Hindi movies have become messiahs of brainless, slapstick yet enjoyable humor. These movies are devoid of intellect, refined stuff and compromise it for jokes on gays, stereotypes and women. Some succeed,some fail, while a very few of them like Housefull turn out so diabolic that they find it impossible to redeem themselves throughout. This movie had one gag that was actually funny (not hilarious) in the second half that barely made me smile.
However, slapstick movies aren't there to make people smile; they should make you roll with laughter. Housefull is a plethora of clichés and contrived humor. There are times when I felt that the director, the script and the actors were at their wit's end and just completed the movie for the sake of raking in the moolah with big names. All in vain since the movie itself is like a couple of trailers played one after another without having any coherency. The movie is so desperate that it named its title as Housefull with tag lines like "Catch it now or it'll be booked" or something like that. During one of the supposedly sad scenes, I and my father were sneering and passing comments like "Sajid should be prosecuted along with Kasab" etc.
Sajid Khan has directed Heyy Baby prior to this film which had some coherency and heart and managed to stay aboard. It is almost shocking to see what he has made here. An immature, first-time director would make a better film than this. There is no heart in this film. The director himself lacked interest while filming the movie. This shows the mark of a failed director. His movie is unlike some other bad ones which could be salvaged because the director's love for direction is visible. Nothing is seen over here. No passion for direction. Sajid doesn't try to utilize the maximum potential of the actors and instead allows them to manipulate the characters their way which is disastrous.
In one of the scenes, when Riteish Deshmukh tries to seduce Lara Datta in bed but instead finds Akshay Kumar, he overacts so much to the point of nausea but Sajid must've felt "He has given hits like Masti etc. Why stop him? His acting could make this film worthwhile" rather than telling him "You're overdoing it. Settle down a bit, think about what you are doing and then do the same thing in a manner that would please the audience". It's good that the President or Prime Minister hasn't seen this film otherwise Sajid would be behind bars by now!
Let's talk about the acting now. Since I have decided to give this movie an elaborated review, I am going to tear apart all the actors one by one and no one will be spared.
Akshay Kumar: And the worst performance of the year goes too . him. He has played this lovable (not so lovable rather) loser innumerable times with the same expression and same mannerisms etc. He has some good roles to his credit but off late his roles have become one-dimensional and completely flat. The washing machine scene was so overtly exaggerated and ripped off from Mr. Bean into a disgusting one and the electrocution sequence was even worse and the dance sequence after that with the foreigners was cringe worthy.
Riteish Deshmukh: He actually has a good comic-timing but over here, he stinks. He plays the loyal and trustworthy friend of Akshay who readily keeps him in his house. In the first part there is too much of him and in the second part, his role is minimized to a gay pretense. It's so sad that in most of the performances, he generates laughter by imitating homosexuals. And it's the same over here. The portrayal of homosexuals is stereotyped into roles that require characters to completely act like females and spurt dialogs like "I'm ready for it!"
Lara Dutta: This is the second time that I have seen her in a movie. She seems to be a contender for the worst actress of the year (Deepika should win it). In a character that shifts from a emotional daughter to a bikini-clad, shameless woman, she ain't Meryl Streep to shift her character so seamlessly. In one of the scenes, she breaks down on the phone, and in the next, she wishes her father to leave. He in short has no character at all.
Deepika Padukone: She on the other hand does the same thing that she does in every other movie: look stunning, act trash. I have never been mesmerized or even attracted by her performance and here too she shows what an incapable actress she is. She doesn't even try. Her talking style is the same,she is devoid of funny bone and she is simply present to show off her gorgeous body. I find her to be very beautiful but her acting is lame.
Boman Irani: He is a credible actor who does try to sound like a Gujarati but due to a lame script is reduced to Kanthaben by the second half of the film but didn't make me laugh like the way Kanthaben did in Kal-Ho-Na-Ho.
Arjun Rampal: He was just too serious to be funny. The lifeboy soap gag was pathetic. In the Buckingham scene, he hammed.
Jiah Khan: Where was she? Was she even required?
Chunkey Pandey: "I was just joking!!" The same thing can be said about his career. A joke!
