The 'Players' team in Dubai

With Dubai turning out to be a huge market for Bollywood, it’s no wonder that so many stars have visited the city for promotions and partying (in that order!) in the last few weeks. After SRK, Farhan, Priyanka, Arjun and Ranveer-Anushka, it was the turn of the Players team to spread stardust in the city. Masala! was there to capture every moment of their visit and here are our observations on the stars and the film!

• Abhishek Bachchan
Regardless of his box-office record, Abhishek is one of the coolest guys in B’wood with a fab sense of humour. Sample this: when he was asked to introduce his co-stars, this is what he said about Bobby Deol: “Bobby loves to talk; he’s right person to speak about our directors and the film.” Anyone who knows Bobby even remotely is aware that he is one of the most reticent guys around!

Similarly, at the red carpet, a fan yelled that she loved Abhi’s father. “I also love my father ma’am,” grinned the very friendly Junior B!

• Sonam Kapoor
The way to excite Ms Kapoor is to ask her questions on fashion. Sonam wasn’t exactly an interviewer’s delight when asked to comment on her role or her opinion on Dubai. But when it came to describing her look and style, she was extremely chatty. The actress looked gorgeous and once again proved why she is T’town’s style queen.

• Bipasha Basu
Undoubtedly, Bips is one of the most chilled out and ‘non-starry’ actresses in B’wood. She also knows how to manage a faux pas without getting flustered. When the chair she sat in sank a little and she almost fell down, instead of feeling embarrassed, Bips coolly said, “My chair is acting funny. But with a prankster like Abhishek around, you never know what to expect!”

We were also a bit surprised with her popularity with the crowds. She has a way with her fans and got the maximum whistles when she came on stage during the premiere.

• Neil Nitin Mukesh
Here’s a piece of advice for Neil – please be more interested in answering questions at a press conference instead of doodling! Unlike his dressed-to-kill co-stars, Neil looked scruffy. However, he was amiable and down-to-earth.

• Bobby Deol
Bobby needs a crash course from Abhishek on how to connect with the audience and be funny. Junior Deol was warm but preferred to be in his more gregarious co-stars’ shadow when it came to interacting with fans. Why so serious Bobs?

• Abbas-Mustan
The clad-in-white director duo was their usual self – grounded, calm and very media shy. We would like to know one thing though: how do the brothers, known for their simplicity and lack of pretence, come up with super-stylish, super-complicated thrillers every now and then?

• The Film
We’d like to reserve our comments on this one! We have one line of caution though – don’t even mention or think about The Italian Job while watching Players. This is a pure ‘Bollywood’ job!