Housefull 5 Review: Akshay Kumar steers a franchise that’s long been brain-dead; can it get any more pointless?

Housefull 5 story:

Murder on a luxurious cruise liner sets in motion a frantic whodunit replete with the slapstick comedy and comedic mishaps that have been the franchise's trademark. Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff, who play police detectives trying to investigate the crime, are seen with Akshay Kumar, whose character teams up with fellow passengers to do so.

Housefull 5 review:

"Where do I begin?" is the question I have been asking myself since I finished watching the film and started writing this review. I had to catch up with the early morning show of Housefull 5 due to an occupational hazard that has plagued me for quite a few years now. But every time I think that the Bollywood lover in me will also see a redemption arc in the movies I grew up watching, I am facing worse heartbreak than I would have in my personal life. What begins as a murder mystery stays mysterious, as the makers were wondering how to just get out of it screenplay-wise and viewers as experience-wise. 

The film does begin with the murder of a doctor of a billionaire, Ranjeet, who is about to celebrate his centenary on a cruise he owns named "Aiee"; people who are aware of the franchise know how to pronounce it. But he dies just a few hours before the celebration begins, and his will reveals that all of his assets will be given to his biological son, named Jolly, while his stepson Dev can only receive the assets if Jolly doesn't turn up. Meanwhile, three Jollys turn up as Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, and Riteish Deshmukh, and in no time the mystery of identity theft begins. The film has two mysteries: who the real Jolly is and who killed the doctor who was to do the DNA test.

The real identities of the three lead actors become apparent quickly, both to the viewers and to the filmmakers, who chose to focus on a single suspense element to extend the film's runtime to two hours and 45 minutes. However, the process involves the addition of several other sub-plots, intended to generate humour but ultimately resulting in over-the-top, cringe-worthy material.

Indeed, in a time when actors are increasingly moving away from multi-starrers, I commend the makers and the cast for their collaboration and commitment to providing entertaining content. Regrettably, promises often lead to disappointment. Almost every actor has something to offer: male actors deliver dialogue, one-liners, and actions, while female actors are often filmed from angles that emphasise their appearance, portraying them as foolish in their attempts to seduce the opposite gender. How typical and unsurprising!

Get your dose of outrageous laughs and classic Bollywood chaos with Rascals, Housefull 2, Khatta Meetha, and Deewane Huye Paagal—now streaming on OTTplay Premium!

I am writing my thoughts while also trying to critique the film because it needs time to process and my brain is throwing a fit, which I am unable to fight. Even while watching the movie, I felt like I was committing an unforgivable mistake and I was made to suffer for all the possible mistakes I must have made in my life. How do I stop it? How can I leave the theatre when it is part of my job? But I survived to tell the story that when movies are an escape route from reality, Housefull 5 will make you miss the harsh reality of your life for those three hours. 

The film did make me laugh, because I was forcing my brain to react and not be deadpan when nobody on screen is. The camera doesn't show what everyone is reacting to until all the characters have the same shocked, smiling, and screaming expressions. If they had wanted to, they could have also shown the reactions of the people behind the camera. 

The film ultimately categorises itself as an adult comedy, filled with humorous dialogues and quirky elements, raising the question: what more effort can be expected when trying to make people laugh? The presence of 19 actors is not always enough, right? And when you have so many actors, why do you need a story? And if you have a story, how do you make it so entertaining and intriguing that even when you run out of pages, you still want to keep on shooting and not cut it out on the editing table?

While watching this suspense comedy, I was reminded of simpler times, particularly Abbas-Mustan's 36 China Town, which also featured an ensemble cast where everyone was a suspect. In retrospect, it's true that the film included unnecessary songs to lengthen its runtime, but it subtly justified each character's motive.

In this film, the decision to make everyone a suspect lacks justification, leading to an increase in murders and additional songs that are predictable yet unavoidable. 

I watched Housefull 5A, but in the other version, the identity of the killer is different. To be honest, I'm not even curious to know who the different killer is, and I doubt that suspense would want to be killed in me anytime soon. 

The film attempts to portray Akshay Kumar as the hero, despite the presence of three different Interpol detectives stationed on the cruise for investigation. The cycle of situations and dialogues repeats, even as the victim changes. 

There are several recurring themes from the previous films in the franchise, such as the reincarnation of the parrot from the first film, which is seeking revenge from Akshay Kumar's character, and the return of the monkeys who brutally attack him. There's also the song Dastaan-E-Om Shanti Om playing in the background and you will never guess why. Additionally, Mithun Chakraborty makes a brief appearance in the form of a photograph, reprising his role as the dacoit from Housefull 2. 

All said and I am done. Housefull 5 is not a film that even the fans of the franchise can get excited about. But does this franchise have a fan base? I don't want to speculate or verify the theory. But Tarun Mansukhani did try to show that he was deeply interested in this franchise, and the results are quite clear.

Housefull 5 verdict:

With jokes that barely float and twists that twist logic, Housefull 5 is less a comedy of errors and more an error in comedy. If this is Bollywood’s idea of a laugh riot, maybe it's time to abandon ship.