The chemistry between the motley bunch of actors works in fits and starts but Akshay Kumar's gift of the gab, Taapsee's bumbling comedienne and Fardeen Khan's dry wit come out tops, notes Sukanya Verma.
Secrets are universal.
On some level, everyone holds back information, which one may not want others to find out owing to fear of rejection, ridicule or judgement.
Secrecy allows pretence and peace of mind and Italian director Paolo Genovese's Perfetti Sconosciuti aka Perfect Strangers understands this only too well as it devilishly explores what would happen if everyone's personal phone was passed around the room for public scrutiny.
Genovese's 2016 dramedy has the air of a social experiment that has found such overwhelming global resonance, it holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most remade film. From Italy to Iceland to India, Perfect Strangers boasts of over 20 remakes across various languages.
Khel Khel Mein, directed by Mudassar Aziz, is its latest adaptation.
Over the course of one night in a fancy suite of a five star hotel, seven friends -- three couples and a stag -- hang out against the backdrop of a destination wedding exchanging juicy gossip and catty comments over appetisers and alcohol.
A plastic surgeon (Akshay Kumar), a novelist (Vaani Kapoor), a social media influencer (Taapsee Pannu), a car dealer (Ammy Virk), a corporate type (Aditya Seal), a boutique owner (Pragya Jaiswal) and a cricket coach (Fardeen Khan), it's a setting almost befitting of a murder mystery. Except Khel Khel Mein's parodic take on keeping appearances has more humour than hassle on its mind.
A casual conversation on how the phone brought about the end to a common friend's marriage compels its smug, self-satisfied lot to test how smooth their own lives are by playing a peculiar game of phones, wherein all seven cell phones are fair game and every single message or call to follow must be received or read out aloud in their combined company.
No sooner the phone rings, the sneaky personalities of this assorted septet surface and both the game as well as the gang reveal its true colours.
Relying on the usual bombshells like infidelity, infertility, sexuality and insecurity, Khel Khel Mein builds on the nervous laughs, comical disdain, hilarious sarcasm, fleeting emotions and the ridiculously true notion in 'is hamam mein sab nange hain'.
Occasionally though, melodrama prevails over the facetious tone, which includes an out-of-place speech-like sex advice to one's teenage daughter.
Mostly though, the narrative's competent design and canny timing has a ball pulling the rug from under every character's feet.
Each phone has some dirt on the player and Khel Khel Mein hits peak when wickedly rejoicing in its schadenfreude.
It even finds something mildly therapeutic in getting people their weight off their chest, feeling no qualms about giving clean chits or sweeping real issues under the carpet to make way for a Priyadarshan-style crowds 'n' chases climax.
Speaking of crowd, the chemistry between the motley bunch works in fits and starts but Akshay Kumar's gift of the gab, Taapsee's bumbling comedienne and Fardeen Khan's dry wit come out tops in this mix.
Khel Khel Mein's appeal lies in its frivolous worldview. It's only when the movie overexplains its actions and its 'parda mein rehne do' maxim, it's not fun and games anymore.
