Movie review – Housefull 3 – A laugh riot all the way for family audiences
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By Joginder Tuteja

Rating: 3.5 stars

Let’s state a fact right at the very onset – Housefull 3 is an extremely complicated script to pull off. Oh yes, some out there may be happy to term the film as silly and merely a gags-filled affair. However, it is a herculean task to manage that for full two and a half hours. In that perspective, Sajid-Farhad pull it off really well by actually having a story to tie it all together as well. There are jokes and (humorous) item sequences galore. However, what ensures that all of that is seamlessly integrated is a certain plot which gives ample entertainment for the audience. Now that’s a true win for this Sajid Nadiadwala production which is third in the series of Housefull franchise.

Imagine a setting where the girls do not know Hindi, can’t get married and do not know what their boyfriends actually want. Cut to the boys (or shall we say, men?) who fake a physical handicap (of two different kinds), have a peculiar behaviour of their own, and find themselves in a situation where they need to lie in practically every scene. This isn’t all as there are seniors out there, what with Boman Irani and Jackie Shroff in a setting that reminds one of Jeevan/Pran and Anupam Kher/Danny Denzongpa from Amar Akbar Anthony and Hum respectively. Mix it all together and pepper it with ‘Aakhri Pasta’ (Chunky Pandey) and all you need is a really good chef to serve a dish which is fresh, hot, spicy, delicious and presented as a fast food item.

In that perspective, the dish that Sajid-Farhad serve is really delicious that does ask for a second helping. What you need is an appetite for it as well, the mood in which you step in for a meal and the kind of ambience and setting you were looking for. Of course if you are hunting for fine dining in a plush restaurant with everything around you being ultra sophisticated and plushy then you are perhaps at a wrong place. However, if you are looking for a ‘desi thaali’ with ‘chappan bhog’ with music playing loud and everyone around you dancing and cheering then you would indeed want to join the revelries.

This is what the actors in the film are set out to do as well, something that Akshay Kumar shows right through the narrative. He leads the show and shows how he can step in so remarkably well from being the serious man in Airlift to someone who is just amazing as Sandy & Sundy in Housefull 3. The man truly deserves a lot more credit as a versatile actor than he currently gets. Abhishek Bachchan is clearly enjoying his time in the film and it is good to see him move away from his brooding self and let his hair down. As for Riteish, he is a pro when it comes to such performances and that’s the reason why all of it comes across as so easy in screen. He is effortless.

While each of the three girls look ultra-glamorous in the film, it is Jacqueline Fernandez who is the center of attraction (well, literally so) and gets the most screen time. The girls do make that dinner table scene their own, what with Nargis Fakhri doing well as a bimbo. As for Lisa Hayden, while she fits into the part, she deserves more. Boman Irani is fantastic right through the film while Jackie Shroff makes a dashing entry in the flashback portions while also carrying off his towering personality right through the second half. The three villains of the film, Nikitin Dheer, Samir Kochhar and Arav Chowdhary are appropriate. The background score is very good and the four songs sound well with the film, though the film would have done well just with ‘Pyaar Ki Maa’ and ‘Malaamal’.

Housefull 3 is a film which is made for the family audiences and hence its true test is when seen in a full house. It has ample humorous moments to keep the fun element going and the fast pace further ensures that you are laughing for most part of the narrative.

Go, have a good time in theaters!