Have A JOLLY Good Time!. Review on Housefull 2

Believe it or not, but I feel Sajid Khan is one of the best filmmakers that we have today! I don’t agree with his certain statements about art and parallel films but respect him for the manner in which he has entertained viewers, first through his TV shows and now through his films! He did that with Heyy Babyy followed by Housefull. Hence, I couldn’t help but expect loads and loads of fireworks from Housefull 2. What’s more, the film boasts of as many as 12 stars that are wittily referred to as ‘The Dirty Dozen’! And as expected, Sajid doesn’t let down! The film is a rocking flick that entertains from the word ‘Go’! Sadly, the film indeed loses track at few places. But overall, the film entertains and viewers get their money’s worth!

The story of the movie: Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) and Dabboo (Randhir Kapoor) are half-brothers and can’t stand the sight of each other. Both have challenged each other that they’ll get the richest son-in-law for their respective daughters – Heena (Asin) and Bobby (Jacqueline Fernandez). Enter Sunny (Akshay Kumar) and Max (John Abraham). Both pretend to be the ‘iklauta beta’ of one of the millionaires of UK, JD (Mithun Chakraborthy) and win the hearts of first Chintu and Dabboo respectively and then their daughters. But JD’s real son is Jolly (Riteish Deshmukh) who loves JLo (Zareen Khan). And then there’s Jai (Shreyas Talpade) in love with Parul (Shazahn Padamsee). Not to forgot, there’s Batook Patel (Boman Irani), JD’s closest friend! After tons of confusion and lies, all of them find themselves in the sprawling house of JD, who has a violent past of its own. The result is lots and lots of laughter for the viewers as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ present their antics in the ‘House Full’!

First and foremost, kudos should go to the writers (Sajid Nadiadwala, Sajid Khan, Farhad-Sajid, Tushar Hiranandani). This was no easy film to write as there were 12 actors out of which 10 of them had principal roles. To give them equal prominence and at the same time bring out the humour consistently from start to finish was a herculean task. But the writers come out with flying colours! Although a good script was in place, it was the direction that could have ruined the film. Again, thankfully, Sajid Khan’s brilliant execution saves the day! And lastly, the actors themselves give their hundred percent and the result is 150 minutes of full-on entertainment!

Housefull 2 has an outstanding first-half! The characters get established and some of the entry scenes were hilarious, especially of John, Riteish and Akshay! With so many characters, each with their own agenda, the director and writers ensure viewers don’t get confused at any point. The humour quotient goes to an all-time high in the python and alligator scene and later in the island sequence. Mithun’s flashback was too good and the film couldn’t have had an intermission at a better point!

The second half too beings with more masti, laughter and ‘iski topi uske sar’ scenes. However, at this point, the film goes off-track at places. Also, Akshay fooling Mithun so easily every time was too much. But at the same time, writers insert some smart punchline or hilarious scene and the disappointment quickly goes out of the window! Towards the pre-climax, the film has some dramatic and emotional moments that sadly don’t work. Also, the climax reminded of Ready. But again, Johny Leverand Chunky Pandey’s funny antics make you laugh out loud. Yet, if these flaws were really well taken care of, Housefull 2 would had been in a different league altogether!

Housefull 2 boasts of some excellent performances by its principal star-cast. Akshay Kumar takes the cake with his ‘Aaye’, ‘Jay Bhadrakali’ and ‘Kyon Thak Raha Hai’! The actor makes viewers laugh like hell and for those who believe that Akshay is getting repetitive should go and watch Housefull 2! Kudos, AK! Riteish Deshmukh as usual showed a great comic timing but most applauding factor of his performance was his ‘Bodyguard’ act! Believe me, it was much better than you-know-who!

John Abraham gets yet another chance to show off his funny side and succeeds! He rocked in his entry sequence, confrontation with Riteish, python sequence, snooker table action scene and in the song Do You Know! However, one wishes he had got more screen presence in the 2nd half too. Shreyas Talpade too pitches in a likeable performance. From the fathers, it’s Rishi Kapoorand Randhir Kapoor that were the best. Their constant fight was a treat to witness. Also that they came together for the first time ever was even more heartwarming! Mithun Chakraborty too delivers a fine performance and was too good in his ‘Daaku’ avatar! Boman Irani as everytime gets into the skin of his character. Rocking!

The girls sadly don’t have much to do although all the madness happens because of them! Asin has the strongest role and as usual performs well. Jacqueline Fernandez too does a fine job but she is yet to repeat a Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (her best performance till date). Hopefully, Race 2 would provide her the opportunity! Zareen Khan needs to brush up her acting skills. Shazahn Padamsee looked stunning but sadly had the least role out of the 12. Chunky Pandey as expected brought the house down with his ‘Aakhri Pasta’ act. Vindoo Dara Singh was wasted. Johny Lever (Vishwas Patil) was immensely funny, especially in the climax! Malaika Arora Khan was hot in her cameo. Ranjeet raises laughs in the lone sequence! Others like Virendra Saxena (Mr Babani), Sandeep Garcha (Mrs Babani), Suparna Marwah (Dolly Kapoor), Neelu Kohli (Sweety Kapoor)and others too did a fine-job!

Sajid-Wajid’s music is peppy and energetic. Papa Toh Band Bajaye was the best song of the lot followed by Do You Know, Anarkali Disco Chali and finally Right Now. The background score is terrific. Farah Khan as always choreographs very well! Manoj Soni’s cinematography is eye-catching. Rameshwar Bhagat’s editing is slick but disappointed to see the funny ‘Jolly ki future biwi’ dialogue being chopped off from the film.

As mentioned before, Sajid Nadiadwala came up with a complex but entertaining storyline. Farhad-Sajid’s dialogues are one of the highlights of the film! The duo have rocked each and everytime be it Singham, Readyor All The Best! Can’t wait to see their magic in Rohit Shetty’s Bol Bachchan! Farhad-Sajid also wrote the screenplay along with Sajid Khan and Tushar Hiranandani and they have tried their best to keep the goings-on easy to decipher. Sajid Khan’s direction as always was first-rate although one wishes he had taken care of flaws in a better way. The big problem is that many significant developments happen in the film too quickly, especially ‘enemies-turning-into-friends’ part. Also, JD having no objection to the so-called drivers’ marriage happening simultaneously with his son’s beats me. But when seen in totality, such glitches don’t matter. After all, it isn’t cakewalk to handle so many A-listers and doing justice to their characters and off-screen persona. A great work by Sajid and hope he does much better job in Himmatwala remake, Judwaa 2 and hopefully, Housefull 3!

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