| Directed by | Sajid Khan |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Sajid Nadiadwala |
| Written by | Sajid Khan |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Arjun Rampal Deepika Padukone Ritesh Deshmukh Lara Dutta Boman Irani Jiah Khan |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Distributed by | Eros International |
| Release date(s) | 30 April 2010[1] |
| Running time | 155 min. |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | Rs. 45 crore[2] |
| Gross revenue | Rs. 71.86 Crore (Nett) Rs. 142.18 Crore (Total) |
The first half of the film spends considerable time developing the character of Aarush (Akshay Kumar), whom we see leaving his job to go back to stay with his best buddy Bob (Ritesh Deshmukh) and his wife Hetal (Lara Dutta), two casino employees in London. Aarush's unwelcome gatecrash turns the life of the couple upside down with his bad luck rubbing off into their home.
Bob and Hetal set him up with their boss' (Randhir Kapoor) daughter Devika (Jiah Khan), and it seemed like the perfect match of a traditional Indian boy and girl. But when he finds out that Devika only married him because she wanted her father's property. She was actually in love with an american guy, who her father would not approve of. A final plea to God leads to Aarush meets up with his One True Love with Saundariya Bhagyalakshmi Venkateshwari Baassappa Rao, aka Sandy (Deepika Padukone). Chunky Pandey, playing the hotel owner Akhri Pasta, adds to the farcical comedy with a penchant of lying and construing them as jokes, with one key lie being the cause for a running gag for Aarush being hurried away from the scene by Bob and Hetal each time Devika is sighted.
The story is about pretenses, and how in the name of saving one's face and reputation, lies lead to bigger lies, stemming from wanting to impress family members. For Hetal, she has consistently told that she's married to a rich boy and living it up in a big mansion, doing so to impress her dad (Boman Irani) who has frowned upon her decision to stay in London with Bob. For Sandy, her lie involves something similar to her brother Major Krishna Rao (a stoic faced Arjun Rampal) whom she thinks will frown upon her relationship with the loser Aarush, and hence both couples have set the tone for the second half after the interval, playing on the theme and rationale of being perfectly OK to lie if it's done for a noble cause, the definition of noble being quite narrow and for personal benefit.
Upon release, the film had an opening weekend of Rs. 48 crore in India[16], ahead of My Name Is Khan 's Rs. 30 crore opening weekend. This gave Akshay Kumar his biggest opening till date, beating Singh Is Kinng.[17] Housefull's opening weekend was the second-highest opening weekend collection of all time, behind 3 Idiots.[18] By the end of the first week, the film collected Rs 49.8 crore, the third-highest first week collection - behind 3 Idiots and Ghajini. It also broke the 2010 record of biggest first week, previously held by My Name Is Khan.[19] Housefull debuted in the United Kingdom at number two and collected Rs 1.8 crores on 55 screens in its opening weekend, while in the United States, the film collected Rs. 2.8 crores on 82 screens in its opening weekend.[20][21] After six weeks, the film netted Rs. 71.86 crores[22], bringing the gross collections to Rs 142 crores.[23] It was declared a 'Hit' by the box office IndiaProduced under Sajid Nadiadwala's banner, Housefull is the first commercial entertainer to hit screens after Aamir Khan's 3 idiots.
The world's most unlucky man - Aarush (Akshay Kumar) believes his bad luck will only vanish if he finds true love. He marries Devika (Jiah) but finds out she is in love with a non-Indian. An attempt to suicide leads to him being rescued by Sandy (Deepika) and soon the two falls in love. But to win her hand, he has to win over her always suspicious brother, played by Arjun Rampal.
On the other hand, Aarush's friend Bob (Ritesh) is just as unlucky as him. He is married to Hetal (Lara), who suffers from a strained relationship with her father (Boman Irani). How everything falls into place is what this comedy of errors is all about.
Boman Irani sleepwalking while others sing Papa Jag Jayega, Akshay Kumar slapping a monkey and the monkey slapping him back, a tiger making a short appearance as a pet, references to homosexuality typical Dostana - Kal Ho Na Hostyle, actors break dancing after a dose of electric shock, actors slapping each other.. and so many other such over-the-top slapstick sequences are all that Housefull is about. And to director Sajid Khan's credit, he's handled it all pretty well.
Story, sense, meaning... you won't find any of it in Housefull. Yet the film works, majorly because the situations are funny and the performances are top notch. Akshay Kumar is in super form, the actor perfects the act of a loser with a restrained performance. Deshmukh is good and shares good chemistry with Akshay. Boman gets his comic timing right like always. Arjun Rampal is wooden. Chunky Pandey has short - funny role and he does well.
The girls have nothing much to show except skin. Jiah Khan has just one song and a couple of lines to mouth. Deepika Padukone looks great in bikini with those long legs and awesomely sexy tummy. Lara Dutta's clothes seem to be getting shorter with each film.
The music is okay. The locals the film has been shot in (London, Italy) are good.
To sum up, Housefull is entertaining more so in the second half than the first. Lower your expectations a wee bit and give it a try, you'll end up enjoying it.
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