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Shraddha Kapoor like other debutantes in the film went through a rigorous acting sessions from Barry Jones. As Sharddha fondly recollects, Leena Yadav, the director of the movie was with them 24/7. So did you learn Teen Patti? "Of course we did. All of us learnt the game. We played the game for three months. The game is difficult. You have to follow your instincts and put up a brave face even if you are losing. I also won a few games which I am sure I did by fluke," chuckles Shraddha.

Since the subject involved mathematical theories and poker games, the research involved consulting many mathematicians from MIT and IIT. “MY plan was to make a film on the youth,” explains Yadav, who co-wrote the story with Shivkumar Subramaniam. “I met composer Vishal Dadlani who narrated a few incidents related to gambling scams in the US I read up further on card scams and decided to adapt the idea to an Indian setting.”

From script to screen, the film took three-years. Shooting locations ranged from Mumbai’s gambling addas to casinos in London. “Unlike Shabd , which took 38 days to film, Teen Patti took time to script. There were 1,000 auditions for some of the roles,” says Yadav, who started her career as an editor with Rajkumar Hirani in ad films and has worked for television serials like Sea Hawks on Doordarshan.

Rumour mills have started working over time accussing Teen Patti of being a rip-off from Robert Luketic’s 2008 Hollywood film 21, about an MIT scandal on blackjack. “I had officially locked my script before 21 released. My plot is completely different, the only similarity between the two films is the study of human greed,” she explains. With a release slated for February 26, Yadav is confident the wheel of fortune will swing her way.

Amitabh Bachchan is proud to have worked with four newcomers in the new film Teen Patti, saying even when he did not know his lines, they would be set and ready on the sets. And it was much the same with co-actor Ben Kingsley, whose preparedness left the Indian megastar a trifle embarrassed.

"I am proud to work with these young debutant actors. It's their first film and I am certain that when you will see the film you won't believe that it was their first film. I hope they will have a very bright future," Amitabh told reporters after the first look of Teen Patti at Cinemax Versova.

Amitabh worked with Siddharth Kher, Shraddha Kapoor, Vaibhav Talwar and Dhruv Ganesh in Leena Yadav's film. The movie also stars the legendary Kingsley.

"They were very enthusiastic and determined to do their work well at this age. They were doing very well in their very first film - the way they have prepared their roles, the rehearsals they did for months to get into the character."

"Many a time I would go on to the sets and not know what I was supposed to do or my lines were not ready with me, but they were all set and ready. That was the inspiration. So every night when I went back to the hotel or came back home, I made sure that I also prepared, so that I didn't look like a fool the next morning," the superstar added.

Teen Patti is an emotionally riveting and razor sharp thriller about greed, deception and giant feats of imagination.

"I play the role of mathematics professor who has cracked a theory of probability and my seniors in university are discarding my findings. One day while playing cards on the computer I realise that my theory is applicable to card games. I discuss my theory with my junior professor, played by Madhavan, and he gives me the idea of visiting a casino and trying my theory," Big B said.

"The theory is if I get to know any one person's cards, by theory of probability I would be able to guess the cards of other members playing the game. That way we win a huge amount of money which in return subjects us to some unprecedented circumstances," he said.

On working with Kingsley, Amitabh said: "He is a wonderful human being. I think that's what comes through before you actually encounter him as an actor. He readily agreed to a reading rehearsal, much before we went on the set and when we were working in England he came across to the hotel where I was and we sat in our room just like two ordinary people and to my surprise he knew every alphabet of his dialogues much, much before I had even decided to sort of look at it.

"That was very embarrassing for me because I was just reading my script and he was reciting all his lines. Very, very well prepared, very considerate actor, very considerate to all his colleagues. It was a wonderful experience," he added.

Referring to Mathematics, Bachchan said he never liked the subject as a student. "It is tough for most of us. But, this is just a film and I followed by director's instructions," he said.

Speaking about Ben Kingsley, Bachchan said, "I found Sir Ben to be a wonderful human being before encountering him as an actor. We did lot of reading rehearsals before shooting. When we met as ordinary people in our hotel room, he knew his dialogues very well. He is a considerate and well prepared actor and also a gracious man."

When asked why she decided to sign Kingsley, director Leena said she was on the lookout for an actor who plays a Mathematician whom Venkat Subramanium (Amitabh) looks up to.

"We required an actor of strong screen presence and thought that there was no one better than Kingsley," she said.

Leena said directing Teen Patti was a learning experience because she was working with legends like Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley and also newcomers including Shraddha Kapoor, daughter of actor Shakti Kapoor.

Source: DNA India

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