The lazy script doesn't help either. Some of the sequences were so bad like the monkey-slapping scene; I had to close my eyes.
I summarize it by saying one thing "The apocalypse of film industry is looming close"
However, slapstick movies aren't there to make people smile; they should make you roll with laughter. Housefull is a plethora of clichés and contrived humor. There are times when I felt that the director, the script and the actors were at their wit's end and just completed the movie for the sake of raking in the moolah with big names. All in vain since the movie itself is like a couple of trailers played one after another without having any coherency. The movie is so desperate that it named its title as Housefull with tag lines like "Catch it now or it'll be booked" or something like that. During one of the supposedly sad scenes, I and my father were sneering and passing comments like "Sajid should be prosecuted along with Kasab" etc.
Sajid Khan has directed Heyy Baby prior to this film which had some coherency and heart and managed to stay aboard. It is almost shocking to see what he has made here. An immature, first-time director would make a better film than this. There is no heart in this film. The director himself lacked interest while filming the movie. This shows the mark of a failed director. His movie is unlike some other bad ones which could be salvaged because the director's love for direction is visible. Nothing is seen over here. No passion for direction. Sajid doesn't try to utilize the maximum potential of the actors and instead allows them to manipulate the characters their way which is disastrous.
In one of the scenes, when Riteish Deshmukh tries to seduce Lara Datta in bed but instead finds Akshay Kumar, he overacts so much to the point of nausea but Sajid must've felt "He has given hits like Masti etc. Why stop him? His acting could make this film worthwhile" rather than telling him "You're overdoing it. Settle down a bit, think about what you are doing and then do the same thing in a manner that would please the audience". It's good that the President or Prime Minister hasn't seen this film otherwise Sajid would be behind bars by now!
Let's talk about the acting now. Since I have decided to give this movie an elaborated review, I am going to tear apart all the actors one by one and no one will be spared.
Akshay Kumar: And the worst performance of the year goes too . him. He has played this lovable (not so lovable rather) loser innumerable times with the same expression and same mannerisms etc. He has some good roles to his credit but off late his roles have become one-dimensional and completely flat. The washing machine scene was so overtly exaggerated and ripped off from Mr. Bean into a disgusting one and the electrocution sequence was even worse and the dance sequence after that with the foreigners was cringe worthy.
Riteish Deshmukh: He actually has a good comic-timing but over here, he stinks. He plays the loyal and trustworthy friend of Akshay who readily keeps him in his house. In the first part there is too much of him and in the second part, his role is minimized to a gay pretense. It's so sad that in most of the performances, he generates laughter by imitating homosexuals. And it's the same over here. The portrayal of homosexuals is stereotyped into roles that require characters to completely act like females and spurt dialogs like "I'm ready for it!"
Lara Dutta: This is the second time that I have seen her in a movie. She seems to be a contender for the worst actress of the year (Deepika should win it). In a character that shifts from a emotional daughter to a bikini-clad, shameless woman, she ain't Meryl Streep to shift her character so seamlessly. In one of the scenes, she breaks down on the phone, and in the next, she wishes her father to leave. He in short has no character at all.
Deepika Padukone: She on the other hand does the same thing that she does in every other movie: look stunning, act trash. I have never been mesmerized or even attracted by her performance and here too she shows what an incapable actress she is. She doesn't even try. Her talking style is the same,she is devoid of funny bone and she is simply present to show off her gorgeous body. I find her to be very beautiful but her acting is lame.
Boman Irani: He is a credible actor who does try to sound like a Gujarati but due to a lame script is reduced to Kanthaben by the second half of the film but didn't make me laugh like the way Kanthaben did in Kal-Ho-Na-Ho.
Arjun Rampal: He was just too serious to be funny. The lifeboy soap gag was pathetic. In the Buckingham scene, he hammed.
Jiah Khan: Where was she? Was she even required?
Chunkey Pandey: "I was just joking!!" The same thing can be said about his career. A joke!
The lazy script doesn't help either. Some of the sequences were so bad like the monkey-slapping scene; I had to close my eyes.
I summarize it by saying one thing "The apocalypse of film industry is looming close"