Reviewing a silly movie is sillier than watching it on the silver screen. While you watch it, you wonder why you are sitting through it and to your surprise, you mostly find a packed house and people seem to be enjoying it. “Breathe in… Breathe out! You have come to enjoy the flick and not to look for logic… Einstein!”- You may as well mumble to yourself. And then when you sit down to review it; you may yell silently- “Does it even deserve a review?” Most certainly if the movie has a big star, it doesn’t. Any which way, it will make money. Even if it turns out to be a poor show, it will be an average success keeping producers and distributors happy. There are ways to earn bucks even without the theatrical business. It’s raining stars this month. A fortnight post ‘Kick’ and its earth-shattering run at the Box Office, Akshay Kumar is back at what he is good at- another dim-witted loud lousy supposedly funny and entertaining film. This one’s called ‘Entertainment’ itself. But that is also the name of the protagonist here- a trained Golden Retrievar, Junior.
We have rarely had films with animals as the protagonists here. I recall just two right now- ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’ and ‘Teri Meherbaniyan’ and just in case you are about to call me a movie geek, do also blame it on our failure to bring forward animals to the limelight in our movies. Hollywood has an impressive huge list to its credit and naming even one of them here would be a shame given the kind of injustice we have done in this week’s canine comedy- ‘Entertainment’.
Post the success of the inconsistent yet partly engaging ‘Holiday’, Akshay Kumar plays Akhil Lokhande here. Wait! Is it necessary to pen lines about the plot here or am I sounding like a wannabe intellectual trying to give my expert insight on a movie so mindless that even Sajid Khan’s films appear a little important in comparison! Whatever! Don’t… Don’t ever look for a plot in Akshay’s movies and neither in Salman’s- both being huge superstars. These guys don’t need a story or good direction to make their films run. So, Akhil does petty jobs to support his father who is supposedly hospitalized till he finds the old man dancing to ‘Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hain’ with the nurse. As it turns out, the man isn’t his real father and Akhil is the illegitimate son of a Bangkok-based billionaire diamond merchant. The father is now dead and of course, his DNA (Daddy’s Naajaayaz Aulad) heads to take what is rightly his- the 3000 crore worth property since the old man doesn’t have any relatives. One slight problem! The dead man’s best friend, a dog (Entertainment) has inherited the property and there are two second cousins, Prakash Raj and Sonu Sood named Karan and Arjun here who are also aiming for the bucks.
To give its due, ‘Entertainment’ is better than most of these loud slapstick comedies which are churned out to tickle our funny bones. Directed by Sajid-Farhad who have penned most of the lot themselves, we do have a few genuinely funny moments here mostly due to the dialogues. But again, these get repetitive and portions drag. Sure, you don’t expect logic in a film like this but melodrama could have been avoided. Do you remember those near-death scenes in movies of past? In the climax, you had an important character on a hospital bed, the doctor gives up and probably the hero sobs and hits the body hard and boy, the person breathes and lives! It happens here and to the dog. Believe it. The Directors don’t do much justice to Junior as well. Undoubtedly, he is a well-trained good-looking adorable dog. But neither is the man-dog relationship explored here nor can you compare it with even the worst Hollywood movie made on themes as such. Music (Sachin-Jigar) is quite good. ‘Johny Johny’ is the pick.
Akshay Kumar doesn’t need to act and makes no effort here too. His comic timing is good like it always is but he is terrible when it comes to emotional scenes. Like the other huge superstar (a much bigger one at that) Salman Khan, he can carry off a poor role and movie with ease and draw the crowd. No, it isn’t a criticism. It is a compliment. But how one wishes he does something like ‘Special 26’ or even ‘Holiday’ more often. Tamannaah Bhatia looks ok and isn’t really a terrible actress; she is just a little better than that. She has nothing much to do here too. Junior, our charming Golden Retrievar is very cute. Rightly then, his name appears before Akshay in the opening titles and the movie is named after him. But you don’t have much of him as you might expect. Johny Lever is hilarious and it is a pleasure seeing him on screen in a good role after a hiatus. Krushna Abhishek gets the best lines and is funny as well. Prakash Raj and Sonu Sood as the melodramatic villain brothers ham it up. They are better in pure negative roles. Mithun Chakraborthy is wasted in a silly role. Riteish Deshmukh and Shreyas Talpade are in cameos.
Watch it or not: All fans should watch their hero’s movies.So, Akshay fans should watch it. Others can watch it for some silly mindless laughs and Junior’s cuteness.
At the Box-Office: ‘Entertainment’ has a big star but is sandwiched between ‘Kick’ which is still running strong and next week’s Independence Day Release ‘Singham Returns’ which has three stars- Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor and Rohit Shetty himself. I doubt this one will make it to the 100 crore club itself. Average at the BO as per me.
My Verdict
My Rating
I’m quite sure our dog Junior here didn’t really know what he was being a part of while being filmed.If someone shows him this one and tells him this is entertainment, he will go “bark… bark… bark!”
