Housefull (2010 film)

Housefull
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sajid Khan
Written by	Anvita Dutt (Dialogue)
Screenplay by	Milap Zaveri Sajid Khan Vibha Singh
Story by	Sajid Nadiadwala original story by Crazy Mohan (uncredited)
Produced by	Sajid Nadiadwala
Starring	Akshay Kumar Arjun Rampal Ritesh Deshmukh Deepika Padukone Lara Dutta Jiah Khan Boman Irani Randhir Kapoor Chunkey Pandey Malaika Arora Khan
Cinematography	Vikas Sivaraman
Edited by	Rameshwar S. Bhagat
Music by	Songs: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Background score: Sandeep Chowta
Production company	Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
Distributed by	ShowMan Pictures Eros Entertainment
Release date	30 April 2010 (2010-04-30)
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹450 million (US$5.4 million)
Box office	₹1.19 billion (US$14 million)

Housefull (Hindi: हॉउस फुल) is a 2010 Indian comedy film directed by Sajid Khan, starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles. Arjun Rampal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan and Boman Irani are featured in supporting roles, whilst Malaika Arora Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez make special appearances. This would be Jiah Khan's final film before her death in 2013. The film was shot over several months in London and Italy. Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, the film released at more than 750 theatres on 30 April 2010 in India. It received negative reviews upon release, but was nonetheless a success at the box office. It is the first installment of the Housefull film series.

The story has also been noted to be copied from Kamal Haasan's 1998 Tamil movie Kaathala Kaathala.

Plot

The story follows Aarush, (Akshay Kumar), a 'panauti' (an unlucky person), who works in bar and gets money as people lose games of poker. After being rejected from getting married by a girl he dearly loves (Malaika Arora Khan), he then gets punched by her elder brother telling him to keep away from her. Aarush goes to London to stay for some time with his best friend, Bob (Riteish Deshmukh) and his wife, Hetal (Lara Dutta), both working at a casino owned by Kishore Samtani (Randhir Kapoor). Although at first Hetal is displeased with Aarush's presence, he proves to be a kind-hearted man looking for a family. Bob and Hetal decide to get him married to their boss' daughter, Devika Samtani (Jiah Khan). After the marriage, on their honeymoon in Italy, Devika leaves him for her longtime American boyfriend Benny. Aarush decides to commit suicide by drowning in the sea but is saved by a Telugu girl, Sandy (Deepika Padukone), who he kisses when she tries to make him breathe by giving him mouth to mouth.

Sandy originally thinks Aarush is a pervert but when Aakhri Pasta (Chunkey Pandey), the owner of Italy's "biggest" hotel where Aarush was spending his honeymoon with Devika, tells Sandy that Aarush is a widower as a joke and his wife died the day of their honeymoon, she befriends him and slowly falls in love with him. What she doesn't know is that Aakhri Pasta was only joking. Aarush calls Bob and Hetal to Italy telling him about the entire situation. Sandy then tells them that they helped Aarush after the death of his "wife" both misinterpret the situation that Aarush lied to Sandy about the dead wife. He later then meets Devika and asks for divorce papers. She then finds out his wife is alive and leaves him. Sandy does not allow Aarush to enter her room so he climbs from her balcony. Pasta thinks Aarush is committing suicide and live telecast is conducted. Sandy then switches on her tv and goes to her balcony but later when Aarush manages to clear the confusion, she accepts him.

The only way Aarush and Sandy can get married is by convincing her elder brother, Major Krishna Rao (Arjun Rampal), a strict Indian Military Intelligence officer who loves his sister and is over-protective of her. Meanwhile, Hetal lies to her father, Batuk Patel (Boman Irani), that Bob owns a mansion and they have a child, so she can meet him after so many years. On the other hand, Sandy tells her brother that Aarush is quite well to do too. The four are then forced to rent a mansion to make Hetal's dad believe that Bob owns it. Confusion prevails and somehow Batuk accidentally believes that Aarush is married to Hetal, and Bob is the cook. In the confusion they bring an African child and pretend that it is the baby.Then, Krishna turns up earlier than expected, much to Aarush's horror that Krishna was the one who punched him earlier leading to more lies and the two couples making him believe that Aarush owns the mansion.

