Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment’s Housefull 5 (UA) is the fifth film in the Housefull franchise. Like the previous four parts, it is also a comedy, but there’s an angle of crime too.
Ranjeet Dobriyal (Ranjeet) is a multi-millionaire who is all set to celebrate his 100th birthday on the cruise. His son, Dev (Fardeen Khan), as well as the directors on the board of his company — Shiraz (Shreyas Talpade), Maya (Chitrangda Singh) and Bedi (Dino Morea)– are with him on the cruise. So are Aakhri Pasta (Chunkey Panday), Batuk Patel (Johny Lever), the cruise’s captain, Sameer (Nikitin Dheer), and Ranjeet Dobriyal’s doctor (Akashdeep Sabir). However, Ranjeet Dobriyal dies before the birthday party. The board decides to seek legal opinion and gets legal expert Lucy (Soundarya Sharma) to give her opinion. Lucy informs that according to Ranjeet Dobriyal’s will, his estate will be inherited by Jolly, the son he had from his first wife. But who is Jolly? Much to the chagrin of the board of directors, three Jollys arrive on the cruise, each with his wife. The first to arrive is Jalabuddin alias Jolly (Ritesh Deshmukh) and wife Zara (Sonam Bajwa). Next to come is Jalbhushan alias Jolly (Abhishek Bachchan) with wife Sasikala (Jacqueline Fernandez). The last to arrive is Julius alias Jolly (Akshay Kumar) with wife Kaanchi (Nargis Fakhri). To decide who the real Jolly is, Ranjeet Dobriyal’s doctor takes the blood samples of all the three Jollys for conducting DNA test. But before any conclusion can be drawn, the doctor is brutally murdered on the cruise. Even as the identity of the killer is being probed, Bedi is shot dead. Two Interpol officers — Bhidu (Sanjay Dutt) and Baba (Jackie Shroff) — come to the cruise to investigate the case. When they are unsuccessful, their boss, Dhagdu (Nana Patekar), arrives. Who is the killer? And who is the real Jolly?
Sajid Nadiadwala has written a story which is actually an assemblage of many funny anecdotes but not all of them tickle the funny bone. There is no room for logic in the story but that’s acceptable because logic has never been the hallmark of any of the Housefull franchise films. The screenplay, written by Farhad Samji, Tarun Mansukhani and Sajid Nadiadwala, with additional screenplay by Shobhit Sinha, Madhur Sharma and Puja Pandey, is good in parts only. The first half has several funny moments and scenes, which evoke laughter. But it also has some scenes and jokes which fall flat on their face. The post-interval portion is not as exciting because it looks stretched. Also, the funny moments and scenes are fewer in the post-interval portion. Although the drama is designed as a laugh riot, of the kind one has, over the years, been referring to as the Priyadarshan brand of comedy, the magic of Priyadarshan is missing. The dialogues, by Farhad Samji, with additional dialogues by Shobhit Sinha, Tasha Bhambra and Sparsh Khetarpal, are extraordinary. Having said that, it must be added that a lot of dialogues are double entendres and they will appeal to the masses mainly.
Akshay Kumar is superb as Julius alias Jolly. He gives his all to the character and comes out a winner. Abhishek Bachchan is very good as Jalbhushan alias Jolly. His scenes of dozing off are rather funny. Also funny is his habit of stressing on the wrong word in a sentence. Ritesh Deshmukh is brilliant as Jalabuddin alias Jolly. His explanation about what/whom he is talking about is terrific. Sanjay Dutt is nice as Interpol officer Bhiddu. Jackie Shroff is good in the role of Interpol officer Baba. Nana Patekar is effective but is not outstanding in a brief role as Dhagdu. Since his entry is very late and comes at a point when it is clear that he is the only one who can solve the murder mystery, the viewers expect his performance to be out of the world and, therefore, feel a bit let down. Jacqueline Fernandez is alright as Sasikala. She looks sexy. Chitrangda Singh is average as Maya, and she gets limited scope. Sonam Bajwa is extraordinary as Zara. Her Urdu dialogue delivery is just too good. Nargis Fakhri looks quite nice and acts decently as Kaanchi. Soundarya Sharma is ordinary in the role of Lucy; she exudes oomph. Shreyas Talpade is wonderful as Shiraz. Although he gets very limited scope, his acting is lovely. Fardeen Khan is impressive in the role of Dev. Chunkey Panday has his moments as Aakhri Pasta. Dino Morea is alright as Bedi. His physique is excellent. Johny Lever is natural and entertaining in the role of Batuk Patel. Ranjeet is impressive as Ranjeet Dobriyal. Nikitin Dheer is okay as Captain Sameer. Akashdeep Sabir makes his mark as the doctor. Bobby Deol springs a pleasant surprise in the end and his appearance brings a smile to the face.
Tarun Mansukhani’s direction is good but the consistency of a laugh riot is missing. Music (Tanishk Bagchi, White Noise Collectives, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Kratex) and lyrics (Kumaar, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Alfaaz, Som, Kratex) are quite entertaining. The Laal paree song (composed by Yo Yo Honey Singh; lyrics by Yo Yo Honey Singh and Alfaaz) is a super-hit number while Dil-E-Nadaan (composed by White Noise Collectives; lyrics by Kumaar) is quite good. The other songs are alright. Adil Shaikh and Remo D’Souza’s choreography is eye-filling. Julius Packiam’s background music is very nice. V. Manikandan’s cinematography is excellent. Parvez Shaikh’s action and stunt scenes are quite thrilling. Production designing (by Rajat Poddar, Rajnish Hedao, Sumit Basu and Snigdha Basu) is of a high standard. Rameshwar S. Bhagat’s editing leaves something to be desired. In a comedy like this, editing ought to be super-sharp for the desired impact.
On the whole, Housefull 5 is an average entertainer. Among its plus points are the comedy, excellent dialogues, very good performances and the Laal paree song. As for the minus points, besides its inherent drawbacks, as mentioned above, it has two other negative points which have nothing to do with the content — its very high cost (approximately Rs. 225-250 crore) and its weak start today. It will do ordinary business which will not be considered good enough for the franchise value… The film has two endings. In other words, there are some differences in content in the two versions but only in the last 20-25 minutes of the film.
Released on 6-6-’25 at Inox (daily 16 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: excellent. Opening: quite good. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull at many places but fair at some. Collections are picking up as the day is progressing.
