Love Games movie review: Beyond lust lies an intriguing tale

Director: Vikram Bhatt

Cast: Gaurav Arora, Patralekhaa, Tara Alisha Berry

‘Love Games’ is yet another film from the house of Bhatt’s, who is known to make films that portray women in a sensual way. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, ‘Love Games’ might upset you on the visual delight but the film surely promises a thrilling murder mystery. The film throws light at the lives of rich people, their posh and expensive lifestyles and their deep dark secrets.

The story begins with an unknown death of a famous industrialist Om Raichand, who mysteriously falls from the rooftop of his pent house. He leaves behind his wife Ramona Raichand (Patralekhaa) along with his empire. Ramona, who is a drug and sex addict, chooses to continue her jazzy lifestyle with her close friend Sam (Gaurav Arora). Sam is a loner who is struggling to find peace and happiness, mingles around Ramona for fun and drugs. In the due course of time, Sam starts realising his pain of isolation and indulges in self-harm. Sam often consults his psychiatrist but fails to rejuvenate. Ramona incites Sam to play love games; a game where the two will hunt down couples who are madly in love and seduce the opposite sex.

Soon enough, the two start attending posh parties across the city as they look out for partners to seduce in their deadly game of lust. Everything's going smoothly for Ramona and Sam until the latter meets a beautiful girl named Alisha (Tara Alisha Berry).

Alisha, a surgeon by profession is married to city’s biggest criminal lawyer Gaurav (Hiten Tejwani). But she is going through her own hell as her aggressive husband sexually and physically abuses Alisha every now and then. After meeting Sam, Alisha's life turns upside down as she find solace in him and the two fall in love. Who knew that a game started by Ramona and Sam would eventually change their lives forever as a sudden turn of events leads to an interesting tale of love and betrayal. Will Ramona let Sam fall in love with Alisha? Will Alisha ever walk out of her abusive relationship with Gaurav and start a new life with Sam? To unravel these mysteries, you’ll have to watch ‘Love Games’.

It would be unfair if I say it is an unseen tale of sex, mystery and betrayal but somewhere down the line, director Vikram Bhatt manages to sail through with his typical midas touch. The intriguing screenplay keeps you glued till the climax. Nevertheless, ‘Love Games’ is a typical Bhatt camp film where women and mystery play a pivotal role. Debutant Gaurav Arora is refreshing. He has immense potential to pull of a solo hero ‘Bhatt’ film with his balanced facial expressions, chiselled body and a boy next-door image but he needs to spruce up his dialogue delivery skills a tad bit. Tara Alisha Berry is so convincing that you can't help but empathize with her character. With every new film, Tara is surely getting better. Post her d-glam debut in ‘Citylights’, Patralekhaa tries to don a sex and drug addict in which she shines but not too bright. Her cruel laugh, steamy lip locks are to look for, however I still feel that Patralekhaa was not the right fit for such fierce role.

Despite a well-crafted story, ‘Love Games’ has few loopholes of its own. Hiten Tejwani’s attempt to give passionate lip locks to Patralekhaa fails miserably. In another scene, we see Sam asking Patralekhaa for help to push the car in the valley. While wearing his blue check shirt, Sam accidently drops his business card in the car and then we see Patralekhaa find that card in her car. How is it possible? Did Hiten and Patralekhaa swap their cars before pushing it down the valley? And let's not forget the scene towards the climax, where Alisha's father digs her grave all by himself to rescue her daughter, which is so unreal and comical.

Music by Sangeet and Sidharth Haldipur is melodious especially ‘Awargi’ and ‘Mohabbat’, rest other songs just move past you. Bhatt camp’s ‘Love Games’ has similar glimpses from their earlier films like ‘Jism’, ‘Murder’, ‘Zeher’ but introducing on-screen partner swinging and threesome are the latest dares to join the list of the camp. ‘Love Games’ is a watchable one if you have nothing to do this weekend or simply if you don’t get the tickets for ‘The Jungle Book’.