Housefull 4 Movie Review: Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh & Gang Gift Us Punlimited Fun This Diwali
No comedy film can be perfect & this one, too, never claims to be one but it's good at what it should be.
Housefull 4 Movie Review Rating: 3.5/5 Stars (Three and a half stars)
Star Cast: Akshay Kumar + his expressions (yeah, they deserve a separate character mention for them), Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Kriti Kharbabanda, Pooja Hegde, Chunky Panday, Johnny Lever, Ranjeet, Jamie Lever and Rana Dagubatti.
Director: Farhad ahem Sajid ahem Samji
What’s Good: Soul of the film is its ‘sorry but not sorry’ one-liners; I feel the makers have designed the story around these gut-busting dialogues, the vintage Akshay Kumar who can do anything to make you laugh.
What’s Bad: The two eras of the film are interdependent on each other & both of them suffer from some minor issues like adding unnecessary drama.
Loo Break: May be due to the excess of laughter!
Watch or Not?: As the great Joker said, “Comedy is subjective” & this is my style of comedy. If you’ve loved Housefull 1 & 2 and disliked the 3rd one, you’ll definitely like this.
As pretty evident by the trailer, the story is divided into two ages – 1419 and 2019. Harry (Akshay Kumar), Roy (Riteish Deshmukh) and Max (Bobby Deol) own a salon and are in a debt of a don. To repay the amount, they decide to fall in love with some millionaire girls and they successfully do so. Harry gets these minor flashbacks from what he thinks is his previous birth. As the story proceeds, Harry remembers everything & decode the flashbacks.
According to him, he’s King Bala, Roy is Bangdu Maharaj and Max is Dharamputra from 1419. But, there’s a twist they’re not with the same girls they’re with in 2019. To avoid all the confusion and make sure that everyone ends up with the perfect girl, Harry tries to explain his thing to the other lot. Now, how does he do that & whether or not everything’s true, that’s what the story is all about.
Housefull 4 Movie Review: Script Analysis
Respect for the writers, they’ve executed a ‘certain’ thing 15-20 times in the film & I laughed my heart every single time; courtesy – a touch of VFX and Akshay’s acting. It also keeps you engaged because of the ‘so bad that they’re good’ one-liners. It touches the slapstick zone many-a-times, but thank god it never stays there for long.
For a change, the humour is laced with a proper story this time & isn’t limited to just ‘comedy of errors’. Every frame screams ‘crazy’ and Sajid’s favourite Queen Elizabeth shares a kiss with Akshay Kumar calling him ‘Kutriya’ (Yeah! That’s the level of madness you could deal with). No comedy film can be perfect & this one, too, never claims to be one but it’s good at what it should be. Of course, this ain’t a start-to-finish comedy because the forced dramatic sequences dent the narrative with a dip.
Housefull 4 Movie Review: Star Performance
The last time when Akshay Kumar managed to evoke such amount of laughter was in 2012’s Housefull 2. Sajid Khan gets Akshay & he knows how to get the maximum out of him. Facial comedy is one of the hardest things to do & this man nails it here. He’s funny even when he isn’t speaking anything. Riteish Deshmukh gets a little bit overshadowed by Akshay. In the first three installments, both have been equals to me. But Housefull 4 is all about Akshay Kumar.
Bobby Deol is not as bad as an Abhishek Bachchan in Housefull 3. He gets the job done, which wasn’t much. From the ladies, Kriti Kharbabanda gets the meatiest role for she gets a hilarious twist in the 1419 era. Kriti Sanon & Pooja Hegde share some funny moments along with looking smoking hot (especially Pooja). The only reaction apt for Pooja in the film is Ranjeet’s ‘Ahhhhhyen’.
Chunkey Panday & Johnny Lever are equally brilliant in contributing to the humour of the film. Johnny just blows out of nowhere in the second half, just wait for it. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is wasted in his cameo. Jamie Lever deserved better. Rana Dagubatti is just about okay.
Housefull 4 Movie Review: Direction, Music
The makers, though, have credited Farhad Samji due to the #MeToo controversy but this movie is 100% PURE Sajid Khan. If you go by Sajid’s filmography and watch this, you’ll get it how this is his baby. Keeping all the controversies apart, Sajid along with Farhad Samji makes sure there goes no single frame without a gag/joke in it. When there aren’t jokes happening, there’s a physical comedy and when there isn’t both it’s because of the dragging portions of the 1419 era.
From the songs, Shaitan Ka Saala and Chammo worked really well for me. Ek Chumma‘s instrumental setting is very good, lyrics could’ve been better. Liked the placement of an ‘as equally lame as the film’ song Badla. Julius Packiam’s orchestral magic works yet again. The theme, though not comical, goes very well with the atmosphere set for the yesterera. Loved the way, in a scene when Riteish’s character says, “Kaun hai yahan dekhne wala,” and “Bala Bala” starts playing in the background.
Housefull 4 Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Housefull 4 is unabashed, crazy, insane fun. A proper out-and-out comedy, without a mashup of any other genre, after ages. Perfect festive watch!
Three and a half stars!
Housefull 4 Movie Trailer
Housefull 4 Movie releases on 25th October, 2019.