For half of the term, the four must pretend that the mansion is owned by Bob, and the rest must pretend that Aarush owns it. Batuk Patel and the Landlady are Aarush's pseudo parents while Hetal is his sister and Bob is his brother in law. An overly suspicious Krishna goes to the casino as his bag was exchanged with Kishore Samtani. Krishna then sees Bob and Hetal working at the casino and as soon as they spot Krishna, they hide from him. Krishna then uses a lie detector on Aarush to find the truth. After Sandy objects, Krishna apologizes and agrees to Aarush and Sandy's marriage. The whole family is invited to the Royal Palace to see Krishna get rewarded by the Queen of England. While this is happening, two workers, Santa (Suresh Menon) and Banta Singh (Manoj Pahwa), are meant to be installing air conditioning gas for the place. However instead they accidentally supply the hall with laughing gas causing everyone to break into an outburst of laughter. During this laughter, the truth is let out but no one seems to be in the right state of mind.

The two workers meanwhile stop the gas from spreading – everyone comes back to their senses. Aarush is still telling Krishna the truth, leading Krishna to break off Sandy's engagement. However, after Sandy tearfully pleads with him, Krishna lets the two get married. In the end, Hetal and Bob live together with Batuk Patel, and Aarush's luck changes for the better.

Cast

• Akshay Kumar as Aarush Awasti
• Ritesh Deshmukh as Babu Rao a.k.a. Bob
• Lara Dutta as Hetal Patel
• Deepika Padukone as Soundarya "Sandy" Bhagayalaxmi Venkateshwari Basapa Rao
• Malaika Arora Khan as Pooja Rao
• Jiah Khan as Devika Samtani
• Arjun Rampal as Major Krishna Rao
• Boman Irani as Batuk Patel
• Daisy Irani as Batuk Patel's Mother
• Lillete Dubey as Zulekha Bano
• Chunkey Pandey as Aakhiri Pasta
• Randhir Kapoor as Kishore Samtani
• Jacqueline Fernandez as Dhanno (Special appearance in song "Aapka Kya Hoga")
• Vindu Dara Singh as Security Guard
• Suresh Menon as Santa Singh
• Manoj Pahwa as Banta Singh

Reception

Critical response

Housefull generally received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator website ReviewGang rated the film 3.5/10. On website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 43% rotten rating.

Anupama Chopra of NDTV said that it was impossible to take the characters seriously, and gave the movie a rating of 2/5. Rediff gave it a 1/5, calling its humour 'lame'. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN said 'Housefull' makes you cringe in embarrassment and disgust for what passes off as 'entertainment' and 'cinema' these days. Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave it a 2 and said, "What annoys most about 'Housefull' is the fact that Sajid Khan claims this to be his tribute to greats like Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Both have been great filmmakers and had their respective domains and Sajid's attempt at combining both ends up has him falling flat on his face." Gaurav Malani from IndiaTimes gave it 2/5 and said "Housefull is a slap on your senses as the film sticks to the slapstick genre in every literal sense.[...] There are some genuinely funny moments in the second half esp. Boman Irani sleepwalking through his portrayal of Gujarati Sholay. Unfortunately it fails to salvage the harm caused by the bland, boring and banal first half. Housefull ends up being a painful experience."

In a rare positive review, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 4/5, saying "Housefull is a complete laugh-riot, and is an entertainer all the way, targeted at the masses".

Box office

Upon release, the film had a good opening weekend of Rs. 410 million in India. This gave Akshay Kumar his biggest opening till date, beating Singh Is Kinng. Housefull's opening weekend was the second-highest opening weekend collection of all time, behind 3 Idiots. By the end of the first week, the film collected Rs 498 million, 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. Housefull debuted in the United Kingdom at number two and collected Rs 18 million on 55 screens in its opening weekend, while in the United States, the film collected Rs. 28 million on 82 screens in its opening weekend. After six weeks, the film netted Rs. 1.81 billion. The film was declared hit by Box Office India. Houseful 2010 total box office grossing crossed 1 billion mark

Home media

Housefull was released in Blu-ray and DVD in October 2010. The film's DVD went on to become the first Bollywood film to release on a 3-Disc edition, as the first disc included the film, the second disc included the video commentary by Sajid Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Chunkey Pandey, while the third disc included a documentary.

