Table No 21

A rare Bollywood movie in which the protagonists are greedy, hedonistic and sadistic

Though the game-show format of Table No 21 gives you that sinking déjà vu that a derived film triggers, and though the CCTV replays in the movie are stupid and serve no function, somehow you are held for the duration of its running time. The charming couple on their fifth wedding anniversary at a resort in Fiji are nasty, manipulative and acquisitive. We know that, but it is kind of fun to watch their greatest social attributes on display.

Their mouths watering at the money to be won, Vivaan and Siya drop all inhibitions on the island. The nakedness of greed, the transactional element in love and sex, the pleasure of pain inflicted on the vulnerable and defenceless; these are not things we see in protagonists of mainstream Hindi cinema. But we see them in Vivaan (Rajeev Khandelwal) when he reveals how he cheated to woo Siya, and we see them in Siya (Tena Desae) when she lies about her marriage.

The best line in Table No 21 is that oft quoted deference to consumer culture: “Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness, obviously didn’t know where to shop.” Siya says this with great élan after Mr Khan (Paresh Rawal) makes a Rs 21 crore offer to the couple to star in a game-show where the only rule is that ‘If you lie, you die’. Still, thank God, Siya knows where to shop—her bikinis and dresses are exquisite.

Because it’s a game-show, Table No 21 needs hamming more than it does acting, and in this sense Khandelwal and Desae are very well cast. They are good looking bakras for a ghoulish internet audience. Rawal, well below his best, holds the film together with screen presence. This is certainly not a film you can email home about, but it never bores you, and is, in fact, watchable.

About The Author

Ajit Duara