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The film is sadly undone by its second half that suffers from what can be best described as the Mood Swing syndrome. Only people with massive mood swings can relate to the jitteriness of the film’s narrative read more
 "Akshay Kumar returns to solid form in a remake that needed little more consistency")
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Ammy Virk, Taapsee Pannu, Aditya Seal, Pragya Jaiswal, Fardeen Khan
Director: Muddasar Aziz
Language: Hindi
Khel Khel Mein begins with a beaming Akshay Kumar flashing his salt and pepper hair he should flaunt more often. He photobombs a family, shows off his British passport (why not Canadian?), bumps into Chitrangda Singh and throws an Easter egg of Desi Boyz. It’s been a while since Kumar was so easy and breezy on the eyes and ears. It was getting exhausting to see him in those social dramas and listen to the endless cacophony about his initiatives. Here, he speaks and he listens, but they are all deep and dark secrets, just like a chocolate. No Vivek Agnihotri was harmed in this sentence.
But there are more key players in this story about closeted identities. It shows the fragile and frustrating side of supposed perfect relationships. Technology plays a role and spoilsport both. A night that was supposed to be dreamy turns nightmarish. Instead of being a sharp take on hidden demons and infidelity, Khel Khel Mein chooses to take the comedic route to reach the finish line. Director Mudassar Aziz stages the chaos at the table well until it gets on you. The first half, if one may confess, is a riot. You wait for the game to begin once these people are done dancing and being introduced.
By what we know, one couple is childless, one woman struggles to strike a bond with the daughter of her husband from his first wife, and the daughter in question is mercifully not precocious (read preposterous), one is a disaster waiting to happen and the last one in the group gets the most heroic entry (the title reads And Fardeen Khan). This is the actor’s first theatrical outing after 14 years with the same director, so Aziz rightly reserved the masala shot for an actor who could never make it big on celluloid and is back with an impressive turn. Khan’s a sensitive and mature performance with spurts of straight-faced humour.
The Mood Swing syndrome
But Khel Khel Mein is sadly undone by its second half that suffers from what can be best described as the Mood Swing syndrome. Only people with massive mood swings can relate to the jitteriness of the film’s narrative. The tone changes as quickly as Akshay Kumar releases his films. Different revelations are met with different reactions. And every emotional turmoil is followed by another joke to deflate the tension. But that’s also where the film suffers; Aziz is so hell bent on making Khel Khel Mein a crowd pleasing Akshay Kumar comedy that certain conflicts never get the critique they deserve. Come to think of it, for all those who have seen the original Italian film, the film sheds light on childlessness, infidelity, homosexuality, and at one point, Kumar also speaks about the vitality of making decisions from the heart.
All these glimpses of sensitivity come and go and we are back to cracking jokes. They all land well till the first hour. Once the revelations get darker, they reek of cringe. The breakdown scene of Taapsee Pannu is impressive until she gets possessed by Kangana Ranaut from Queen, trying to combine tragedy and comedy with unkempt hair and bottle of wine to suggest her emotional turmoil. And after Bad Newz, we get another film where the background music ruins the intensity of the moment. Every time there’s a message on someone’s phone, we get the Parde Mein Rehne Do song playing for us. We know these people are in trouble right from the time we saw the trailer, what’s more to tell?
But still, Akshay Kumar is able to swing between the contrasting flavours the way only he can. Just like Garam Masala, he’s stuck with some fine people in one room and struggling to get hold of each of them and get rid of them too. He enjoys seeing people being stripped naked of their truths but also tries to hide his own dirty linens. And there’s no other actor who can pull this farce off and make it look convincing. Comedy is truly serious business, it’s no Khel.
Rating : 2.5 (out of 5 stars)
Khel Khel Mein is now playing in cinemas
Working as an Entertainment journalist for over five years, covering stories, reporting, and interviewing various film personalities of the film industry see more
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English (US) ·