Humshakals (20 Jun 2014)

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta, Tamannah Bhatia, Satish Shah, Chunky Pandey, Akash Khurana, Darshan Jariwala

Director: Sajid Khan

A multi cast comedy with the three male protagonists in triple roles each and all of them being successful in their respective genres and media, gives you the natural expectation of a fun filled and light headed movie time. Instead, you watch the movie with exasperation as you witness the ‘fun’ element slipping out of most of the funny lines and comic expressions and you have a thumping headache calculating what all went wrong with the movie.

In order to obtain temporary rights to run billionaire Ashok’s (Saif Ali Khan) business empire, he and his friend (Riteish Deshmukh) are wrongfully sent to a mental asylum by his General Manager who also happens to be his Uncle (Ram Kapoor) aka ‘Mamaji’. The mental facility already holds all of their duplicates i.e. ‘humshakals’. They are child-like  Ashok (Saif), Kumar (Riteish) and third stage OCD (hygiene freak) patient Johnny (Ram). Attractive lady doctor Shivani (Esha Gupta) discovers that the former Ashok-Kumar duo are not mental and in her bid to release them, out of mistake, releases the latter duo, who are spotted by Ashok’s girlfriend Shanaya (Tamannah Bhatia) and taken to his home. Ashok’s sister like secretary Nikita (Bipasha Basu) is incidentally Kumar’s girlfriend and apparently stays in her boss’ home to manage all his affairs. The home also houses Ashok’s father who is in coma.

To add to this confusion, the original Ashok and Kumar also flee from the mental asylum and reach home, only to perform Sajid Khan’s mandatory multi cast night time dance in the deserted house! The original duo are caught and carried back by the asylum warden (Satish Shah). In the mental asylum, an attendant (Darshan Jariwala) introduces them to Johnny. Now ‘Mamaji’ is equipped with duplicates of original Ashok-Kumar in the house and original Ashok-Kumar are equipped with ‘Mamaji’s duplicate Johnny in the mental asylum. Both the original parties plan to use their valuable possessions in the shortly upcoming board meeting of Ashok’s company, so as to obtain the entire control of his business. The remaining movie caters to the implementation of their respective plans and an expected mayhem climax. Don’t even bother to understand the third role of each of the protagonists.

To start with, the movie has one of the weakest opening scenes. Also, herein Saif who is almost always impeccably dressed (a Tom Ford loyalist), sports an ill fitting and unappealing blazer! His house’s entrance is super rich, interiors are rich and the kitchen is poor (small in size and with metallic workareas)! There is absolutely no chemistry between Riteish and Bipasha, though Bipasha seem to be trying hard to establish some. Last but not the least, the scenes lack continuity and impact.

Only two well crafted long scenes bring about the Sajid Khan school of comedy. The one wherein the original dup try to escape from the mental asylum, and the other wherein all the three protagonists woo their own female versions. The movie is filled with smart pun intended one-liners. Though the deliverance of most of them fall flat in the face, none of them are cheap or repulsive.

For some reason, Riteish appears taller and broader than Saif in the movie! He has built good muscle and looks wiser than his early appearances. Also, this is his comfort genre, and he makes the best of it. With enough movie experience, now he is a pro at playing a seductress. In fact apart from his eyebrows, if dressed wisely in female gear, nothing will give away that he is a man! Saif has dared to experiment with a new genre, but he has miles to go before he can make hay out of it. However, he has worked hard to deliver. Ram is the surprise package. He is the only one who has maintained clear distinction amidst all his three roles. Also, in spite of his tall and bulky frame, when required, he does manage to look cute! All the three heroines basically fill the glam quotient. They somehow don’t appear in tandem with each other. However, it’s noteworthy that, you can see a hinting resemblance of Sophia Lauren in Bipasha and Angelina Jolie in Esha. Tamannah is very confidant. Satish Shah and Darshan Jariwala have small roles and Chunky Pandey has an even smaller one. They do make the required impact.

As usual, Sajid Khan has released his movie sans any competition. With no other A-lister new movie around to snatch the audience, and with the three protagonists aimed to attract all kinds of watchers – Saif for classes, Riteish for masses and Ram for TV watchers, the movie is bound to have a strong opening. But the audience is still waiting for Sajid to repeat his ‘Heyy Babyy’ magic.