Khel Khel Mein a terrific tale of marital and mobilephone muddles

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Whenever a film with a repeated title of an old classic comes, comparisons are bound to be made. But Khel Khel Mein watchers need not worry. Not only is this film different, but the only common points between them are the high-energy and brisk pace.

The present film digs into flawed, seemingly normal (like all of us!) human beings who all have their (guilty, mostly!) secrets. There are three dysfunctional couples: Dr. Rishabh (Akshay Kumar) and his young, second wife, the ‘relationships’ books writer Vartika (Vaani Kapoor), Harpreet (Ammy Virk) and his better half, Harpreet (Taapsee Pannu) and Samar (Aditya Seal) and his spouse, Naina (Pragya Jaiswal). Then there is their seventh buddy, Kabir (Fardeen Khan), a loner.

These seven souls assemble for Vartika’s sister’s destination wedding. In a room for some drinks on the eve of the wedding, Vartika is looking for a subject after her last novel, Nuptial Nonsense, and suggests a ‘game’. All seven will open their mobilephones for the next few hours, and whenever they get a call, video or text message, anyone can listen, read out or watch. She tells everyone that there should be no problem if they have nothing to hide. The game takes off initially as good fun.

But then everyone, including Vartika, does have some secret…no one is innocent! And it’s time for drama, tears, confessions, rebuttals and even acceptance.  A key figure in the background here is Rishabh’s teenage daughter, Anaya (Maahi Raj Jain) who is at the age when puberty is causing turmoil. She tells Vartika that she can never accept her as a mother but only as a friend as her dad loves her. What’s more, Vartika has already given Rishabh three months for their marriage to work out.

Harpreet’s mom-in-law expects the couple to have a kid, and Harpreet cannot deal with her husband’s egoistic slant of taking her for various tests as they have bene unable to do so. Samar is fed up of being exploited by his tycoon father-in-law (Talat Aziz) and a key employee, Malti (Isshita Arun). His wife, Naina, is a spendthrift. As for the reticent Kabir, he has his own secrets too.

What ensues now not only tests the various couples’ relationships but also the seven friends’ bonds of friendship. Affairs past and present, homosexuality, sex, sexual abuse, escorts, mental health, infertility—issues galore come up and are deftly dealt with along with the near-omnipresent humor. And now the bridegroom too is affected by all the resultant mess that he comes to know about by default!

Mudassar Aziz, who had written and directed the whacky Happy Bhag Jayegi way back in 2016, adapts the Italian comedy, Perfetti Sconoscuiti (Perfect Strangers) to perfection as far as Indian sensibilities are concerned. He keeps the pace breezy, the emotional sequences doused in fun and vice-versa, and while I have not watched the original, Mudassar ensures that nothing here is “unacceptable” for the Indian audience, especially regarding marital aspects.

The acting honors go to Akshay Kumar, returning to comedy after Good Newwz. As the cosmetic surgeon with a salt-and-pepper hair, he is a scream right from his opening sequence with Chitrangda Singh in a delectable cameo. His character traits remain the most interesting and intriguing among the secretive lot! Vaani Kapoor has never looked so good, and never performed so well either. It’s a burnished performance that we get from her.

Taapsee Pannu is a natural scene-stealer, especially when she explodes and then cracks up in a mess. Her one-liners are a delight and her expressions when an embarrassing situation occurs before this are monumental. Pragya Jaiswal is an extremely good find. She shines in a seasoned ensemble cast and does not at any point seem to be a first-timer.

Fardeen Khan gets a role that seems single-toned but is not. We have seen him get better deals in comedies like No Entry, Heyy Babyy and All The Best, but he makes a mark despite the lesser scope. Aditya Seal and Ammy Virk are alright, but I was smitten by Chitrangda Singh.

Technically, the film has been shot like a dream by Manoj Kumar Khatoi and briskly edited by Ninad Khanolkar. But the only major sore point is the fact that a significant chunk of dialogues and, reprehensibly, all the songs are in Punjabi! Please, T-Series and company, I am sure that this surfeit of Punjabi can be exploited in non-film singles and videos. Hindi films are seen by a hell of a lot of non-Punjabis and the Hindi film song has basically been the reason why T-Series became established way back in the 1980s and 1990s as a top music label.

But the rest of the film is so much of a hilarious romp that even this mammoth aberration can be overlooked for once.

Rating: ****

T-Series Films, Wakaoo Films & White World Productions’ Khel Khel Mein  Produced by: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Ashwin Varde, Vipul D. Shah, Shashikant Sinha & Rajesh Bahl  Directed by: Mudassar Aziz  Written by: Paulo Genovese & Mudassar Aziz  Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, Guru Randhawa, B Praak, Jassi Sidhu, Raj Ranjodh, Intense & Saji Ali  Starring: Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vaani Kapoor, Ammy Virk, Aditya Seal, Pragya Jaiswal, Talat Aziz, Kiran Kumar, Maahi Raj Jain, Jamie Langlands, Gaurav Manwani, Andre D’Cruz, Isshita Arun & others