Sometimes Bollywood has some good stories to tell. However, most directors mess up the story. Game is one of those films with a good plot but poor story telling.Game starts off brilliantly. A billionaire invites 4 people to his island. One is going to be the future PM of Thailand. The 2nd a Turkish drug lord. 3rd..a successful Bollywood actor. And, finally 4th, a woman journalist. Each are connected in some way to the billionaire's illegitimate daughter who is dead. And he wants revenge from the 3 men. But the twist is that the billionaire is found dead next morning. Who killed him is the crux ?However, it is from this point that the movie collapses so badly that actors like Bachchan, Ranaut, Shergill and Irani can't save this film. From Kher's revenge story, it becomes Bachchan's revenge story. The big twist of Bachchan as an under cover Interpol officer falls flat. And the biggest weak link is the casting of Sarah Dias as the main lead. She is a very pretty lady in spite of her dusky complexion. But man she can't act. You don't fell sorry for her at all.The performances are average. Bachchan and Ranaut try to look cool as cops but don't have the charisma to pull it off in this flick. The rest of the cast is serviceable.I suggest that this movie should be shown in film schools across the world for film students to learn how not to waste a good story.

'Game' is A Decent Thriller! It doesn't leave you awe-struck, but its a good one-time watch, that has some engrossing moments & impressive performances working for it. 'Game' Synopsis: A wealthy man invites four people to his private island to blame three of them for his daughter's sudden death. The next morning, the wealthy man is found murdered. The mystery begins...'Game' has an awesome first-hour, which despite being slightly slow-paced, has the power to engage you aptly. Sadly, the second-hour is not entirely impressive. The finale, in particular, doesn't work. The motive behind the villain's deeds, appears bland. How one wishes if the second-hour was as well-done as the first-hour!Althea Delmas Kaushal's Screenplay is power-packed in parts, but unimpressive other-wise. Abhinay Deo's Direction is top-class. Cinematography captures the foreign locales, stunningly. Editing is razor-sharp. Art & Costume Design are super. Action-Sequences are average.Performance-Wise: Abhishek Bachchan is in good form. He enacts the central protagonist with ease. Kangna Ranaut is perfect. Sarah-Jane Dias looks gorgeous & delivers a fair performance. Jimmy Shergill gets limited scope, but he's remarkable in his bit, as always. Boman Irani hams. Shahana Goswami is okay. Anupam Kher is striking, while Gauhar Khan leaves a mark. On the whole, 'Game' isn't perfection, but absorbing in parts nevertheless.

'Game' is slick and stylish. The visuals are unusual (Greece, Turkey et al) and cinematography impressive. The only problem is it tries too hard and doesn't have the goods to back up its efforts. The biggest shock is the character of Boman Irani- is he the prime ministerial candidate of, did I hear it correctly, Thailand? And that too with a shady past? The tone of the movie is one of seriousness- if that is the case then people would expect you to get such little details right.Another problem is poor casting. Abhishek Bachchan sleepwalks throughout the movie. There is a difference between acting cool and being lazy. He needs to work much, much harder. Sarah Jane Dias is simply horribly cast- one needed a bewitching persona to excel in such a role. Kangna Ranaut would have been better in Sarah's role- and ironically, vice versa is also true! The director and scriptwriter fail on multiple fronts. There is little surprise and only a handful of suspense for the viewer. The CID series does a better job of maintaining suspense and entertaining the audience, even if at a basic level.Overall, a case of promising big, deliver small- and this when I watched it on DVD!

In a refreshingly slick thriller, director Abhinay Deo has quite a cast to work with for his Crime Scene Investigation – 'Game', which keeps announcing that 'it's a game...'. Yes, we get the point. There are shades of the Akhtars being in charge of writing some of the story especially in the second half. While Game offers many twists in its investigative second half that differs from the first (which deals with a conspiring meeting of distinct individuals on a Greek Island), its back stories and meandering sub-plots tend to take the Game all over the place. Nevertheless, it does make up a decent Sunday afternoon DVD rental.Four strangers from different parts of the world are summoned by the reclusive business magnate Kabir Malhotra (Anupam Kher) to his private island in Greece where he offers to help them in their crisis weary lives. After a welcome by Kabir's assistant Samara (Gauhar Khan), they are all greeted by Malhotra who reveals stories about each one's dark past and accuses them of being a part of his daughter's life and death. He also warns them of the impending arrival of the International Vigilance Team that will look into the proofs he provides against each of them the next day. But morning brings with it a shocking event that triggers a series of twists, sub-plots and mysteries that unfold before the intrigued viewer.Boman Irani plays the Thai Prime Ministerial candidate Ramsay, who keeps more secrets than the number of pills that subside his high blood pressure. His portrayal as the sinister politician is the film's dark element. Jimmy Shergil plays the popular bollywood actor Vikram Kapoor whose guilty conscience disturbs him enough to cause his films to flop. His is an insignificant character to whom one cannot really relate to or even empathize with. The alcoholic journalist Tisha Khanna (Shahana Goswami) is the other inconsequential revelation as Malhotra's second daughter, the twin sibling of the murdered Maya. One may wonder where she disappeared in the second half. Neil Menon (Abhishek Bachchan) is a casino owner and drug peddler based in stunning Istanbul where he falls in love with Maya and subsequently loses her to an accident. The film's surprise element is Abhishek's character and he does enjoy this exciting twist. Kangana Ranaut as the investigating officer looks determined but hardly credible. Sarah-Jane as Maya plays a brief role, looks good in some scenes but the characterization for her failed to draw any emotions from the viewer. With each unfolding mystery, the story keeps throwing more twists that keep the suspense alive. Unlike the C.I.D. Mysteries where analysis reveals all new characters or observation, the story tellers manage to keep it all secretive till the very end while the analysis by investigators reveals facts that were depicted in front of us which we may overlook. This is one of the intriguing aspects of the film's story telling that tends to impress. Surely, it has something to do with Javed Akhtar's skills that gave us so many thrillers in the 70's. Unfortunately, the film is not quite balanced overall. The numerous sub-plots, poorly scripted characters and direction that did not do justice to the story, all bring mediocrity to a well written plot. The film could've been a genuinely fun Game to play along but it simply lost focus in the middle and was left upon Abhishek to hold it together. Shankar Ehsaan Loy's score is average with only the end credits song 'Kaun hai ajnabi' being worthy of a download. If the story was the backbone of this film, the cinematography was its beautiful face. Istanbul has been depicted in all its splendour with slick shots from rooftops and its Bosphorus strait showcasing the city's fine architecture. Game is a slick looking thriller with a good amount of twists that engage the viewer for some time. Its problems of lengthy back-stories and poor characterization tend to disrupt the steady flow of informative investigation but blame that on its inexperienced director. Too bad for Abhishek though as he had a role to capitalize on; had everything else been done right around him. It still is worthy of the home video rental if not the expensive movie theater outing. Watch it for the stylish camera work through Greece and Turkey and to engage your mind into a murder mystery that will keep you guessing.....7.011 on a scale of 1-10.