Teen Patti

‘Gandhi’ meets the ‘Big B’ in Bollywood’s dire riff on a mediocre Hollywood movie (‘21’). Sir Ben Kingsley is Perci, a dodgy Cambridge don who invites mathematician genius Venkat (Bachchan) to receive the Sir Isaac Newton award. When the two stalwarts meet, the Indian Einstein reflects on his cracking of the lottery game of the title and the subsequent fallout with his sexy student assistants. Told largely in flashback, with frequent use of inexplicable on-screen montages, this gamble at pushing the bolly-envelope is a loser. Taunt whodunit thriller potential is lost by an overlong, pretentious narrative. Racy dialogue, dark interiors, cameos, saucy songs and auto-pilot acting fail to create mood and character. Its profound ‘knowledge is power which must be used responsibly’ message is laughable.