be a racy thriller turns into a series of picture-postcard locations where people come and go,cluelessly,leaving you in a state of astonishment: is this really from the House of Farhan and Ritesh,proud producers of new age Bollywood?

Actually,I’m being unfair to bad Hollywood thrillers. Some of those are capable of giving you a fast ride,if nothing else. But Game is a bumpy,pot-holed mess,featuring characters all dressed up and left to fend for themselves. An immaculate nightclub owner in Istanbul (Bachchan) who dabbles in strip-tease artists and drugs,a shady politico-type (Irani) based in Bangkok who wants to win the next elections,a crime reporter (Goswami) in London whose first appearance involves pulling at a hip flask as she slumps over the wheel of the car she’s crashed,and a top Mumbai filmstar (Shergill) who also likes driving when smashed. This foursome is the guest of a tycoon (Kher) who lives on a Greek island,and who has reeled them in for a spot of revenge.

This is one of those films that must have sounded good on paper. We all want to see gorgeous scenery. Eye candy,both male and female,never hurt,either. Combining these elements in a murder mystery can have palatable results. But not here,no. After the said tycoon comes to a gory end,leaving his assistant (Khan) in a teary heap,a globe-trotting sleuth (Ranaut) from something called the International Vigilance Squad,no less,shows up,only to let all the prime suspects leave,so that she can snap at a minion: “I want all of them under surveillance!” Bright girl.

Much scurrying about continents ensues after the four scatter in all directions,including lots of flashbacks featuring a dead girl (Dias),who,when she was alive,swayed around poles. But at no point do we know anything about the characters other than what they wear. Or not. The women flash miles of leg. And you can cut your finger on the crease of the nightclub owner’s pants,even as you wonder when he will show his true colours.

If you’ve read your Christie,you know that the least likely person will be the killer. But we’ve long lost interest by the time Game fetches up to the climactic point,only wanting an answer to a pointed question asked,too late,in the film: what the b—y hell is going on? That mystery remains unsolved.