Housefull 2

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 6th April, 2012
Time : 160 minutes
Director & Co-Writer : Sajid Khan; Writer : Tushar; Music : Sajid-Wajid
Starring : Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Ritesh Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Mithun Chakraborty, Boman Irani, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Johnny Lever

Two out of ten jokes will make you laugh. Three will make you cringe. The story is non-existent, making guest appearances only to fill in the blanks between gags. It stretches on for too long, has too many improbable twists and is a tough one to watch in one sitting.

The two families of Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor, hate each other. They each vow they will get their daughter married off to a wealthier person. Though neither of the daughters (Asin & Jacqueline) are of a meek mentality, they seem to go along. Two blokes (John & Akshay) pretending to be the well known son of a prominent businessman (Mithun) land up at the two houses. Despite the women being internet savvy, they never cotton on to this, neither do their dads, who with pound notes in their eyes, rush into an engagement.

Along with the bonafide son (Ritesh), his friend (Shreyas) and their respective love interests (Zarine and Shazahn), everyone now camps at Mithun’s house, accompanied by Mithun’s man Friday (Johnny Lever) and best friend (Boman Irani).

Like one of the Manmohan Desai’s masala entertainers, this one tries to pack everything into it – fight sequences, best friends turned enemies, cousin sisters turned enemies, brothers turned enemies, real son vs illegit son, a dacoit turned businessman, a villainous father, a father who suffers a heart attack, a female midget, a dancer brought in to create even more trouble and a marriage agent who is extremely irritating yet seems to be the only one around.

Funny moments include Ranjit’s cameo at the end, especially with the ‘beauty’ changing to ‘beti’, Asin practicing Akshay’s leer, Johnny Lever’s imitation of each of the heroes towards the end and several other moments of unintentional humour.

You walk in expecting the worst and at least story wise, the film lives up to the expectation.

PS : There is a clear division in our country - lots of people in the hall were loving the movie, laughing at the jokes. Equally, a lot were groaning with their heads in their hands

PS2 : Am not sure how this got away with a U/A rating, according to me, given the kind of material in the film (lewd jokes, crude references and songs full of flimsily clad females), this is unsuitable for anyone below fifteen.

Tees Maar Khan

Rating : 3/10
Release Date : 24th December, 2010
Time : 135 minutes
Director : Farah Khan; Writer : Shirish Kunder; Music : Vishal – Shekhar & Shirish Kunder (background & title track)
Starring : Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna, Arya Babbar
There are three great moments in the film. First, I loved the opening credits (quite innovative) and funky with the title track playing in the background. Second were the end credits, with Farah Khan continuing her tradition of filming everyone during the roll, right from the lightboy to herself. Third was Sheila ki Jawani. Watching Katrina pulsate and groove on the big screen, with her dresses slung impossibly low (even lower than Shilpa Shetty’s sarees), was something special. The rest of the film was terrible.



The story is pure nonsense. A great con-man, played by Akshay Kumar (we’re never given any proof of his exploits apart from a very very silly airplane caper) is hired by the evil Siamese twins (Raghu & his twin brother) to recover their loot from the cops (the most bumbling kind you’ll ever see) who are transporting all 10,000 kgs via train. Apparently Akshay is the only guy who can do this. He concocts a truly artrocious, hare-brained scheme, enlists the support of a famous actor (Akshaye Khanna), who has an Oscar fetish, and a whole village of idiots to try to steal back the treasure. Will he succeed ? What will the evil brothers do ? Don’t hold your breath, it aint worth it…



Akshay over acted, tried too hard and was too loud in keeping with the general tenor of the film. Katrina, playing Askhay’s girlfriend and a wannabe item girl, was very good, both in terms of looks and performance, playing the bimbette to perfection. Akshaye demonstrated once more why he is a fantastic actor, wish we saw more of him and in better roles.


The jokes & even the capers are silly, crass and crude. Tawaif’s, dumb cops, lipstick marks, loud, almost fluorescent clothes. The only time the jokes are funny is when they’re the insider industry jokes and most of them are against SRK. His angst at missing out on Slumdog, the craving for an Oscar, the six packs. But sadly these moments are far and few in between.


This film is another of those where I’m left full of regret at what could’ve been. What a platform this film had built in terms of excitement, hype and music. It had brought the audiences flocking back to the screens. Alas, its life is likely to be even shorter than Shelia’s now infamous Jawani…