Director Mudassar Aziz successfully dwells into the themes of how much we really know our friends and partners. The game of surrendering phones leads to a major chaos, unexpected secrets tumble out leading to major conflicts
- Starcast: Akshay Kumar, Vani Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Aditya Seal, Ammy Virk, Pragya Jaiswal, Fardeen Khan and others
- Direction, screenplay and story: Mudassar Aziz
- Based on: Perfect Strangers by Paolo Genovese
- Producers: Ashwin Varde, Bhushan Kumar, Vipul D. Shah and others
- Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, Guru Randhawa and Raj Ranjodh
- Cinematography: Manoj Kumar Khatoi
- Production house: T- Series Films and Wakaoo Films and White World Productions
- Running time: 2 hours and 21 minutes
- Streaming site: Netflix
Mudassar Aziz’s Khel Khel Mein based on the Italian movie Perfetti Sconoscuit (Perfect Strangers) has been remade in several languages including the Malayalam movie 12th Man. 12th Man was directed by Jeethu Joseph reuniting him with Mohanlal. What makes the subject of Perfect Strangers so relatable is the exploration of how smartphones create havoc in a what appears to be a perfect marriage. Jeetu Joseph’s 12th Man was more of a mystery/thriller with his signature touches. Khel Khel Mein on the other hand is more of a matrimonial comedy. Every time the movie switches into a tense mode a comic scene follows soon.
The plot of Khel Khel Mein is set against the backdrop of a big Indian wedding. You have three couples along with a bachelor friend. The night before the wedding Vani Kapoor’s Vartika suggests a game of surrendering their mobiles. Everyone has the license to read or listen to whatever message or video call that will come. What starts off as fun soon goes into a very murky territory. This is the story in brief.
A strong aspect of Khel Khel Mein is Mudassar Aziz’s portrayal of sensitive issues without getting preachy. The movie dwells on teenage sex, infertility and homosexuality among others. All this is backed with strong humor particularly from Akshay Kumar.
Akshay Kumar plays Dr Rishabh. He is an expert at telling white lies. It is refreshing to see Akshay back in the humor zone, a genre which he has aced previously. The actor generates many chuckles with his perfect comic timing. Apart from the humor scenes Akshay also shines in the portion where he gives advice to the teenage daughter about taking things to the next level with her boyfriend. The scene is treated with a lot of maturity giving the movie some depth. Another scene that needs to be mentioned here is the one where Akshay gives a speech on how marriage is not an ownership but a partnership. It is very poignant.
Apart from marital problems the movie also briefly touches upon homosexuality through the character of Fardeen Khan’s Kabir. Initially the actor doesn’t seem to have much to do but he makes a striking impact in the scene where Kabir opens up on his sexual preferences and being removed as a cricket coach in an all-boys school. The management had feared that a gay coach is not good for the students.
Taapsee Pannu shines the best among the female leads. The Punjabi twang is reminiscent of what the viewers have already seen in last year’s Dunki but still the actress shines bright as a homemaker desperate to have babies. Without her husband’s knowledge she is looking to have children through an infertility clinic. A particular mention must be made of the scene when she lambasts her husband on hiding an important report. Ammy Vik as a hotheaded Sardar also makes a strong impact. He is especially good in the scene where he reminisces about a past love and an inability to keep people happy.
Among the rest Aditya Seal and Pragya Jaiswal also get their moments to shine. Just like the characters of Taapsee and Ammy’s these two also have some dark secrets, Vani Kapoor as the writer though suffers from a sketchy characterization. Her track is half-baked. Her idea of the phone game comes across as scheming than fun, as a result the taunt of Akshay Kumar at one point makes the viewers side with him. Also, the scene where she tries to be a cool mom to Akshay Kumar’s daughter doesn’t have the desired impact.
Another slight issue with Khel Khel Mein is the gag involving an attempted suicide. The punch lines are hilarious, and the absurdity of the situation does make the viewers laugh but in the overall scheme of things the makers could have done away with this.
Keeping aside these small niggles Khel Khel Mein is easily one of the most enjoyable Akshay Kumar movie of the recent past. The film would have fared much better with a solo release date instead of getting sandwiched with Stree 2.
