Love Games (film)

Love Game
Directed by	Vikram Bhatt
Produced by	Mukesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt
Written by	Vikram Bhatt
Starring	Patralekha Tara Alisha Berry Gaurav Arora
Music by	Sangeet Siddharth
Cinematography	Manoj Soni
Production company	Vishesh Films
Distributed by	T-Series
Release dates	April 8, 2016 (2016-04-08)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹100 million[1]
Box office	₹40.4 million[2][3]

Love Games is a 2016 Indian urban-thriller film directed by Vikram Bhatt and produced by Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt. The film stars Patralekha, Gaurav Arora and Tara Alisha Berry in the main cast. It was released on 8 April 2016.^[4][5]

Plot

When a film opens with a background voice chanting sex eight times in 20 seconds, you know what you have gotten yourself into. It gets even more interesting when a sultry seductress arrives announcing, “I like only three things: winning, cocaine and love games.” Titled Love Games – Love Dangerously, this film is about an adventurous woman Ramona Raichand (Patralekha) who lives on the edge. Thrill is all she wants in life, and Sam (Gaurav Arora) is her toy boy. Sam is a depressed guy who likes SH (self harm), this is the term they use in the film. The closet couple decides to take their escapades one notch higher by playing love games. As per the rules of this game, Ramona and Sam need to find the happiest couple in a page 3 party and then seduce one of them to bed. Here they meet a successful criminal lawyer Gaurav Asthana (Hiten Tejwani) and his surgeon wife Alisha (Tara Alisha Berry). The wife’s vulnerability against her abusive husband only helps Ramona and Sam’s cause. The proceedings take a wild turn when Sam falls for Alisha. Ramona isn’t willing to let go Sam, and their relationship becomes sour. But, is this just the beginning of another twisted love game? Director Vikram Bhatt’s film features the interiors of Mumbai penthouses where middle class morals are unheard of. They abuse spouses in public, pour drink over each other in parties and go on with their lives, without feeling any remorse. It’s a sure shot box office formula the Bhatt camp has been exploring since 15 years. What started with Kasoor in 2001 found a milestone in Murder (2004), and has now become a staple in 2016. Only they are getting more scandalous and ‘bold’ in their approach. And what do they mean by bold: Cut out the sexual innuendos and state them in as many words. Love Games introduces us to cocaine-snorting friends with benefits within minutes before providing a peep into the lonely lives of its protagonists, and soon it becomes murkier. Ramona’s obsession takes the center-stage and Sam gets pushed to play a victim, but the film loses the shock value in the process. It’s not something we haven’t witnessed before. Once the surprise factor dies down, we’re left with only fast paced action, but disappointment greets us right there because Love Games is a lift-up from many similar films. Words hold no meaning after a while. Come on, we have been there, heard that. Newcomer Gaurav Arora looks confident and has shown some potential, but it’s very difficult for anybody to stand out in a film meant to explore the uncontrollable sexual urge of its heroine.

Cast

• Patralekha as Ramona Raichand
• Gaurav Arora as Sameer Saxena (Sam)
• Tara Alisha Berry as Alisha Asthana
• Hiten Tejwani as Gaurav Asthana
• Alisha Farrer as Sonia Kamat
• Rukhsar Rehman as Sameer's psychiatrist

Production

Marketing

The trailer and first poster of the film was released on 2 March 2016. Trailer became viral and crossed a million views on YouTube in few days.^[6]

Soundtrack

The first song titled "Awargi" was released on 5 March 2016 where as the complete soundtrack consisting of seven tracks was released on 8 March 2016 under T-Series. It also had English songs. It was composed by Sangeet Siddharth and the lyrics were given by Kausar Munir and Vikram Bhatt.^[7]

Release

The film was released on 8 April 2016 under the production banner of Vishesh Films and was distributed by T-Series in cinemas across India.^[8][9]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
DNA India
Times of India
Zee News
NDTV Movies
The Indian Express

The film mostly gained negative reviews from critics. Mohar Basu of Times of India gave the film 2.5 out of 5. He said: "Vikram Bhatt's Love Games tries to be a tempestuous tale about temptations. But his bright concept is far from being well-fleshed out. There were a bunch of interesting ideas which never intertwine with the narrative."^[10] Sarita A Tanwar of DNA India said that If you love games, stay away. After watching this one, you wouldn't come close to even board games. He rated the film 1 out of 2.^[11] Zee News rated the film with 2.5 stars out of 5.^[12] Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV Movies said "Love Games is a Vishesh Films offering. So it does not lack surface gloss. But it simply isn't enough to hide its lack of depth. Best avoided" He rated the film with one and a half star out of five.^[13] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave a half star to the film.^[14]

References

External links

• Love Games at the Internet Movie Database