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Players is a 2012 Indian action thriller heist film[3][4] directed by duo Abbas-Mustan and jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Burmawala Partners. The film has an all-star ensemble cast, featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh,Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol, Sikander Kher and Omi Vaidya in the lead roles, while Aftab Shivdasani appears in a cameo.[5] The theatrical trailer premiered on 3 November 2011, and the film was released on 6 January 2012.[6] It is an official remake of the 2003Hollywood blockbuster, The Italian Job,[7][8] which itself is a remake of the 1969 Britishcaper film, of the same name.[9] Players employs the same plot as the 2003 version, while making the characters and incidents completely different.[10][11]
Players was filmed in foreign locations as New Zealand, Russia and even the North Pole, thus becoming the first film from Bollywood to be shot there.[12][13] The story follows a team of players, consisting of a con-man, an automobile expert who doubles up as aseductress, an illusionist, an explosives expert, an expert hacker and an actor turnedprosthetic makeup artist, who plan to steal gold worth 1000 crores (over 100 million) from a moving train. During the process they are double crossed by some members of their own team.[14]
Players was one of the most anticipated Bollywood films of 2012[15] but upon release received mixed reviews from critics, with criticism drawn towards its length, pace and plot. Players also opened to a poor response at the box office despite the multistar cast, having a wide release and being heavily promoted.[16][17] The shocking failure of the film led to many trade industry analysts reinstating the belief of a jinx in Bollywood that the first-released film of the year always fails at the box office, which happened to the filmsHalla Bol (2008), Chandni Chowk To China (2009), Pyaar Impossible! and Dulha Mil Gaya (2010).[18][19]
Cast
- Abhishek Bachchan as Charlie Mascarenhas, the film's main protagonist and the leader of the heist. Charlie is a chartered accountant by day and a thief by the night. He has sharp intelligence and is an expert in conning people. He likes to call himself a crime artist rather than a thief.[20]
- Sonam Kapoor as Naina Braganza. Naina is an expert in ethical hacking and has a masters degree in computer security. She wants her father Victor to give up the life of crime, as he spent most of her childhood days in jail. She joins the heist for personal reasons only.[21]
- Bipasha Basu as Riya, Charlie's accomplice and long time criminal partner. Riya is an automobile professional and a femme fatale, who uses her charm and beauty to lure wealthy and famous men, before taking everything from their wallets and safes.[22]
- Neil Nitin Mukesh as Spider, a computer expert and one of the world's best hackers. He has robbed banks worldwide and even hacked the websites of NASA.[23]
- Bobby Deol as Ronnie, who has no experience in conning people, but is a master of illusions. He was a popular illusionist who abandoned magic after being involved in a tragic incident.[24]
- Sikander Kher as Bilal Bashir, an explosives expert, who has been making bombs since childhood, which led to a disastrous accident that left him permanently deaf in one ear. He is fluent in many languages and has useful contacts all over the world.[25]
- Omi Vaidya as Sunny Mehra, who once aspired to become a Bollywood star. He was rejected by all the producers and became aprosthetic makeup artist.[26]
- Vinod Khanna as Victor Braganza aka Victor Dada, a former Don who is also Naina's father. He raised Charlie and Raj when they were young orphans. He teaches them and Riya everything about thieving. Victor Dada brings the team together for one last robbery because he wants complete his dream of building an orphanage.
- Johnny Lever as Mangal Chopra / Budh Chopra. Mangal Chopra is a car mechanic, who can provide every type of car needed and lives with his unusual gori wife, who speaks Hindi.
- Aftab Shivdasani as Raj (Cameo appearance).[27] Raj is Charlie's best friend and they were raised together by Victor Dada. Raj is killed by the Russian Mafia and leaves the heist plan in a CD.
- Shweta Bhardwaj as Shayla, the widow of Raj.
Mastermind Charlie Mascarenhas (Abhishek Bachchan) and his accomplice Riya (Bipasha Basu) are one of the greatest pair of thieves in India. A friend of Charlie, Raj (Aftab Shivdasani) is killed by the Russian mafia. At Raj's funeral, his wife hands Charlie a CD containing information about the transfer of gold by train from Russia to Romania. Charlie decides to rob the train with the help of imprisoned Don and con-artist Victor Braganza (Vinod Khanna). They hire a team of criminals to join them in the robbery. The group includes Spider (Neil Nitin Mukesh), who is a world-class hacker, an explosives expert Bilal Bashir (Sikander Kher), a prosthetic makeup artist Sunny (Omi Vaidya), and an illusionist Ronnie (Bobby Deol).
Charlie is also having an affair with Victor's daughter, Naina (Sonam Kapoor), who knows nothing about her father and Charlie's criminal activities. The group devise a plan to rob the Russian train in the sliest way possible. Spider hacks into a Russian satellite system and Ronnie uses his illusion to trick the soldiers guarding the gold while the rest of the team transfer the gold from the train. The robbery is executed successfully, however while celebrating Spider double crosses the gang and tries to flee with all of the gold. Spider is stopped by Ronnie, who is then shot multiple times by Spider's assassins. The group are chased by the assassins and Ronnie and Riya are killed. Charlie, Bilal and Sunny manage to escape after Spider blows up the location and flees with the gold. Charlie calls Victor to tell him about the betrayal, but Naina overhears the conversation. At the same time Spider's assassins breaks into the house and murder Victor. Naina decides to cut all contact with Charlie. Over the course of a year, Charlie contacts various gold dealers to find which one has the stolen gold that Spider escaped with.
In New Zealand, the gang locate a dealer who is in contact with Spider. Charlie explains to Naina that the gang only wanted to steal the gold so they could help achieve Victor's dream of building a big orphanage. Naina understands and teams up with Charlie to exact revenge on Spider. In New Zealand they discover that Riya is still alive and living there. She explains that she also wanted revenge on Spider and provides the gang with the information about Spider's residence. Unaware of her plans, Spider flirts with Naina and takes her to his villa. Spider finds a hidden camera in Naina's hair and realises that she is working with Charlie, who runs in to rescue her and tells Spider that he will steal all of the gold within 48 hours. Spider tries to move the gold to another country, but the gang, using three large trucks and by hacking into the traffic system, take the gold and hide it inside three Mini Coopers. Just as they are about to leave New Zealand, they are caught by Spider and discover that Riya was working with Spider all along.
Spider tries to force the gang to hand over the gold, but the trunks of the Mini Coopers are empty. Spider betrays Riya and threatens to kill her. Before Charlie can reveal the real location of the gold, Riya shoots herself and Spider stabs Charlie. Spider tries to escape, but Sunny and Bilal stop him and beat him up badly. Naina, who wants revenge for the death of Victor, shoots Spider thrice. It is then revealed that the real Mini Coopers containing the gold are elsewhere. As the four leave the scene, Spider makes a final call to the Russian mafia and tells them that Charlie has stolen Russian gold. The gang take the real Mini Coopers and leave for India, but the Mafia stop them to check the cars and once again they are found to be empty. It is then revealed that the Mini Coopers were made out of the actual gold itself. In the end, Bilal opens a car dealership business, Sunny becomes a theater actor, Charlie and Naina open Victor's dream orphanage and Charlie raises Ronnie's daughter as his own.
Sources : Wikipedia and YouTube
