Thank You

It's been rather quiet on the Bollywood mainstream front given the build up and subsequent hangover with India winning the Cricket World Cup, but I suppose releases will be back on track soon, with one of the earliest off the blocks being Anees Bazmee's Thank You, a typical comedy broaching on the topic of marriage infidelity starring one of the most hardworking and overexposed stars in Akshay Kumar in an ensemble together with Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Celina Jaitley and Rimi Sen.

So shouldn't it sound like fun, given a bevy of stars in situational set ups about philandering husbands who fool around behind their wives' backs, and having their own support group set up as credible alibis. Bobby Deol's Raj manages to fool his wife Sanjana (Sonam Kapoor) with his sweet nothings, his boss Vikram (Irrfan Khan) overpowers his submissive wife Karthika (Rimi Sen) with unreasonable demands, probably because the latter wants to continue enjoying the high life thanks to her husband's booming luxury yacht business. Then there's Suniel Shetty as Yogi, perhaps the least skillful of the lot, being caught out by wife Radha (Celina Jaitley), and also because of the latter's engagement of a private investigator Kishen (Akshay Kumar) who she introduces to Sanjana to wake the simpleton to see beyond the wool pulled over her eyes.

Honestly, the first half of the film before the interval is the stronger portion of the story, and probably where it's most fun given the interesting battle of wits premise set, even though it was not exploited to the full extent. With Radha and Sanjana reluctantly engaging Kishen's services, the latter is adamant in exposing the three husbands in one fell swoop, but discovers that the counter-brilliance of the mastermind Vikram won't make this an easy walk in the park. Strategies get employed involving technology, divide and conquer tactics to make the guys turn on one another, and frankly the set comedic pieces hit more than missed. The complication arises when the guys also engages Kishen's services, and find out that he too is a ladies man, though his loyalties, under wraps, belong to his earlier employers.

A small romantic subplot also involved Kishen and Sanjana with a hint of a conflict of interest from the get go that was cursory at best, and the remaining saving grace of the film belonged to the chemistry between Irrfan and Bobby Deol as buddies who find their lifestyle under threat. But it all spiraled downward after the interval with plenty of melodrama being poured into it such as the tired and silly suicide attempt of Sanjana at the Niagara Falls (this was partly shot in Toronto and Vancouver), and when Kishen progresses into his next role as a pseudo-marriage counsellor out to teach the guys a thing or two about fidelity, and reconciliation. However I suspect that the jokes here were less slapstick and direct, relying on funny dialogue that got lost in translation through the subtitles, which was a pity for non- Hindi speakers like myself.

Song and dance sequences were nothing to shout about unfortunately, even with Mallika Sherawat popping up as an item girl in Razia. No subtitles came with the lyrics to the songs, so I'm left to my own devices to determine what shenanigans the characters were into. Would have been a much engaging film if the second half managed to keep pace with the eclectic first, but instead opting for a more conventional approach and finale that makes you wonder why the females can't just walk out of a relationship that is already on rocky grounds no thanks to mistrust and dishonesty, lessons learnt notwithstanding.

Typical Akshay Kumar movie.....

Lots of semi-naked phoren babes--and shots of Akki cavorting with them ( what else ? ) , like they are in aaaaaalllllll of Akki's films .

To join him this time are Bobby ( out of work ) Deol , Irrfan Khan ( can a bollywood movie do without a Khan nowadays ? ) and Suniel Shetty ( even the change of name from Sunil to Suniel wont change the luck of this non-actor ,the way it has for Irfan to Irrfan ).

All are sleazy guys who get caught by their wives cheating with other women and end up to ask help from Akki , who himself is a womanizer ( so whats new about Akshay , even in real life )

Little do they know that Akshay is upto games of his own.......

The movie is funny in some parts , though the ending is corny .

Verdict--okay for some timepass.

'No thanks' would be the proper response if someone proposes that you watch this junk. Anees Bazmee has made another garbage that's not only highly offensive to women but also an insult to people's basic intelligence. Of course, I expect this from Akshay Kumar and Bazmee (who, as it seems, is incapable of making a decent film) so I would have skipped this but some of my relatives are fans of Kumar and so it was more about spending time with the family and laughing at the awfulness of 'Thank You'. While I did predict it to be awful, I thought it would be one of those so-bad that it's funny. However, the way the woman are portrayed as weak AND stupid is unforgivable. Anyway, needless to say, the writing is horrendous. Akshay Kumar is okay where acting is concerned but he offers nothing new. Irfan Khan steals the show as he reveals his comic side once again. Of the women, Rimi Sen stands out in a non-challenging role. Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor and Celina Jaitly are bad. Of course, like many rich Bollywood directors, Bazmee is ashamed of India, so the film is poorly shot in Canada. The songs, like in most recent Akshay Kumar films, are dreadful.

Oh well, as a viewer, I wouldn't consider myself completely blameless as I did choose to watch this trash, expecting to at least laugh a bit and poke fun but alas! No thanks to Bazmee and his team.

The movie is bad, and so is the script. Akshay and Sonam just don't go together and neither Sonam and Bobby. Basically Sonam was the misfit. But what I loved was Rimi and Irfaan's pair. Wish they'd done another movie together with a similar theme of a couple who hate each other or a situation where they hate each other. They were so natural. Too late now :( RIP Irfaan.

I went to watch this movie with very low expectations thinking it to be another vulgar/cheap comedy that Bollywood has been making on cheating husbands. But I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about three couples where the husbands fool their wives and have extra-marital affairs and how the wives get back at their husbands using the help of a private detective.

Needless to say, Irrfan Khan is the best in the movie. He does a good job and has a good comic timing. Other actors (Akshay Kumar, Rimi Sen, Bobby Deol)have also done a fair job. Sonam Kapoor (whom I don't like much) is tolerable. It's fun to watch and the scenes between Irrfan and Rimi are good. Not a great movie but an enjoyable one!