Awards and nominations

6th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards

• Nominated – Apsara Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role – Riteish Deshmukh

2011 Zee Cine Awards

Nominated

• Best Director – Sajid Khan
• Best Actor – Akshay Kumar
• Best Music – Shankar Ehsaan Loy
• Best Supporting Actress – Lara Dutta
• Best Comedian – Riteish Deshmukh
• Zee Cine Award for Best Track of the Year – "Aapka Kya Hoga (Dhanno)"

IIFA Awards

Won

• Best Performance in a Comic Role – Riteish Deshmukh

Stardust Awards

Won

• Star of the Year – Male – Akshay Kumar
• Best Supporting Actor – Arjun Rampal

Controversies

P L Thenappan – the producer of the 1998 Tamil film, Kaathala Kaathala starring Kamal Hassan, Prabhudeva, Rambha, and Soundarya — filed a complaint with the Tamil Film Producers Council alleging that producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Sajid Khan had remade his film into Hindi without proper permission.

In his complaint, Thenappan said, "I was shocked when I watched the Hindi film as nearly 60 per cent of the scenes from Kadhala Kadhala are there." He also stated that he was in talks with Nadiadwala about selling the remake rights more than a year ago and the deal did not go through.

The film also faced controversy due to the remixed version of the song "Apni Toh Jaise Taise," originally from the 1981 film Laawaris directed by Prakash Mehra, music by Kalyanji Anandji. The Calcutta High Court restrained producer Sajid Nadiadwala from the cinematic use of the song.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The lyrics are penned by Sameer and Amitabh Bhattacharya. The song "Aapka Kya Hoga" was a remake of the song of the same name from the 1981 movie Lawaaris.

Untitled

Track list

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Oh Girl You're Mine"	Loy Mendonsa, Tarun Sagar, Alyssa Mendonsa	3:56
2.	"Papa Jaag Jaayega"	Neeraj Shridhar, Ritu Pathak, Alyssa Mendonsa	3:17
3.	"I Don't Know What To Do"	Shabbir Kumar, Sunidhi Chauhan	3:20
4.	"Aapka Kya Hoga (Dhanno)"	Mika Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sajid Khan	5:08
5.	"Loser"	Amitabh Bhattacharya, Vivienne Pocha	3:17
6.	"Oh Girl You're Mine" (O Boy What A Girl Mix)	Tarun Sagar, Alyssa Mendonsa, Loy Mendonsa	3:39
7.	"Papa Jaag Jaayega" (Insane Insomaniac Mix)	Neeraj Shridhar, Ritu Pathak, Alyssa Mendonsa	3:44
8.	"I Don't Know What To Do" (Shabbir's Sexy 70's Mix)	Shabbir Kumar, Sunidhi Chauhan	4:03

Reception

The soundtrack met with positive reviews. Abid of Glamsham said "Summing up, the album is another fun ride as we encounter one chartbuster after another, and hats off to the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who have once again shown that they have the potential to compose as per the demand of the makers and the script" and gave the album 4 stars.

Samir Dave of Planet Bollywood gave 7.5 stars out of 10, stating "SEL deliver a fun 'n' frothy soundtrack that serves up a whole heaping spoonful of happiness." Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the album 3.5 stars and stated "Housefull is a fun album and never takes itself too seriously to turn into a landmark affair that would be remembered for years to come. The songs are meant to be entertaining enough to fit in well with the film's narrative and not allow any full moment whatsoever to come in." Rudhir Barman of Sampurn Wire awarded the album 3.5 out of possible 5 stars saying "The fast paced journey that everything is taking currently, it’s the survival of what works 'today'. In that aspect, 'Housefull' works and ensures that there won’t be any dull moment once the songs play on screen."

Sequel

See article: Housefull 2 and Housefull 3

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala announced a sequel to the film on 30 September 2010. In September 2011, it was reported by director Sajid Khan that the film had begun filming. It features Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani and Chunkey Pandey from the previous film in new characters, whilst new additions include John Abraham, Asin Thottumkal, Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan, Shreyas Talpade and Shazahn Padamsee. It also stars veteran actors such as Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty and Johnny Lever in supporting roles. Furthermore, the film was titled Housefull 2 and released on 6 April 2012 getting mixed response from critics. The sequel was more successful than the prequel and was declared a Blockbuster at the box office, while some had to say that Housefull had much more sense.

Another sequel which is being directed by Sajid-Farhad would feature Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez from the previous installments in pivotal roles alongside with Abhishek Bachchan, Lisa Haydon and Nargis Fakhri (the newest additions) is released on 3 June 2016 was also a hit. Kumar, Deshmukh and Abraham alongside with their co-actors did not fail to impress the audience.

External links

• Official website
• Housefull at AllMovie
• Housefull at IMDb
• Housefull at Rotten Tomatoes
• Housefull at Box Office Mojo
• Housefull at Bollywood Hungama