Bluffmaster

Saw Bluffmaster, first week, second show. (I hope you can see my cat-ate-canary grin.)It being first-day-second-show, I had no advance knowledge of which film 'inspired' this one. None in MSM have speculated so far. Cheers to the production team to maintain a tight lid. I think this is the first in a long time, that I did not know how this movie would end :D Usually I go armed with info beforehand and my friends are extrememly wary of me, cause I give away the spoiler, albeit with an alert. Anyway, this time around, I think all in theatre were waiting for a point to identify the original movie. It almost never came. Only the 'head-rushing' sequence towards the end, made a guy blurt out one name. But no, that does not qualify to be called a rip-off.

So that way, Bluffmaster is good, ok Hindi movie. Good entertainment. Funny dialogues. Good sequences taking the story forward. Consistent performance from all the actors. Eccentric shark Nana Patekar, phunny doc giving profound tips Boman Irani, hurt Priyanka Chopra, the devoted and hard to shrug-off chela Ritesh Deshmukh and living-in a limbo Abhishek Bachchan.

Genre-wise, I don't know where to place this movie. Film name and promos promise a heist movie. We did get that. From the opening sequence of police-encounter to the credit-card swap sequence and the final one with Nana. But those are only props. The main thread is that of a betrayed and hurt Priyanka, while Abhishek is still-in-love but unable to shrug-off his main occupation.

Its definitely a very atmosphere movie, but a mild variety. It's not heavy. From a tastefully decorated, but cramped apartment in a high-rise, with a lovely seaview, to Ritesh's shabby terrace flat; then the Mumbai seaside, dance bars, dark alleys in the night. Flyover, express highways, mall. And a wide variety of restaurants - Irani restaurant, five-star one when AB waits for Priyanka, another one where AB explains the fish-metaphor to Ritesh. If Bunty aur Babli was a tour up North India of today, Bluffmaster was our tour across Mumbai. Not the dark underbelly, not the chawls, just the normal city.

Talking about fish metaphor, that was a good one. Where AB maps different human demographic to a variety of fish - bangda, pomfret, Shark and finally Whale.

Music, hmm, was not a striking feature. The opening sequence remix Sabse bada rupaiya was the yummiest. Bure bure hum caught on because of a catchy disco effect. Right here, right now original came up … I don’t know why. But the remix, umm the audience stayed back in their seat even if it was a credit sequence item number video.

Since it is not a rip-off and genre is not to be easily identified, the result seemed aimless, but it definitely arrived at its station and ended properly.