Rating-***/*****
Humshakals (English: Look alikes or doppelgängers) is a Bollywood comedy film[1] directed by Sajid Khan and produced by Vashu Bhagnani. Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh are in triple roles. The film is shot extensively in foreign locations, starting September 2013.[2] The film is co-produced by Fox Star Studios and Vashu Bhagnani's Pooja Entertainment.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Filming
4 Soundtrack
4.1 Track listings
5 Critical response
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Ashok (Saif Ali Khan) and Kumar (Ritesh Deshmukh) are best friends, where as Shanaya (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Mishti (Bipasha Basu) are their love interests. Ashok's father is a multi millionaire but is in a coma for the last six years, while his wicked Mamaji (Ram Kapoor) teams up with an evil Doctor Dr. Khan (Nawab Shah) to get rid of Ashok and take over all his property. During a board meeting Mamaji mixes a medicine in Ashok and Kumar's drink and they both start behaving like dogs. They are taken to a mental asylum for treatment by Dr. Shivani (Esha Gupta) who soon realizes the truth and promises to discharge them. But fate takes a twist as two lookalikes of Ashok and Kumar being treated in the same hospital's 'B' ward (who work for Bijlani (Chunkey Pandey), a cocaine smuggler) are accidentally released instead of the true ones. Shanaya and Mishti take them to Ashok's mansion were Mamaji understands the whole mix-up and plans to use the duplicate Ashok to become the owner of the whole business empire. Now the true Ashok and Kumar also come to know of Mamaji's evil plan but are stuck in the asylum. They are offered help by one of the ward boy (Darshan Jariwala), who takes them to a secret ward 'C' to meet 'Jhonny' who is a look alike of Mamaji but has a dangerous habit of attacking people who sneeze in front of him. Ashok and Kumar plan revenge against Mamaji with the help of Johnny but get caught by the warden Y. M. Raj (Satish Shah) before they can escape from the asylum. Y. M. Raj prepares to punish them but accidentally sneezes in front of them. Angered by this, Johnny beats him black and blue, thus helping the three to escape. On the day of the board meeting, the true Ashok and Kumar were about to expose Mamaji, when Dr. Khan triggers the fire alarm. All the three mental patients escape the building. Now desperate Ashok and Kumar bump into a dance bar owner Rajvinder the triplicate of Mamaji, while Mamaji also arranges another set of Ashok and Kumar with the help of plastic surgery. Mamaji takes the triplicate Ashok & Kumar to 'House of Commons' were the fake Ashok is to hand over all the business to him in the presence of Prince Charles but the real Ashok & Kumar arrive along with the triplicate of Mamaji. To add to the confusion the three mental patients also storm in to help the real Ashok & Kumar creating panic among the eyewitnesses on seeing so many lookalikes together. Movie closes with Ashok's father coming out of his coma and recognizing the true Ashok and getting Mamaji arrested for his deeds.
Cast[edit]
Saif Ali Khan as Ashok Singhania
Riteish Deshmukh as Kumar
Ram Kapoor as Mamaji / Johnny / Rajvinder
Tamannaah Bhatia as Shanaya
Bipasha Basu as Mishti
Esha Gupta as Dr. Shivani Gupta
Satish Shah as Y.M. Raj (Warden of mental asylum)
Darshan Jariwala as Ward boy
Chunkey Pandey as Bijlani (Cocaine smuggler)
Nawab Shah as Dr. Khan
Filming[edit]
Shooting of the film commenced on 24 September 2013 in London with Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh all of whom have reportedly been cast in triple roles.[4] It was reported that all three actresses Tamannaah Bhatia and Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta have sported Bikini in the movie.[5] The team of Humshakals shot in Mauritius for the final schedule of the film starting on 22 February 2014. Two songs and several sequences was shot at the La Plantation Resort & Spa, Le Méridien, Intercontinental Resort, Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius and the Northern Beaches, Mauritian extras also participated in the shooting.[6][7]
Soundtrack[edit]
The soundtrack of Humshakals is composed by Himesh Reshammiya and lyrics are written by Mayur Puri, Sameer and Shabbir Ahmed. The first single of the movie is "Caller Tune", by Neeraj Shridhar and Neeti Mohan. The soundtrack was released on May 26, 2014.
