Thursday, 6th November 10:55 PM IST

THE SHAUKEENS Is A Laugh Riot With Subtle Message

Pluses:

dialogues are funny, Annu Kapoor is outstanding, Piyush Mishra performs well despite weakest written character, Anupam Kher is good, Akshay Kumar is really a surprise package, Lisa fits the bill, couple of good songs

Minuses:

screenplay falters in early portion of 2nd half, direction lacks punch at crucial junctures, guest appearances are simply waste

Critic Rating:

4/5

Business Rating:

3.5/5

Verdict:

Watch it for clean hilarious laugh ride

Detailed Analysis:

'The Shaukeens' is hitting the screens tomorrow and it is a remake of 1982 comedy flick 'Shaukeen'. Director Abhishek Sharma and writer Tigmanshu Dhulia look like a good combo on paper.

Film has hilarious plot. Film starts with 'Meherbaani' song in credits where Akshay Kumar (playing himself in the film) is romancing a heroine during shoot of the film 'Teri Meherbaani' and then we are introduced to three frustrated old men in Delhi. Laali (Anupam Kher) has famous shoe shop but he has zero sex life as his wife has gone in complete religious mode. He has one sister who is divorced and one son who is busy bulking up his muscles. Annu Kapoor (KD) is running a NGO for widows and had never had any female partner. Piyush Mishra (Pinky) is richest out of three and is biggest manufacturer of spices. He has two sons and is widower. These three men try to satisfy their urges but fail miserably in Delhi. So they decide to go to Bangkok but when every one objects the reputation of city, they decide to go to Mauritius for some real adult fun.

They hire a place to stay which belongs to Ahaana (Lisa Haydon) who has gone for holidays but she cancels her plan at 11th hour and comes back. Now all four are staying in same house and these three old men are trying to get close to Ahaana. But the twist is that Ahaana is crazy Akshay Kumar fan and so she announces that whoever will arrange her meeting with the star Akshay, she will do anything for that person. Now all three old men arrange her meeting with Akshay and what happens next is the climax of the film. 

Performance wise Annu Kapoor is best of the lot and that is largey because he got the best lines. Anupam Kher is good but Piyush Mishra adjust himself well to commercial cinema. Lisa Haydon is good and looks the part. Manoj Joshi, Dimple Kapadia, Abhishek Bachchan, Suneil Shetty and Kareena Kapoor are hilarious in 10 second glimpse. Ashay Kumar is outstanding and create soem really funny moments in 2nd half especially his whole episode with Bengali art director.

Film has some chartbusters but my pick are 'Alcoholic' and 'Meharbani' . Editing is top notch and cinematography is good. Background score is decent. Screenplay is below par  as film gets repetitive in 2nd half but dialogues are brilliant. Story tries to weave a subtle middle age sexual issue too with this light hearted comedy. Art department and costume department are average.

Director Abhisehk Sharma made impressive debut with 'Tere Bin Laden' and this time he tries his hands on typical Bollywood type comedy. And to be honest, he falters as he fails to create camaraderie between three lead characters and his whole pitch and treatment towards climax is predictable and lazy.

Film will release tomorrow and should get at least 200 screens which will be more than enough for such film. Film has good chances at box office as there is no major competition from Bollywood and 'Interstellar' is niche metro film. Film can spring a surprise at box office!

Go for this one for some serious amount of laughter!