Film: Gambler
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: Sri Kanipakkam Ganapathi Films
Cast: Ajith, Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Jayaprakash and Others
Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematographer: Sakthi Saravanan
Director: Venkat Prabhu
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release date: 09/09/2011
Yet another dubbed movie has come from Kollywood and this time, it has top star Ajith along with Trisha in the lead. Let us see how the gamble is..
Story
Vinayak (Ajith) is a cop on suspension and he is someone who can do anything for money. He has a girlfriend Sanjana (Trisha). Sanjana’s father Sambasiva Reddy (Jayaprakash) runs a club on the outset but inside it is a hub for all betting money on cricket.
With IPL finals around, an amount of Rs 500 crores is on the stake and Reddy decides to run the show from Mumbai. However, his loyal henchman Sumanth (Vaibhav) gets greedy, teams up with his friends Premji, Mahant, Ganesh (premji, ashwin, mahant) to steal the money. This is discovered by Vinayak and he joins the plot. Meanwhile, ACP Prithviraj (Arjun) is on hot trail of the cricket bookies and wants to wipe out the ring.
Is Vinayak successful in his plan? How is ACP Prithviraj linked to this? How each individual shapes their destiny forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Ajith looks suave and sophisticated, he delivers the required meanness and his handsome appearance adds to the appeal. Overall, he has come up with a committed performance.
Arjun is brief and despite passing his prime, it is still a mystery how he manages to look so young and do his own stunts. He made his presence felt with whatever was given to him.
Trisha was hardly there. Whenever she was there, she failed to grab attention. The beauty and glow she once possessed has withered out and she looks quite pale in this.
Lakshmi Rai is luscious and a visual delight to any admirer of sex appeal. Her oomph factor, lust filled eyes and voluptuous figure gives value for money.
Vaibhav got a meaty role and he did justice to it, Premgi was energetic and brought few smiles, Ashwin and Mahant are handsome and did their bit as required. Anjali and Andrea were apt. Jayaprakash was elegant and effective. The others contributed in their own way.
Highlights
- Cinematography
- Technical values
- Ajith’s performance
Drawbacks
- Weak narration
- Silly comedy
- Mishandling of good subject
- Slow pace
- Poor content
- No intensity
Analysis
Right from the word go, it was clear that the maker was trying to imitate a John Woo style of narrative. But there is a difference of chalk and cheese. Yes, there are some really stylish sequences but all that looks hollow and superficial without any substance in it.
The focus and concentration shown on presentation was not shown on the subject and everything feels weird.
As usual, the nativity factor was missing and with that predictable ‘Arva Paithyam’ in between, it only makes the audience squirm in their seats than smile.
Bringing in so many characters and trying to connect the dots requires able handling of the script but that didn’t happen here.
Overall, this is a film with slick presentation but sick narrative. At the Tollywood box office, this is sure to sink.
Bottomline: Don’t gamble, you will tumble
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected])
