Cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Tena Desae and Paresh Rawal
Purists love to criticise Hindi films for having too many Hollywood film references. While I’m no purist I can sincerely say that there is one too many scenes in Table No. 21 that remind you of past Hollywood thrillers. Of course, a film desperately trying to emulate a western production can’t be too novel. Even though its story has all the right twists, Table No. 21’s presentation looks like it was borrowed from far too many dvds.
For starters there’s a scene right at the start where a man leaps to his death from a building. A camera captures his suicide and that is put online for the world to see. Untraceable (2008) had similar scenes where a serial killer posts videos of his victims online. There are many panoramic shots of lovely Fijian locales in Table No. 21. All of which you can extensively spot in past films like The Blue Lagoon (1980), Reel Paradise (1992), Couples Retreat (2009) and many more. Paresh Rawal is the host of the truth or dare game played with Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae. And his prop in this game is a fancy wooden table that slides open in a way that reminds one of the magical board game in Jumanji (1995). Paresh Rawal’s character keeps asserting the fact that in his game if you lie you die and that eventually the game would end with death is eerily similar to the premise of the popular Saw series (2004-2010).
On paper the story seems smashing. An unassuming couple gets entangled in a game of death lured by the Rs 21 crore prize. Right at the end it gives you a good twist too. But Table No. 21 never does enough to recover from its Hollywood hangover. Aditya Datt’s direction isn’t all that bad. Times when Rajeev Khandelwal’s character jumps into flashbacks lends a nice non-linear narrative touch to the proceedings. But even such glimpses of promise are marred by tired dialogue like “If you lie you die” and “Secrets are sexy”.
On the subject of clichés, like every grey cloud’s silver lining, Table No. 21’s saving grace is its actors. Paresh Rawal, Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae perform with convictions but how far can a captain steer a ship with a cracked hull? The reason Table No 21 draws such archaic and dull reactions is because quite simply said, it’s done to death.
For starters there’s a scene right at the start where a man leaps to his death from a building. A camera captures his suicide and that is put online for the world to see. Untraceable (2008) had similar scenes where a serial killer posts videos of his victims online. There are many panoramic shots of lovely Fijian locales in Table No. 21. All of which you can extensively spot in past films like The Blue Lagoon (1980), Reel Paradise (1992), Couples Retreat (2009) and many more. Paresh Rawal is the host of the truth or dare game played with Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae. And his prop in this game is a fancy wooden table that slides open in a way that reminds one of the magical board game in Jumanji (1995). Paresh Rawal’s character keeps asserting the fact that in his game if you lie you die and that eventually the game would end with death is eerily similar to the premise of the popular Saw series (2004-2010).
On paper the story seems smashing. An unassuming couple gets entangled in a game of death lured by the Rs 21 crore prize. Right at the end it gives you a good twist too. But Table No. 21 never does enough to recover from its Hollywood hangover. Aditya Datt’s direction isn’t all that bad. Times when Rajeev Khandelwal’s character jumps into flashbacks lends a nice non-linear narrative touch to the proceedings. But even such glimpses of promise are marred by tired dialogue like “If you lie you die” and “Secrets are sexy”.
On the subject of clichés, like every grey cloud’s silver lining, Table No. 21’s saving grace is its actors. Paresh Rawal, Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae perform with convictions but how far can a captain steer a ship with a cracked hull? The reason Table No 21 draws such archaic and dull reactions is because quite simply said, it’s done to death.
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