Bluffmaster! (2005)
Roy is a professional conman, who has raised his work to the level of an art. The only true thing he has is his love for Simmi someone who is so rooted, honest and sincere, that he can't bring himself to tell her the reality of who he is. But when his past catches up with him, she cannot forgive him for the deceit their relationship is built on. He loses her forever. That's when Aditya Srivastav enters the picture. He is the counterpoint to everything that Roy is as frantic as Roy is calm, as dumb as Roy is smart, as messy and untidy as Roy is smooth. They have only one thing in common. Aditya is a conman too. At least he thinks of himself as one. In Roy's book, he's an embarrassment. But one that won't go away!
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Reviews
Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Simply Perfect
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Bluffmaster is one unique masterpiece. When you think about it, it's a masala film. When you analyze it, it's not a typical masala film. It's nice blend of action, suspense, comedy and drama.Abhishek Bachchan is the star of the movie. Most of his roles are usually the supporting one and he is usually overshadowed by the Roshans, Khans & Big B. It is very nice to see him as the hero of the movie. He played "Roy" with utmost sincerity & tons of attitude. He suits the role very well, from the looks & everything else in between.Priyanka Chopra's character blended very well in the story. Most heroines in Bollywood are just a "decoration" to the movies, but Simmi's character begs to differ. Her character is not a Barbie doll, rather, her role is very logical & refreshing compared to others. Nice performance, indeed.Ritesh Desmukh has a nice timing for comedy. He knows when to make the joke. And he's also good at the dramatic scenes in the movie.Boman Irani plays his character very well. 50% serious & 50% funny best describes his character here. It is challenging to portray and I can say that played the role very well.Nana Patekar is the show-stealer. Good transition from the bad & dangerous gang leader to the tree-staying guy. He's very convincing as a villain and I can say he's really cool.Costumes - Love it. Very urban and modern.Dialogue - This movie has the wittiest lines in the history of Bollywood.Songs - The songs fit the movie well, which is very urban (and I'm a big urban music fan).All in all, 9/10
Bluffmaster is a delightful movie. The dialogues are crisp and far above average from Hindi film sentimentality. Abhishek Bachhan is a natural and I do believe that he is a far better actor than his very popular father. His Hindustani diction is leaps and bounds better than all the Khans combined. Nana Patekar is at his comic best as his sinister character belies the poet at heart. I was able to tolerate Priyanka Chopra in this movie, far better than the Barbie character she plays in Krrish. Boman Irani is funny. I do believe that much of the film is a mish-mash of lifts from western films of the genre and even some of the dialogues are plagiarized. But the Hindustani play on metaphors and aphorisms is what makes this movie so very fun to watch. The English subtitles do little justice to the rich dialogue in Hindustani.The songs are a wonderful blend of Hinglish.
When will Indian movie makers learn to give up copying foreign plots?? This is a lift of "Nine Queens" an excellent Latino film I had seen some years back. I guess the writer / director had one thing in mind "how to get a 1:30 Hr film to be a 2:10 Hr film", for that they arbitrarily threw in songs and boring plots and scenes. Boman for e.g. when explaining to Abhishek to live life the fullest is rather a drag. Everything from story, theme and camera movement are copied and does not suit the movie or the actors at all. I hear this movie is a box office success - ah well that goes to show what formula works for Indian cinema. This is only going to prompt other Indian directors and producers to attempt copies. So when Indian cinema takes 1 step forward (Rang De Basante) it is also thrown back 10 steps by movie attempt such as this one!
The twist at the end lifted an ordinary movie for me to something slightly better then average.Pros: A couple of performances. Ritesh stole the show despite being underused. This guy hasn't looked back since Masti and is easily one of the best comedians in Bollywood today. Nana in his typical style owns every scene he's a part of(especially the climax). It's good to see him do something a little different. The look of the film is very 'Bombay' and I thought it gelled in perfectly with the subject matter.Cons: The Abhshek-Priyanka relationship didn't do it for me at all. They look good physically, but that's all there is to it. Abhishek's fixation with her is puzzling throughout the movie. In one scene he's talking to her abt not doing his thing anymore because he "loves" her, but we know that's a flat out lie. Makes AB's already confusing feelings for her look even weaker. His character in fact is very contradictory for the majority of the story. Tough to see his motivation for the stuff he does. AB Jr. gives a fairly good performance(if a bit dull), but I would prefer the leading character of any movie to have some likable traits and Roy doesn't really have 'em. This matters because the people AB's conning are GOOD guys, so why exactly should we like this guy or even root for him? He struck me as a real jerk.Priyanka's acting is strictly OK and even her appearance isn't what we've come to expect from her. Boman Irani's character reminded me a little too much of some of his previous ones. He's good, but NOT My Wife's Murder or Munnabhai good.Still, I would say BM is worth a dekho once for the novelty(Bolly "novelty", of course), a couple of very enjoyable performances and the great twist at the end. A lot of people have complained abt the slow pace in the middle but the story was good enough to keep my attention.