Cast: John Abraham, Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Asin, Shahzahn Padamsee, Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan
Director: Sajid Khan
Ratings: 2.5/5
Housefull is for a House Full of fools... In a good way!
By Priyanka Ketkar
I will be frank... After Housefull, I had zilch hopes for its madcap brother Housefull 2 but surprisingly I caught myself laughing at a few brainless jokes and the silly, mindless comedy which this one offered. With a large star cast and loads of massala, this is the perfect recipe for a stress-buster and a much better one than its previous version for sure.
Yes it is an idiot-proof movie... yes it is brainless... and yes critics are supposed to criticize such movies but this one does bring back some good-old "Golmaal", "Hera Pheri", "No Entry" days... It is not as mind-numbing as Ready nor is it as mind-blowing as Hera Pheri; it will bore you for a while but will also ensure that you get a few laughs in return of your two and a half hour investment.
Two brothers- Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) and Dabbu (Randhir Kapoor) are sworn enemies, so are their wives, their daughters and even their future son-in-laws. Both want to get their daughters married to some UK millionaires and for that they have a typecast Chunkey Pandey to help. Greedy father Chintu insults the humble father of Jay (Shreyas Talpade) and he takes it upon himself to take revenge of his father's insult. He calls upon his best friend Jolly urf Jwala (Ritesih Deshmukh) for help but he chickens out of this as the task which Jay has in mind requires some "kamina". Enter Max (John Abraham). A little confusion and there comes the need of a bigger "Kamina"... Enter Sunny (Akshay Kumar). Chintu wants to get his daughter married to the son of the famous JD (Mithun Chakrobarty) who is none other than Jolly; but in all this confusion, there is not one but four Jollys. Who is who's Jolly? This confusion only increases when enters JD's childhood friend, retired inspector Batuk Patel (Boman Irani). In all this Golmaal, the four actresses Asin, Jacqueline, Shazahn and Zarine give us the best definition of the term "trophy wives" and sadly, are rarely given any scope to be funny.
The first-half introduces us slowly with all the characters and confusions, and is a bit longer than expected but it is at least light and fun. But, the second half starts to lose the film's mood. Too many unnecessary confusions and scenes will make you feel as if the director himself couldn't handle the final confusion well enough. What is commendable though is the excellent chemistry between all the actors and the superb, witty dialogues which they mouth.
All the actors are natural and except their fighting sequences, nothing seems to be forced. John and Akshay are especially superb. Their chemistry is fantastic and Akshay's "Ahhh..." style will manage to get some laughs. Riteish Deshmukh has time and again proved himself in this genre and even this time he has been successful. Same cannot be said for Shreyas Talpade though. Although his comic sense is good, he somehow appears nervous at times; but he still blends easily amongst the others. Chunkey Pandey is unnecessary but Johnny Lever seems to be back in his old form after a long time. Of all the female leads, Asin looks the prettiest and does the best job whereas the rest of them are still trying to prove that they can act. The Kapoor Brothers and the Disco Dancer have their moments of triumph in the film and the brief roles by Boman Irani and Ranjeet are also done with clarity.
The songs are zany. 'Right now' will really make you want to tap your feet while Malaika Arora Khan's 'Anarkali' will make you want to go along with her to the Disco.
On the whole, yes, Housefull 2 is long, the end is extremely stupid and takes out all the fun and yes, it defies logic at each and every opportunity it gets; but if your idea of a movie is leaving your brains at home and simply enjoying the moments, this one is surely an addition to the list of mindless, over-the-top comedies to be seen.