Insultingly juvenile

‘Hum pagal nahi hai bhaiya hamara dimak karab hai’, goes the lyrics of a song in the film. Sajid Khan’s ‘Humshakals’ completely obliterates that thin dividing line between a faulty brain and insanity. The film is best summed up in the finale when everyone protests against the threat of one final PJ. This is the promised comedy that isn’t.

The narration from the word go, is repulsively ludicrous to perceive that the audience will be entertained by a farce as this. To be fair to Sajid Khan, he does not bring on board the pretensions of being a filmmaker of even marginal repute. Cineastes watch his films at their own peril and with the danger not concealed. He outclasses his earlier outings. Those who underestimated him by dubbing ‘Himaatwala’ as his worst, come out to regret the hurried assessment. In all honesty, he may well ask -- what did you expect of me and my film? He takes a couple of pot shots at himself. That much for minimum honesty which is the sole saleable virtue of film in its 160 minutes run.

The film breaks all the golden rules of making a good comedy for beginners, be it the length or refusing to understand that comedy is not all about mad behaviour. The film starts with a rich businessman who travels in his own private airliner and has a passion for doing stand-up comedy -- no one likes it and people walk out. Sajid is thus giving you an early message if you are willing to take it. The script deals with Ashok (Saif) and his sidekick Kumar (Riteish) who manage a huge estate. Ashok’s dad (Aakash Khurana in a role that he would cringe when he sees it on screen) is in coma and uncle Kans (Ram Kapoor) is eyeing his wealth with the support of a dubious scientist (Parmeet Sethi - who looks like Wasim Akram gone wrong and waylaid at a research lab). Now the doctor has special talents. With a few drops of a certain concoction, he can convert men into dogs and latter also have facial changes done by ‘doctoring’ the facial muscles. There is nothing that the doc cannot achieve. The film actors are induced with MAD – Mind Altering Drug.

Rightly said, for obviously the filmmaker needs it urgently. So you have the suave businessman and his aide locked up in a British lunatic asylum behaving like unruly street dogs. An animal activist would strongly object to Sajid Khan’s perception of how dogs behave. They may not mind the initiation process when it comes to Riteish though. Now at the asylum where you find it difficult to differentiate the inmate from the medical or para-medical staff, are another pair of Ashok and Kumar who have been lodged there for fear of electric shocks after being administered heavy doses of it by drug lord (Javed Jaffrey). Coincidentally they too are named Ashok and Kumar. So as the roll call goes: you have one pair of Ashok and Kumar who are the good guys (turned dogs) and the second pair is the mad guys (who have been electrocuted). To match Mama Kans we have one ‘most dangerous inmate” who has an obsessive psychological disorder and is a lookalike of Mama. Now for the third, as we head to the climax, we have another three of the same variety and a climax where all of them together in the presence of Prince Charles go about making complete asses of themselves.

Be warned that this is hardly cinema. A five-year-old would refuse to laugh. Saif sleepwalks and Ram Kapoor makes the needless choice of moving from the small screen to this imbecilic big screen role, that too three times over.

My respect for Bipasha Basu has gone up ever since she refused to promote the film. It is a case of better late than never. Only Riteish acts with sincerity. One feels sorry for this talented actor and his choice of film. He is far too talented and soon should realise that this kind of outing is not doing him any good.
At the hospital set of the film, there is a board that reads: Forbidden Area. Putting that up along with the film’s poster would make sense.