What better way to find out what someone is hiding from you than to get a peek into their smartphone? (Disclaimer: Please don't peek into people's phones for no reason) As we become more and more dependent on our devices, the premise of the Italian film Perfetti Sconosciut (Perfect Strangers) only becomes more enticing. That explains why the film has been remade more than 20 times, the latest being Khel Khel Mein.
The ‘khel’ in the title refers to a game that a group of not-so-strangers play where everyone places their phone face up on a table and every notification and interaction is read aloud or played out.
A cosmetic surgeon Rishabh Malik (Akshay Kumar) who has a ‘phD in lying’ and is the desi George Clooney is on his way to his wife Vartika’s (Vaani Kapoor) sister’s wedding. Their marriage is on the rocks but looks like a dream-come-true compared to their friends Harpreet aka Happy (Taapsee Pannu) and Harpreet (Ammy Virk). Harpreet believes he's keeping Happy ‘happy’ and thinks his job in the marriage is done while Happy has been trying, for years, to fix the cracks in their marriage while trying to meet his family’s needs.
Also on location are Samar (Aditya Seal) and his partner Naina (Pragya Jaiswal) and a cricket coach (Fardeen Khan) who seems to have left his girlfriend behind at home. They all show up with their perfect smiles and fancy outfits but the veneer starts to crack as messages and calls come in.
This premise has so much potential – what if someone finds someone else's name in ‘saved addresses’ on a food app? And, for the most part, the film uses the potential well. From doctors to ‘bosses’ to random emails, the phones become ticking time bombs for their owners.
This is home ground for Akshay Kumar – the comedic bits land perfectly – and he gets to reach into his silliest side to give the audience the Kumar they’ve been missing from their screens for a while. The best performances, however, come from Taapsee Pannu and Ammy Virk. After her twisted turn in Haseen Dillruba, Pannu gives yet another effective performance in Khel Khel Mein that tugs at your heartstrings even without the emotional monologue. And as the husband who tries to patch over his flaws by creating ones in his wife, Virk leaves a mark.
Both Aditya Seal and Pragya Jaiswal stand out for their more emotionally heavy scenes though the latter’s acting sometimes comes off as a little amateurish. But there is a certain believability she adds to the typical spoilt brat archetype that deserves appreciation. Vaani Kapoor, though doesn’t get much to do, is effective and despite his best efforts, Fardeen Khan ends up becoming the film’s weakest link.
Khel Khel Mein does try to rise above its own premise – it takes the goofball comedy and tries to have mature conversations with it but the makers don’t seem to want to take the risk of letting their protagonists be a little grey. Every time anyone expresses an emotion that could be slightly unlikeable, they instantly get a redemption arc. And in a film that is relying on the audience’s investment in a study of the human nature, that’s not the right route to take.
Some of the dialogue also feels juvenile which doesn’t help the film’s case. There is so much to talk about even with the predictable reveals – how things like loyalty, friendship, infidelity, ‘trust’ play out in interpersonal relationships for instance. And for the most part, the film does try to find a balance between humour and its deeper themes but the shiny veneer cast over its own protagonists makes it difficult to actually capture the spirit of these conversations.
The film's saviour, however, is the screenplay which keeps the film engaging till the last second.
Khel Khel Mein needed to have a no-holds-barred approach to these strangers – I found myself thinking of Jeethu Joseph’s 12th Man and how a little bit of that touch would’ve made this a film difficult to look away from.
Rating: 3 Quints out of 5
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