Reference Auto

Response: Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey has had a disastrous opening during the weekend with an overall occupancy across the country standing at a mere 10-15%. Mired by mass cancellations, it has grossed a paltry Rs 3.25 crore over the weekend and falls short of even an average film like Break ke Baad. Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is unlikely to pick up in the next week and can fall in the category of a flop.

Film type: Period

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Sikandar Kher and Vishakha Singh

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker

Time of movie: Nearly three hours

Story: Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is based on the much-forgotten freedom struggle in Chittagong. Surjya Sen (Abhishek Bachchan) is a school teacher who leads a revolt at Chottogram (Chittagong) in 1930 with the help of his five men who are Sikander Kher, Samrat Mukherjee, Feroz Wahid Khan, Shreyas Pandit, Maninder Singh and two women women (Deepika Padukone and Vishakha Singh) along with 56 teenagers.

They target to debilitate the cantonment, take away the armoury, cut off rail link and raze the telegraph office and take the Britishers hostage. But the plan doesn’t work out and the group members instead find themselves on the run. The retaliation by the British force leads to a few of them being gunned down while others are arrested with some of them being sent to the gallows.

Review: Though Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey saw few takers, reviews haven’t been bad at all. In fact, Ashutosh Gowariker recreates the independence struggle era quite well. Performances have also been commendable. Abhishek does a good job but fails to justify his lead role in the film. The movie also fails to connect to the youth despite Abhishek’s charisma.

That is probably why Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey did miserably at the box office during the opening weekend. After all, history of the freedom struggle is a forgotten chapter for today’s youth. Deepika Padukone, on the other hand, with her limited role, has hardly any opportunity to display her talent even though she does a badminton sequence well.

There wasn’t a need for the director to drag the film for three hours. He could have pruned a few scenes to make it a tad more interesting. But Ashutosh decided to stay loyal to history. Although not for entertainment, you can go for Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey if you want to see a slice of the country’s independence movement replicated to near perfection.

Rating: 3/5