Not a game worth playing.

Grade: C

Teen Patti

Indian Release Date: 26/02/10
CBFC Classification:  U/A
Running Length: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sir Ben Kingsley, R Madhavan, Raima Sen, Shradha Kapoor, Siddharth Kher, Dhruv Ganesh, Vaibhav Talwar, Shakti Kapoor
Director: Leena Yadav
Screenplay: Leena Yadav & Shiv Kumar Subramanium
Cinematography: Aseem Bajaj
Music: Salim-Sulaiman

A different and slightly film noir storyline… An impressive star cast including the major casting coup of Ben Kingsley and Amitabh Bachchan in the same film… some catchy songs… what could possibly go wrong?

Despite all of the above, Teen Patti manages to disappoint, largely due to an uneven and schizophrenic script which can’t quite make up its mind what it wants to be.

So the big question is, if the movie is a copy of ‘21’? I haven’t seen the original so I wouldn’t exactly be the right person to & simply based on Dan’s review of the movie I would say same concept but different execution. However I’d best leave it as a case for the MovieSum ‘Copycat’ files!

Professor Venkat (Amitabh Bachchan) is an eccentric mathematics professor whose every research paper has been rejected by the university authorities. One night he comes across an online game of Teen Patti and decides to apply his mathematical knowledge towards cracking it. In order to carry out practical research on the topic he enlists the help of a fellow teacher Shantanu (Madhavan) and three students, Sid (Siddharth Kher), Aparna (Shraddha Kapoor) and Bikram (Dhruv Ganesh).

The group wins a large amount of money and while Venkat, sensing the dangers involved in illegal gambling, wants to stop he is forced to continue by a blackmailer who threatens to harm his students. A rich student, Abbas (Vaibhav Talwar) also becomes involved, allowing the group to gain access to top level parties where the stakes are even higher. As the games continue the players begin to lose their perspective becoming blinded by greed and the excitement of danger.

The main problem with Teen Patti is that it can not decide what type of a film it wishes to be. While it starts out as an arty sort of film it soon introduces unnecessary Bollywood elements such as a love story between Siddharth and Aparna that never goes anywhere and Shantanu’s troubled relationship with his fiancée (Raima Sen). Worst yet the ending is a complete let down which promises a twist that it then doesn’t deliver on. In fact towards the end Teen Patti is reduced to a moralistic lecture about the right methods of acquiring knowledge complete with Amitabh Bachchan attempting to refuse a prize at Cambridge (which is where Sir Ben Kingsley comes in). It was at this point that what few audience members there were began walking out even before the film had ended.

The cast by and large acquit themselves well, Amitabh hypes it up, Ben Kingsley has almost nothing to do and looks quite awkward as if he knows there’s no point to him being there. The newcomers are more impressive than the usual debutants, a special mention must be given to the actor playing Bikram whose mannerisms and transformation are the most effective among them.

Teen Patti could have been a far more impressive film had it just stuck to one genre rather than attempting to appease with a moralistic ending. I kept waiting for a twist that didn’t come and was unimpressed with the lazy writing which ensured a bad flow to the film as well Amitabh Bachchan’s annoying monologues.

Final Verdict: Teen Patti is one game you don’t want to play.

Grade: C

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