Tarun Mansukhani’s Housefull 5 is the latest instalment in a franchise that has consistently and brazenly insulted the intelligence of its audience each time. To make things doubly worse, the film has been released in two versions with different climaxes, Housefull 5A and Housefull 5B. This is a review of Housefull 5A.
Set entirely on a luxury cruise liner, Housefull 5A kicks off with the sudden demise of centenarian tycoon Ranjeet Dobriyal (Ranjeet) just as he’s about to celebrate his hundredth birthday. According to the late magnate’s will, his long-lost son Jolly, born of his first marriage and unseen by anyone, is to inherit everything. Tasked with locating this missing heir is Dev (Fardeen Khan), Ranjeet’s son from his second wife. But rather than one Jolly, three turn up – each with a counterfeit wife in tow: Julius (Akshay Kumar) with Kaanchi (Nargis Fakhri), Jalabuddin (Riteish Deshmukh) with Zara (Sonam Bajwa), and Jalbhushan (Abhishek Bachchan) with Sasikala (Jacqueline Fernandez). What follows is a farcical attempt to establish the real Jolly through a DNA test. But the plan goes awry when the doctor in charge (Akashdeep Sabir) is mysteriously murdered. This sets off a chaotic spiral of slapstick confusion, mistaken identities, and narrative freefall.
Housefull 5A sets its tone within the first twenty minutes – a yarn so implausible it makes cheap pantomime look like prestige drama. In the name of comedy, the film clings to a dated, reductive formula: cheap gags, absurd scenarios, and a steady stream of jokes aimed squarely at the lowest common denominator. Events unfold with no logic, characters appear and vanish at whim, and the plot marches forward with the chaotic energy of a variety show on fast-forward. Misogynistic comments, innuendo-laden dialogue, and loud, lazy punchlines become the defining features of this drivel of a screenplay penned by Mansukhani, Farhad Samji, and producer Sajid Nadiadwala himself.
The film also fancies itself a murder mystery that is handled with such casual, juvenile indifference that one is left wondering whether the filmmakers themselves took it seriously. But any potential intrigue or suspense quickly fizzles out because, at its core, the film is desperate to maintain a comic tone. It results in an ambition that clashes disastrously with the murder plot. Thus, the end product is a tonal mess, attempting to juggle slapstick and suspense while succeeding at neither.
Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, and Abhishek Bachchan are reduced to playing paper-thin caricatures. It is a stark reminder of what happens when talented actors become cogs in a factory line that churns out content with no regard for craft. If there were brownie points for committing to roles entirely devoid of substance, they would pass with flying colours. The three principal female leads – Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa, and Nargis Fakhri, as well as Chitrangda Singh – are treated as ornamental distractions, their toned physiques showcased in every frame regardless of narrative relevance. Soundarya Sharma, cast as lawyer Lucy, is objectified to an appalling degree, her screen presence reduced to exaggerated body movements, strategic cleavage shots, and cringeworthy gags masquerading as comedy. To top it off, the inclusion of Nana Patekar, Sanjay Dutt, and Jackie Shroff as three UK police officers only adds to the glut of redundant characters. And then there’s Johnny Lever, Chunky Panday, Fardeen Khan, Shreyas Talpade, and Dino Morea, where each is thrown into the mix, further bloating an already overcrowded cast, as if sheer volume could compensate for the lack of wit or purpose.
That said, if anything deserves some faint praise in Housefull 5A, it’s the glossy cinematography by V Manikandan, which at least lends a sheen of visual polish, and the slick editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat, who tries valiantly to keep pace with the narrative’s relentless chaos. As is often the case in mainstream Hindi cinema, the background score by Julius Packiam overwhelms the sound design, blaring at every turn in a desperate attempt to inject energy where the script offers none. The song sequences, inserted without narrative justification, are predictably glossy dance-floor fillers designed more for club playlists than for story progression.
As mentioned above, it has been widely publicised that Housefull 5B features a different climax with an alternate murderer. But after sitting through the relentless absurdity of Housefull 5A, the idea of returning for another round just to see an alternate finale is more self-inflicted torture than I can take. Enough to say, “Not for me.”
Hindi, Comedy, Thriller, Color