Teen Patti

My expectations were already rock-bottom after watching Leena Yadav's "Shabd". When Amitabh Bachchan, Hinduja's, Ben Kingsley and Madhavan have agreed to participate I thought Leena Yadav has a winner in her hands which will not only wash away her sins but also catapult like a phoenix.

Big B's character is too idealistic to relate. Shades of grey like in "Kaante" would have added sheen to the role of Venkat Subramanian. And he was looking quite old actually and his disenchantment showed.

Ben Kingsley was completely wasted. Edit his role completely and even a fly wouldn't budge. Incorporating him into the movie just fuelled marketing of bad apples.

Raima Sen hardly had meat in her character. Shraddha Kapoor seems promising and has a good screen presence.

Ajay Devgun, Jackie Shroff, Mahesh Manjrekar, Shakti Kapoor, Tinnu Kapoor & Ranjeet gave the blast from the past 1980's feeling.

What were Mita Vashist & Shivkumar Subramaniam were actually doing?

There are too many unnecessary characters and unwanted layers in the movie. Even the ode to "Bonnie & Clyde" was out of sync. Keeping the blackmailer in the hoods was not ably handled (Whodunnit? Audience couldn't care any less actually).

Already the movie was facing the plagiarism threat from 21, so anything more it sank it deeper.

The ending was so 1980's, melodramatic & Bollywood'ish.

The title of the movie is "Teen Patti" which is the Indian famous name for the card game of Flash. And if you really know the game and also happen to be a great player of the same then the movie is simply not going to win its game against you. In few words it can only partly impress the people, who know nothing about the game and are there in the theater only for watching just another new release on a routine Friday.

Frankly speaking, If you are making a movie on Card Gambling and also naming it with a title such as "Teen Patti" then you simply ought to know about the finer details of the game and its thrilling moments. But after watching the flick it seems that the director Leena Yadav knows nothing about the game in details and has made her second movie only around an inspired idea from the West. In fact all the writer-director knows about the game is a blind, three aces and numerous trails which come so easily in the game as if someone is setting the cards for the main players.

Moreover, all the thrill, excitement and skills involved in the game can be found no-where in the movie, which in turn takes away all the charm associated with its tempting title. Written around the character of a Math's Professor who is working on a perfect theory of Probability, the movie takes the viewer as granted and explains nothing in technical terms about his unique achievement. The director is simply not interested in telling the viewer that how the professor and his team are operating on the gambling tables and winning continuously. In reality, whether the makers accept it or not, the project takes majority of its content from Hollywood's "21" released in 2008 featuring Kevin Spacey in the lead role of a professor. But Leena Yadav unimpressive handling of the project is quite timid in comparison with its western original.

"Teen Patti" starts off with a foreign sequence featuring both Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley in the same frame. From there on the movie is entirely narrated in flashbacks where Amitabh is sharing his past year's experiences with Ben. It was quite surprising to see the way Ben was introduced to the audiences and also the strange kind of dialogues filmed on him, dubbed in the voice of Boman Irani. No doubt Ben looks great on the screen and excels in his short cameo, but was his inclusion in the movie required at all in the first place. Any other English actor could have easily done the job as it was not that important for the movie. But the makers called him in only to increase the face value of their project and nothing else. In straight words, Sir Ben Kingsley is simply wasted in the movie and the director simply misses the great opportunity she was given to work with.

However, there are few entertaining moments in "Teen Patti" which keep you engrossed at regular intervals, but they all are too scattered to give you a lasting impression. Like the scenes in the local gambling dens in the first half and the sequence where Amitabh challenges the Black-mailer while holding the money bag in his hands. The later one is unarguably the best scene of the movie. Apart from these the most enjoyable moment of "Teen Patti" is when you have Mr. Mahesh Manjrekar on the screen in full spirits as a local Bhai. He thoroughly entertains you in a short cameo with his funny facial expressions, an authentic body language and hilarious "Tapori" lingo. All the other special appearances by Jackie Shroff, Tinnu Anand, Shakti Kapoor and Ajay Devgan are strictly OK.

Cinematography proves as an asset of the movie with many well conceived sequences of gambling dens and their prefect visuals. Salim Suleiman and Ashley Lobo both have done a good job in the only song of the movie "Teri Neeyat Kharaab Hai". Interestingly at one end the director is intelligent enough to us only one song in the movie and avoids any unwanted elaborate love angle in the storyline. But on the other hand she is so confusing in her execution and completely lost in the writing department of her big project. For instance in the whole movie you keep wondering what kind of professor is Madhavan teaching in the same college, dressed just like the other students and Why on earth Amitabh and his team takes a beautiful girl along with them to the risky gambling dens in the get up of a prostitute? (Where she doesn't even contribute anything in the game.) Amitabh Bachchan as the genius professor performs his role efficiently with few glimpses of the professor from "Black" in some particular scenes. Yet at certain places I found him doing it with a greater spirit and force than actually required. His speech in the climax also fails to catch your attention in absence of any well written and appreciable lines. Madhavan looks confused along with the writers as they never care to tell us what specific subject he teaches in the college and what kind of debt he is in. The four new talents introduced in the movie perform with the right confidence and excel. Especially Shraddha Kapoor and Dhruv stand out of the lot as they also get the maximum exposure on the screen. Raima Sen is passable but Barry John is truly excellent in his few scenes.

In short, "Teen Patti" fails to provide the much needed thrill and excitement associated with its title. In gambling language, director Lena Yadav holds nothing in her hands in the name of cards but tries to play a bluff with the big names of Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley. Amusingly I felt a strong urge of seeing Dev Anand's "Gambler" once again, after watching this weak interpretation of the game.

This movie is a waste of excellent actors. Movie starts out OK but story and direction are poor. Use of poor lighting is likely deliberate but makes the whole movie feel even slower and shadier. It starts out OK with hopes raised due to a different subject from the usual good vs evil struggle. There is even an attempt to develop different characters and make some of them edgier with the addition of drugs, debts etc. But the movie starts drifting soon - like a boat without a captain on waves. Screenplay and direction are two key weak points. There is almost nothing to mitigate the poor direction. Even top notch actors are unable to rescue the movie.

I beg to differ from the negative reviews. It may be a copy of 21. But I kept an open mind when I watched it. Yes, even though its a copy the actors were really good. The debut artists particularly were awesome. How can you not give them the credits for acting so good?? Yes I guessed the ending way before, but it does not take away the fact that the acting was superb and I personally enjoyed the movie. Good movie with a good underlying message to it. I don't know why people would give bad ratings to this movie...there are many cheap comedy flicks which pass the box office with positive reviews and higher ratings. If you are into serious movies, not expecting slapstick comedy...then yes this movie can be for you...Give it a try with an open mind.

Watched 'Teen Patti' which was on my must-see list for a pretty long time. Its definitely another one of Amitabh's magic. Wonder how all the story lines he has worked upon in his second innings are so splendid. And, every time I get this amazing feeling of watching a real-life character in whatever role he performs. He excels in-spite of negative portrayal and clumsy make-up with the help of his eyes and voice that are damn expressive! He is definitely an icon from whom all the actors who are aging up must learn to choose roles from. The other actors in the movie have given a neat performance as well. If you are a type who likes suspense movies that make sense and also convey a message, go for it.