Throughout the 21st century, Bollywood has continued to attract global audiences. The market, which also means Hindi cinema, has sustained its modern-day popularity by adopting a diverse cinematic approach. The industry’s cultural foundations allow it to explore various themes. Of those, casinos have been at the forefront of the sector and the inspiration behind award-winning films. But, which are the best? Well, here are a few that are worth watching.
Teen Patti
Released back in 2010, Teen Patti embraces the contemporary popularity of casino themes. The title, which translates to Three Cards, was directed by Leena Yadav, who won the Stockholm Impact Award at the 2015 Stockholm Film Festival for Parched. Teen Patti features a star-studded cast, with Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, and Raima Sen playing leading roles. The movie’s plot centers around Bachchan’s character, Venkat Subramaniam, striving to write a paper on probability in the ever-popular card game, Teen Patti. However, as the title progresses, things start to go south, and his research takes him down an unexpected path.
Fascinatingly, this exploration of Teen Patti in Bollywood films showcases the ever-growing appeal of the traditional card game in cinema. The social activity in the Indian subcontinent is something of a microcosm of wider casino trends, as the subject has long featured in the entertainment business. Now, the offerings at Genesis Casino on mobile reflect this and showcase the subject matters’ digital growth. Through such operators, fans of the theme can immerse themselves in a wide-ranging portfolio of titles, many of which run flawlessly on smartphones. Regarding Teen Patti, the platform hosts live versions of the game, which is a testament to its popularity across various entertainment streams.
Jannat
Another must-watch casino-inspired Bollywood movie is Jannat. Upon hitting the big screens in 2008, the title and its cast received nominations for various awards, including Sonal Chauhan, who was up for the Filmfare Awards’ Best Debut Actress honor in 2009. Unlike Teen Patti, which is a thriller, this 13-year-old film is a crime romance creation. Translated to mean Heaven, Kunal Deshmukh’s creation thrived on the global stage and recorded first-weekend grossing figures of around “.2 million.
The core of the movie centers around aspiring to seek true love. In the opening scenes, Arjun, who’s played by Emraan Hashmi, is arrested for stealing a gold ring that Chauhan’s character longs for. Following this, it sparks a desire within him to achieve greatness for his love, and he strives to do so by progressing from being a small-time gambler to a big-shot bookie. With casino undertones, the overarching theme of Jannat focuses on fighting for what you want and pursuing true happiness.
The Great Gambler
By both name and nature, The Great Gambler is an all-time great Bollywood title. The oldest of the three films, this 1979 release is a classic casino-inspired movie that has enjoyed global success. Unlike Jannat, this focuses more heavily on gambling as an art. In the film, Bachchan, who played Subramaniam in Teen Patti, is cast in the leading role as Jai, an unbeaten gambling expert.
Early on, Jai attracts the interests of Ratan Das, a well-known undercover don, who utilizes his skillset by hiring him to defeat wealthy businessmen, as per Rotten Tomato. However, as the title progresses, Jai gets caught up in more complex matters, including a government operation relating to a military laser weapon. Not only that, but the protagonist also has an identical twin, which adds another element to the cleverly-written production.
Casinos Have Inspired Bollywood Creations for More Than 40 Years
As mentioned above, Hindi cinema is incredibly diverse, but there can be no doubts that casinos have long been a go-to theme for film writers. In many ways, The Great Gambler sparked a casino-inspired revolution, which continues to impact modern-day cinematic ideas, as evident from Jannat and Teen Patti. Because of this, a bright future looks inevitable regarding casino themes and Bollywood creations.