Star Value: Players, which is the official remake of the Hollywood flick The Italian Job, has well-known names like Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Sonam Kapoor and Omi Vaidya. However, these names don’t have the power to garner huge opening for a movie. Over the years, the star power of Abhishek and Bipasha has reduced while Neil’s decision of becoming choosy has lessened his popularity.

Hype: The makers have created Hollywood-like interesting promos and posters but the hype is missing. Even, the publicity campaign has been low key. There is hardly any excitement for Abbas-Mustan’s ambitious project.

Music: The song ‘Jis Jagah Pe Khatam’ is a catchy number with intelligent lyrics but despite that it hasn’t become famous. Other promoted songs like ‘Yeh Dooriyan’ and ‘Dil Ye Bekaraar’ are hardly known by the public.

Prediction: Although Players has been in the news ever since its announcement, it will fail to have a good opening due to the lack of hype and excitement. Even if the critics’ and initial audience response is positive, it will still have a tough time at the box-office. Sadly, Abhishek’s chances of returning to the successful league look dim.