Track listings[edit]
# Title Singer(s) Lyrics Length
1 "Caller Tune" Neeraj Shridhar & Neeti Mohan Sameer 4:35
2 "Piya Ke Bazaar Mein" Himesh Reshammiya, Shalmali Kholgade & Palak Muchhal Shabbir Ahmed 4:22
3 "Look Into My Eyes" Ash King & Neeti Mohan Sameer 3:36
4 "Barbaad Raat" Sanam Puri & Shalmali Kholgade Sameer 3:24
5 "Hum Pagal Nahi Hai" Himesh Reshammiya Mayur Puri 4:26
6 "Khol De Dil Ki Khidki" Mika Singh & Palak Muchhal Shabbir Ahmed 4:16
Critical response[edit]
The critical response was mostly negative.[8] Mihir Fadnavis wrote in his Firstpost review, "... sexual tomfoolery, shrieking and hamming aside, there's much more to hate about this ‘family movie’. It's disturbing to see such an atrocious, regressive, misogynistic, sexist, homophobic cinematic product force-fed to paying audiences. I can understand that a comedy need not be ‘safe’, but what goes on in Humshakals is simply too horrifying to bear."[9] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times rated the film 0.5 out of 5 and stated "With no story or comedy on offer, even Riteish and Ram are unable to save the day for Sajid Khan."[10] Mohar Basu of Koimoi gave it 1.5/5 stars and said the film was "[l]oaded with indecipherable dim wit" and "an odd mishmash of pathos and drudgery."[11]
Humshakals (English: Look alikes or doppelgängers) is a Bollywood comedy film[1] directed by Sajid Khan and produced by Vashu Bhagnani. Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh are in triple roles. The film is shot extensively in foreign locations, starting September 2013.[2] The film is co-produced by Fox Star Studios and Vashu Bhagnani's Pooja Entertainment.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Filming
4 Soundtrack
4.1 Track listings
5 Critical response
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Ashok (Saif Ali Khan) and Kumar (Ritesh Deshmukh) are best friends, where as Shanaya (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Mishti (Bipasha Basu) are their love interests. Ashok's father is a multi millionaire but is in a coma for the last six years, while his wicked Mamaji (Ram Kapoor) teams up with an evil Doctor Dr. Khan (Nawab Shah) to get rid of Ashok and take over all his property. During a board meeting Mamaji mixes a medicine in Ashok and Kumar's drink and they both start behaving like dogs. They are taken to a mental asylum for treatment by Dr. Shivani (Esha Gupta) who soon realizes the truth and promises to discharge them. But fate takes a twist as two lookalikes of Ashok and Kumar being treated in the same hospital's 'B' ward (who work for Bijlani (Chunkey Pandey), a cocaine smuggler) are accidentally released instead of the true ones. Shanaya and Mishti take them to Ashok's mansion were Mamaji understands the whole mix-up and plans to use the duplicate Ashok to become the owner of the whole business empire. Now the true Ashok and Kumar also come to know of Mamaji's evil plan but are stuck in the asylum. They are offered help by one of the ward boy (Darshan Jariwala), who takes them to a secret ward 'C' to meet 'Jhonny' who is a look alike of Mamaji but has a dangerous habit of attacking people who sneeze in front of him. Ashok and Kumar plan revenge against Mamaji with the help of Johnny but get caught by the warden Y. M. Raj (Satish Shah) before they can escape from the asylum. Y. M. Raj prepares to punish them but accidentally sneezes in front of them. Angered by this, Johnny beats him black and blue, thus helping the three to escape. On the day of the board meeting, the true Ashok and Kumar were about to expose Mamaji, when Dr. Khan triggers the fire alarm. All the three mental patients escape the building. Now desperate Ashok and Kumar bump into a dance bar owner Rajvinder the triplicate of Mamaji, while Mamaji also arranges another set of Ashok and Kumar with the help of plastic surgery. Mamaji takes the triplicate Ashok & Kumar to 'House of Commons' were the fake Ashok is to hand over all the business to him in the presence of Prince Charles but the real Ashok & Kumar arrive along with the triplicate of Mamaji. To add to the confusion the three mental patients also storm in to help the real Ashok & Kumar creating panic among the eyewitnesses on seeing so many lookalikes together. Movie closes with Ashok's father coming out of his coma and recognizing the true Ashok and getting Mamaji arrested for his deeds.
Cast[edit]
Saif Ali Khan as Ashok Singhania
Riteish Deshmukh as Kumar
Ram Kapoor as Mamaji / Johnny / Rajvinder
Tamannaah Bhatia as Shanaya
Bipasha Basu as Mishti
Esha Gupta as Dr. Shivani Gupta
Satish Shah as Y.M. Raj (Warden of mental asylum)
Darshan Jariwala as Ward boy
Chunkey Pandey as Bijlani (Cocaine smuggler)
Nawab Shah as Dr. Khan
Filming[edit]
Shooting of the film commenced on 24 September 2013 in London with Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh all of whom have reportedly been cast in triple roles.[4] It was reported that all three actresses Tamannaah Bhatia and Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta have sported Bikini in the movie.[5] The team of Humshakals shot in Mauritius for the final schedule of the film starting on 22 February 2014. Two songs and several sequences was shot at the La Plantation Resort & Spa, Le Méridien, Intercontinental Resort, Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius and the Northern Beaches, Mauritian extras also participated in the shooting.[6][7]
Soundtrack[edit]
The soundtrack of Humshakals is composed by Himesh Reshammiya and lyrics are written by Mayur Puri, Sameer and Shabbir Ahmed. The first single of the movie is "Caller Tune", by Neeraj Shridhar and Neeti Mohan. The soundtrack was released on May 26, 2014.
Track listings[edit]
# Title Singer(s) Lyrics Length
1 "Caller Tune" Neeraj Shridhar & Neeti Mohan Sameer 4:35
2 "Piya Ke Bazaar Mein" Himesh Reshammiya, Shalmali Kholgade & Palak Muchhal Shabbir Ahmed 4:22
3 "Look Into My Eyes" Ash King & Neeti Mohan Sameer 3:36
4 "Barbaad Raat" Sanam Puri & Shalmali Kholgade Sameer 3:24
5 "Hum Pagal Nahi Hai" Himesh Reshammiya Mayur Puri 4:26
6 "Khol De Dil Ki Khidki" Mika Singh & Palak Muchhal Shabbir Ahmed 4:16
Critical response[edit]
The critical response was mostly negative.[8] Mihir Fadnavis wrote in his Firstpost review, "... sexual tomfoolery, shrieking and hamming aside, there's much more to hate about this ‘family movie’. It's disturbing to see such an atrocious, regressive, misogynistic, sexist, homophobic cinematic product force-fed to paying audiences. I can understand that a comedy need not be ‘safe’, but what goes on in Humshakals is simply too horrifying to bear."[9] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times rated the film 0.5 out of 5 and stated "With no story or comedy on offer, even Riteish and Ram are unable to save the day for Sajid Khan."[10] Mohar Basu of Koimoi gave it 1.5/5 stars and said the film was "[l]oaded with indecipherable dim wit" and "an odd mishmash of pathos and drudgery."[11]