Housefull 5 Movie Review: Reasonably entertaining; Abhishek Bachchan, Nana Patekar and Chitrangada Singh’s performances are ‘Jolly’ good

Language: Hindi

Director: Tarun Mansukhani

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff, Dino Morea, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri, Chitrangada Singh, Sonam Bajwa, Soundarya Sharma, Chunky Pandey, Nikitin Dheer and Johnny Lever

Housefull 5 may be illogical for our refined taste for cinema, but don’t you think this mindless fun is very important in our mundane life? And what are theatrical releases for? Entertaining, right? Then why go into the story line. Though again it isn’t atrocious like our previous theatrical releases in the last few months. It has its share of comedy, thrill, romance and the feel-good factor.

Housefull 5 is not just a comedy, it’s a murder mystery too and full of suspense. You will be surprised to find out who the actual killer is. Too many actors or rather I would call them entertainers, but it isn’t a holy mess. In fact, it has its share of suspense too. A hugely ambitious project, with 19 actors in one film and one frame can get a little annoying, but I assure you there isn’t a moment of monotony. But that’s it, Housefull 5 is a complete massy film

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The plot starts with billionaire Ranjeet Dobriyal (Ranjeet). This man has a lot of money and lives the life of a king. His 100th birthday celebration was supposed to take place on a cruise, but he passed away just a day before his birthday. Everybody loves Ranjeet Dobriyal for his money. In his will he had mentioned that all his money will go to his son, Jolly, from his first wife. This is quite a shock from his son from his second marriage, Dev (Fardeen Khan) and his board of directors played by Shreyas Talpade, Dino Morea and the ever charming Chitrangada Singh. Maya (Chitrangada Singh) knows how to use her charm to her advantage.

But Dev (Fardeen Khan) waits for Jolly’s arrival. But there are three Jollys Jalbuddin (Riteish Deshmukh), Jalbushan (Abhishek Bachchan), and Julius (Akshay Kumar) that turn up with their wives. The story first revolves around finding the real Jolly. Then there are multiple murders that take place. The movie will transport you to the 90s film, full of fun and some jokes which are sometimes cringe too.

Now talking about the negatives of the film, Housefull 5 has unnecessarily objectified female actors and that too at a very demeaning level. Such fine actors like Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff who are known for their craft have been underused. Looks like the makers were feeling sleepy while writing their characters and hence they fell asleep leaving their stories totally undercooked. Lazy script is the major drawback of the film. The movie is so frivolous that you will have to leave your analytical head in the cupboard before you enter the cinema hall. The only saving graces are the performances by Abhishek Bachchan, Nana Patekar and Chitrangada Singh.

Though the second half is a bit of an overstretch, the movie ends with a solid twist. On the whole, there is nothing that is very immersive about the film. Housefull 5 isn’t a great film, but it is not bad either. But in an age when Bollywood is suffering from a huge bankruptcy of ideas, this film can be watched at least for once or you can wait for it to release on one of the digital platforms. There is a Housefull 5 (A) and Housefull 5 (B), the murders are different in both of them.

Rating: 2 and half out of 5

WATCH the trailer of Housefull 5 here: