Secrets… who doesn’t have. Here we are with a pack of friends, who end up discovering each other’s secrets over a dinner in Khel Khel Mein (literally) via a game they play by keeping their mobiles’ content open and available for all on the dinner table. Written and directed by Mudassar Aziz, Khel Khel Mein is a fantastic comedy that will surely tickle your funny bone and at the same time shares a message about the relationships you make or break that make or break you.
The film opens with a flamboyant encounter with a co-passenger, over a flight as Rishabh Malik (Akshay Kumar) is traveling toJaipur for his wife sister’s wedding over a flight to Jaipur. Rishabh is cosmetic surgeon, married to Vartika’s (Vaani Kapoor) after his first wife died leaving a young daughter for him to nurture.
Other friends also join in at the wedding. Harpreet (Ammy Virk)and his wife Harpreet/Happy (Taapsee Pannu), Samar (Aditya Seal) and Naina (Pragya Jaiswal) and Kabeer (Fardeen Khan), a cricket coach who turns up without Akshita (who didn’t exist in reality).
When everyone’s mobile texts, voice messages, emails, videos etc., as per the game rules are being opened, played and responded topublicly over the dinner table cracks begin to show up in their personal lives.
The writer is the Festival Director of KidzCINEMA and CultureCinema Film Festivals
The audience can experience moments of laughter, fun, humour, emotions, and comedy in a light-hearted manner through the first half.
While Ammy Virk fully justifies his role as Harpreet, Taapsee has once again put up a terrific performance, by delivering the extremes of her emotional upheavals and the bubbly character of Happy Kaur.
Akshay Kumar is back as a comedy king, but he is also a messenger of the issues raised in the film on relationships not only between husband & wife but also between a father and a daughter. His small monologue over a phone call to his adult daughter on how to make the right decision is pretty strong take away from the film for good parenting.
In the second half the film moves away from humour and take the serious side of relationships, misunderstandings, social issues, and undiscovered realities. Eventually everyone is happy in the end to move ahead in life – minus the baggage and explore it to the fullest.
Gays are not accepted in the society, and Kabir (Fardeen Khan) loses his job as a cricket coach in a boys school, a lady corporate boss prying upon her junior to satiate her physical demands, and a male ego of taking his wife to doctors for not having children without disclosing that the problem lies with him and not her, are some of the things highlighted in the film.
Must-watch with friends and family, Khel Khel Mein is a light-hearted entertainer comedy will only make your weekend cheerful for sure!
Stars: 3.5 out of 5.
Released on 15th August 2024
Bio note
The writer is the Festival Director of KidzCINEMA and CultureCinema Film Festivals