Nov 14, 2011
The promos of Players seem to have left one very important question unanswered: Who is the real lead in the film? While one would suppose it is Abhishek Bachchan, as he’s the biggest star, Sonam Kapoor’s been dominating the promos so far, while Bipasha Basu has also sizzled with her skin show. And then there is Neil Nitin Mukesh, who has slipped by under the radar.
However, the grapevine has it that Neil is the one who pulls off the real deal in Players. “Neil plays an eccentric character who goes by the name of Spider; he’s a real powerhouse here. And even though the promos have centred on Abhi, Sonam and Bips, Neil is like a surprise package. In a negative role, he has come up triumphant,” says an source.
If that is indeed so, this would be the latest instance of Abbas Mustan writing a powerful role for their negative lead. Be it Shah Rukh in Baazigar to Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee or Priyanka Chopra in Aitraaz, it’s the negative roles they have always focussed on. And considering the film is a remake of the Hollywood blockbuster The Italian Job, it’s only fair that it’s Neil’s role — played by Ed Norton in the original — that is the most important.
