Jun 20, 2014 05:19 PM
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I am one of the very few who have no qualms in publicly admitting that I enjoy Sajid Khan’s films. And yes, I enjoyed Himmatwala too. It promised 80s style entertainment, over the top moments and a mindless scene with tiger and that’s what it delivered. Unfortunately, Humshakals is an exception. The promos and premise promised loads of laughter and a maddening ride. However, Humshakals as a whole is anything but funny. And that’s a shocker, considering that it had all the ingredients of a laughathon.
The story of the movie: Ashok(Saif Ali Khan) is the owner of Singhania group of companies and his trusted aide is his childhood friend Kumar(Riteish Deshmukh). Ashok’s Mamaji, Kunwar Amarnath Singh(Ram Kapoor) plans to oust Ashok and become the owner of the Singhania group of companies, by hook or by cook. He puts his evil into motion, proves that Ashok and Kumar are mentally ill and sends them to a mental institution. Incidentally, Ashok and Kumar’s humshakals also reside in the same asylum. A crazy ride begins as the lookalikes add to the confusion. To add to it, Mamaji’s lookalike, Johnny, too is found in the asylum! And that’s not all, Ashok, Kumar and Mamaji’s second humshakals make an entry into the narrative as well!
Sajid’s second film Housefull(2010) too had a shaky start but it gets on track in no time and emerged as one of the best entertainers of the year. Humshakals too doesn’t have a great beginning. One hopes that soon, the film will turn into a laugh-a-minute riot. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. There are moments in the film that raise laughs but they are few and far between. But otherwise, it’s one bland ride. The culprits are the script and dialogues. Story is actually interesting and most importantly, unpredictable. And that’s what keeps the viewers engaged from start to finish as nobody knows what’s going to happen next. But the dialogues fail to raise laughs. In fact, one wonders what’s the relevance of the entire ‘hum pagal nahi, hamara dimaag kharab hai’ part? Is it supposed to be even remotely funny? And the loopholes in the film are too grand to be ignored. Why are the mentally unstable Ashok and Kumar housed in Ward B(which is pagalon ka jail) when they are harmless? Shivani(Esha Gupta) forgets that she’s a doctor, teams up with our heroes and even lands up with them in Mauritius! Moreover, the climax falls flat completely. It’s nothing new and the presence of Prince Charles gives one a deja vu of Housefull’s finale.
Performances too aren’t up to the mark. Saif Ali Khan has an impeccable comic timing but he appears out of place in Humshakals. His act of a mentally unstable and homosexual fails to entertain or tickle the funny bone. It’s only when he’s playing the real Ashok that he looks in control. Riteish Deshmukh does add to the fun but he’s done much better in this league in the past. It’s Ram Kapoor who therefore entertains the most out of the three. He’s great as the evil mama and is adorable as the mentally unstable Johnny. His third avatar hardly gets any scope.
Tamannaah Bhatia(Shanaya) looks stunning as always and plays her part well. Same goes for Esha Gupta. Bipasha Basu(Mishti) has the least amount of screen time amongst the ladies and it’s no surprise that she has refused to promote the film. Satish Shah(as Y M Raj) tries very hard to be funny but disappoints. Chunky Pandey(Karan T Bijlani) too fails to evoke laughter. Darshan Jariwala acts sincerely. Akash Khurana(Mr Singhania) is decent. Nawab Shah(Dr Khan) plays a role very similar to the one he essayed in Don 2.
Himesh Reshammiya’s music fails to entice. Caller Tune is catchy followed by Piya Ke Bazaar Mein. Rests of the songs are totally forgettable. Sandeep Shirodkar’s background score is much better and special mention should be made of ‘Cocaine ke parathe’ and ‘Vodka ke parathe’ track. It’s hilarious! Ravi Yadav’s cinematography is eye-catching. Sets and production design are grand. Sajid Khan’s story is entertaining and could have made for a great film. But dialogues(Sajid Khan, Adhir Bhat) fail to do justice. A film of this scale and league required the services of a Sajid-Farhad or a Milap Zaveri. Screenplay(Sajid Khan, Robin Bhatt, Akarsh Khurana) too falls flat and it was at its worst in the finale. Couldn’t they think of something better since viewers have seen a climax of this sort countless number of times? And when dialogues and screenplay aren’t upto the mark, there’s little that Sajid Khan the director could do. Himmatwala dealt a huge blow to his career but Humshakals could have got him back to his original position. But with Humshakals turning out to be bad film, one wonders what lies in store for Mr Khan.
On the whole, Humshakals is equipped with a great storyline. But the dialogues and screenplay fail completely. The result: Humshakals aspires to be a comic caper but it is anything but funny. Saif Ali Khan looks completely out of place. Songs aren’t exciting and climax is one of the worst ever. What makes the film fairly bearable is the unpredictable storyline as one doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, and performances by Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh. At the box office, Humshakals will have a tough time and can prove to be a bigger disappointment than Himmatwala.
