Doesn't Bluff the Audience. Review on Bluff Master - Bollywood

‘Con men’ has always been a favourite subject in Hindi cinema. In recent times Bunti Aur Babli dealt with it. And the con movie was unique in a way that it was on a con couple.

Bluffmaster is the tale of Roy (Abhishek), a professional con man. He chooses to live high life- driving big cars, going to fine dining restaurants and wants to marry Simmi, his pretty girlfriend, after being together for six months. The problem starts when one of his victims spots him in his engagement ceremony and spills the beans to his would-be in-laws. The ceremony is immediately called off by Simi and her parents. However that doesn’t change him. At the same time he keeps trying to woo her back. Then one day he is told by a doctor that he has a malignant disease and his life is only the next three months. Inspired by the well-wishing doctor he decided to give it all up and live the short life to the fullest. He even dissuades his partner in crime to live a respectable life. The rest is how he is conned and left penniless by his smarter partner. However the loser in him is happy to know he has a long life ahead and also gets back Simmi.

Sridhar Raghavan’s story is full of smart con acts with a terrific twist at the end. A good film must end well and here ending has rounded off the story. One good thing is that it never overdoes the con act bit and doesn’t deviate with side plots. Sridhar did an extensive research (Online and offline) on con acts for scripting this movie. Hence the con acts look realistic with a dash of filminess (I don’t want to compare but Bluffmaster’s con acts are very different from the over the top ‘Sale of Taj Mahal’ kind of con acts shown in Bunti Aur Babli ).The taut screenplay (By Sridhar again) does full justice to the story.

Dialogues (By Sridhar Raghavan and Rajat Arora) are simple, crisp and hardly sound filmy.

On acting Abhishek is impressive. The role is tailormade for him. Riteish as Dittu, Roy’s partner in crime is average and at times doesn’t sound convincing. Priyanka is good. She brings out the right amount of emotion with her lines. The movie is elevated by two gem of performances from Boman Irani (Dr Bhalerao) and Nana Patekar. Only an actor of Boman’s capability could bring out the funny, eccentric, childish doctor so convincingly. Nana plays Chandru, the mean and lecherous hotelier. He gets the right role, the right and the best lines minus the vocal overdose associated with his typical characters on screen. The actor who played Omar has done a good job too.

Such films will definitely push Abhishek’s career. But I believe to become a bigger star he needs to add some extra zing to certain scenes. I wish the drunken scene would be better. Any comparison with ‘him’ will look unfair but just to refer to a source of inspiration Amitabh has done countless great drunken scenes, including one in Bunti Aur Babliwhere Abhishek was in the scene. In dancing Abhishek is definitely evolving his own style, thanks to choreographers like Bosco-Caeser who know how to make him dance well. This choreographer duo has done really good work in this film.

The film is helped by brilliant background score and sound design (By Shajith Koyeri). The minimalistic score is a soother among high-octane scores in today’s ‘technically advanced’ flicks. Shot on sync sound, every dialogue and sound is at the right scale.

Brilliant editing by Amitabh Shukla gives the film the right pace. Thanks to him the story is well told in fourteen reels flat.

A no. of music directors have composed a handful of songs for this film. Every song is situational. The title song depicts Roy’s philosophy of life- Money is the ultimate thing in life, even more important than parents. All the songs are well-composed and the lyrics well-written. The music is peppy and foot-tapping. Abhishek’s hip hop number Right Here, Right Now(Composed by Vishal-Shekhar) will appeal to the hip crowd. However, it comes with the end titles.

There are a couple of continuity jerks which could be avoided possibly keeping a continuity supervisor in the unit. For example Abhishek’s shirt changes twice on the move. 1. When he comes out of the cafeteria in his car with Priyanka to show her his friend’s apartment. 2. When he was told by the doctor that he had an incurable brain tumour. He left the hospital in a yellow shirt and white jacket but reached Priyanka’s home in a black shirt. This one looks downright silly.

Rohan Sippy’s making is slick and smart. He has shot all the outdoor scenes in Mumbai. This comes as a refreshing change to an audience tired of 'mandatory’ foreign locations. Of late a spate of young directors in mainstream cinema are showing foreign locations are useless if the story doesn’t demand it, like Shaad Ali in Bunti Aur Babli.

Rohan played safe with his debut Kuch Na Kaho and failed. This time he seemingly has changed his approach besides his looks. And he is bang on ! We have one more bright young filmmaker to look forward to.

After Munnabhai MBBSthis is one movie I found worth repeat viewing. If you haven’t seen it, go for it on VCD/DVD or catch it the next time it comes on television.