Players (2012 film)

Players
Five people are seen in the poster, three men and two women. Two of the men are sitting atop of gold bricks, holding guns. The other three are standing behind them. Both women are wearing revealing tops, showing their torso, one of them also has a gun in her hand.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbbas–Mustan
Written byScreenplay:
Rohit Jugraj
Sudip Sharma
Dialogues:
Sudip Sharma
Story byOriginal Story:
Troy Kennedy Martin
Adapted Story:
Nikhat Bhatty
Bhaskar Hazarika
Based onThe Italian Job
by Peter Collinson
Produced byAbbas–Mustan
StarringVinod Khanna
Abhishek Bachchan
Bobby Deol
Sonam Kapoor
Bipasha Basu
Neil Nitin Mukesh
Sikandar Kher
Omi Vaidya
CinematographyRavi Yadav
Edited byHussain A. Burmawala
Music bySongs:
Pritam
Score:
Sandeep Shirodkar
Production
companies
Distributed byWave Cinemas[1]
Release date
  • 6 January 2012 (2012-01-06)
Running time
163 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹550 million[2]
Box office₹486.2 million[3]

Players is a 2012 Indian heist action thriller film[4] directed by the duo Abbas–Mustan and jointly produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Burmawala Partners. The film features an ensemble cast of Vinod Khanna, Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sikandar Kher, and Omi Vaidya while Aftab Shivdasani appears in a cameo.[5] The theatrical trailer premiered on 3 November 2011, and the film was released on 6 January 2012.[6] It is an official remake of The Italian Job,[7][8] and is the second remake of the 1969 British film after the 2003 American remake of the same name.[9] Players employs the same plot as the 2003 version, while making the characters and incidents completely different.[10][11]

The story follows a team of players, consisting of a don, a con-man, a lady thief, a seductress, a magician, an explosives expert, an expert hacker and a prosthetic makeup artist, who plan to steal gold worth ₹100 billion (US$1.2 billion) from a moving train. During the robbery they are double crossed by members of their own team.[12]

Players was named one of the most anticipated Bollywood films of 2012,[13] as it received hype ever since it was announced to be a remake of The Italian Job, was made on a huge budget,[14] had a multistar cast, was filmed in foreign locations as New Zealand, Russia and even the North Pole—which was a first for a Bollywood film—[15][16] and was heavily promoted.[17] Upon release the film received mixed reviews from critics.[18] It opened to a poor response at the box office, despite having a wide release.[19]

  1. ^ Shah, Kunal. "How it added up". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  2. ^ https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=8
  3. ^ https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/players/box-office/
  4. ^ "Players". British Board of Film Classification.
  5. ^ "Players Cast & Crew". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Abbas Mustan's Italian Job remake Players to release on 6 January, 2012". Business of Cinema. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  7. ^ Nyay Bhushan (23 November 2010). "India to Remake 'The Italian Job'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Remakes not a trend, but creative choice: Abhishek". The Times of India. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  9. ^ Jason Korsner (22 September 2003). "Jury's out on Italian Job remake". BBC News. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. ^ Sunny Malik (18 December 2011). "Abhishek talks about Players". Bolly Spice. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  11. ^ Joginder Tuteja (30 June 2008). "Abbas-Mustan to remake Italian Job". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  12. ^ "Watch Players for high-speed action". India Today. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  13. ^ "Get set for comedy, thrillers in 2012". The Times of India. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  14. ^ Joginder Tuteja (10 November 2011). "So what's the real budget of Abbas-Mustan's Players?". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  15. ^ Devansh Patel (26 December 2011). "Players is first Indian movie to be shot at North Pole". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  16. ^ Anjuri Nayar (30 November 2011). "Abbas Mustan talk about their Players". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  17. ^ "Box-office 2012 opens weak with 'Players'". The Times of India. 10 January 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Abhishek Bachchan leads the Players | DESIblitz". DESIblitz. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  19. ^ Shekar (7 January 2012). "Abhishek's Players gets a lukewarm opening at Box Office". Oneindia.in. Retrieved 12 January 2012.