Housefull (2010)

When a film starts off being dedicated to the likes of Manmohan Desai (Amar Akbar Anthony, Dharam Veer), Brij (Yakeen, Yeh raat Phir Na Aayegi)Prakash Mehra (Zanjeer, Muqqadar ka Sikandar, Sharaabi) Feroz Khan (Qurbani, Dharmatma) K. Raghavendra Rao (Tohfa, Himmatwala) you instantly know you're in for some solid classic suspension of belief moments. However, Sajid Khan 's Housefull lacks the distinctive style of the aforementioned producers, but it's a watchable fluffy slapstick comedy

Brief Synopsis

Aayush (Akshay Kumar) is a "loser" whose bad luck follows him all about, he believes his bad luck will end when he meets his true love. In a bid to gain some good luck he returns to London to meet his best friend Bob (Ritesh Deshmukh) whom he claims brings him luck. While in London he's set up with Devika (Jiah Khan) the daughter of Bob's boss (Randhir Kapoor), they get married under his blessings as he approves of Aarush being a traditional Indian boy. Following their marriage they honeymoon in Italy, where Devika reveals she's in love with a White guy named Barry, she had only married Aarush to save face with her father, she cuts a deal with him offering to pay him lots of money if he consummates their marriage, Aarush agrees and then meets another woman Sandy (Deepika Padukone). Will she be the true love that'll bring an end to his bad luck?

Classic leave your brains at home fluff, do not look for logic in this film, nitpickers will have a lot to pick on, like teenagers in the streets of London speaking in American accents, Canary Wharf tube station (which is in London) appearing in Macau (Asia)etc. The film succeeds as a slapstick comedy but the climax drags on a bit and felt rushed as few plot elements weren't concluded the way i would have liked

Performance wise, everyone was on hamming mode (in a charming way) with the exception of say Arjun Rampal. Chunky Pandey as the Italian 'Aakri Pasta' with his "Mamma Mia' i'm only joking" line really made me laugh. I also really liked Jiah Khan, she's barely in the movie as much as i would have liked her to, but she's impressive.

Now unto something that has been getting this film criticism, there's a scene which involves a black baby (i actually felt this was a bit of a social commentary on colorism, as Boman Irani later notes that what matters is the heart, as such i feel the film redeems itself ) what i found annoying was the way Akshay's character explains his African roots, by breaking out in a stereotypical African Jig and tribal type noises, I found this scene unnecessary & i hope bollywood directors realise their films are becoming ever more popular now, all these racial stereotypes & jokes are so unnecessary.

All in all a silly slapstick comedy with some truly whacky moments like Akshay getting slapped numerously by a monkey & numerous Gay innuendos. If you like loud, jumbled, slapstick comedy then check this out.

Good commercial soundtrack by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy my favourite of all the tracks is the hilariously sexy 'I don't know what to do'

I'd give Housefull 6/10

For a full list of movies that Housefull borrowed from, check out Bobby talks cinema post here

Blue (2009)

When one thinks of the colour Blue, the word cool comes to mind unfortunately i can't say the same for this movie, high on production values, cinematography, visuals etc. But the film is just Dull, Dull, Dull! It didn't feel like a bollywood movie, it was devoid of emotional content ala the masla movies of the 60's-80's, the characters weren't exciting, the dialogues were corny & cheesy, the performances didn't blow me away, the picturisations weren't exciting, fun or over the top ( yes i love my big colourful bollywood numbers) all these things were missing, even though this is the most expensive bollywood film ever made (what a dubious title). Everything apart from the music by A.R Rahman just falls flat, the director Anthony D'Souza says he'll shed tears if the film flops, sorry mate i can so see your film flopping, get your buckets and tissues ready because you'll be weeping loads

Total Score: 5/10