Humshakals
| Humshakals | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sajid Khan |
| Produced by | Vashu Bhagnani |
| Written by | Sajid Khan |
| Starring |
Saif Ali Khan Riteish Deshmukh Bipasha Basu Tamannaah Bhatia Esha Gupta Ram Kapoor |
| Music by |
Himesh Reshammiya Background Score: Sandeep Shirodkar |
| Cinematography | Ravi Yadav |
| Edited by | Bunty Nagi |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Pooja Entertainment India Ltd. |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 158 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language |
Hindi English |
| Budget | ₹750 million[1] |
| Box office | ₹637 million[2] |
Humshakals (English: Look-alikes) is a 2014 Indian romantic comedy film[3] 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.[4] The film is co-produced by Fox Star Studios and Vashu Bhagnani's Pooja Entertainment.[5] The film was released on 20 June 2014.[6]
The film was heavily panned upon its release. Individuals starring in the movie and otherwise associated with it such as Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta also criticized its production publicly. Regarded as one of the worst films ever made in Indian history, the movie also failed to make back its production costs in the box office.
Plot
Ashok (Saif Ali Khan) and Kumar (Riteish Deshmukh) are best friends, whereas Shanaya (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Mishti (Bipasha Basu) are their love interests. Ashok's father is a multi millionaire but has been 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 Singh 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 realises 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 where Singh 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 Cyrus (Darshan Jariwala), who takes them to a secret ward 'C' to meet 'Johnny' 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 Singh 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 Singh, 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 Balbir the triplicate of Singh while Singh also arranges another set of Ashok and Kumar with the help of plastic surgery. Singh takes the triplicate Ashok and 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 and Kumar arrive along with the triplicate of Singh. To add to the confusion the three mental patients also storm in to help the real Ashok and Kumar creating panic among the eyewitnesses on seeing so many lookalikes together.
The movie closes with Ashok's father coming out of his coma and recognising the true Ashok and getting Singh arrested for his deeds.
Cast
- Saif Ali Khan as Ashok Singhania
- Tamannaah Bhatia as Shanaya Trivedi
- Riteish Deshmukh as Kumar
- Bipasha Basu as Mishti
- Ram Kapoor as Kunwar Amar Nath Singh / Johnny / Balbir
- Esha Gupta as Dr. Shivani Gupta
- Satish Shah as Y.M. Raj
- Darshan Jariwala as Cyrus Patel
- Chunkey Pandey as Karan T Bijlani
- Nawab Shah as Dr. Khan
- Akash Khurana as Ashok's father
Filming
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.[7] It was reported that all three actresses Tamannaah Bhatia and Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta have sported bikinis in the movie.[8] The team of Humshakals shot in Mauritius for the final part of the film starting on 22 February 2014. Two songs and several sequences were 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.[9][10]
After the release and the poor critical response, Saif Ali Khan told the press that "The film didn't have a script as such, it was all there in Sajid's mind."[11]
Soundtrack
| Humshakals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Himesh Reshammiya | ||||
| Released | 26 May 2014 | |||
| Genre | Film Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 23:59 | |||
| Label |
Zee Music Company Sony Music | |||
| Himesh Reshammiya chronology | ||||
| ||||
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 26 May 2014.
Track listing
| Track Listing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Caller Tune" | Sameer | Neeraj Shridhar and Neeti Mohan | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Piya Ke Bazaar Mein" | Shabbir Ahmed | Himesh Reshammiya, Shalmali Kholgade and Palak Muchhal | 4:22 |
| 3. | "Barbaad Raat" | Mayur Puri | Sanam Puri and Shalmali Kholgade | 3:24 |
| 4. | "Look into My Eyes" | Sameer | Ash King and Neeti Mohan | 3:36 |
| 5. | "Hum Pagal Nahi Hai" | Mayur Puri | Himesh Reshammiya | 4:26 |
| 6. | "Khol De Dil Ki Khidki" | Shabbir Ahmed | Mika Singh and Palak Muchhal | 4:16 |
Total length: |
23:59 | |||
Reception
Despite poor critical reception, the film did well at the box office during first few days after release.[12] The film made 63.72 which Koimoi estimates is less than half of its investment.[13]
Critical response
The critical response was largely negative.[14] Saurabh Dwivedi of India Today stated "for Sajid Khan, I can only say that Humshakals will be listed in one of the worst films of the century."[15] 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."[16] 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."[17] Mohar Basu of Koimoi gave it 0/5 stars and said the film was "[l]oaded with indecipherable dim wit" and "an odd mishmash of pathos and drudgery."[18]
Bipasha Basu called Humshakals "the worst experience of [her] life,"[19] and Esha Gupta warned family members not to see the film.[20]
The film received five Golden Kela Award nominations,[21] and won for Worst Film.[22] It also won two Ghanta Awards; the film won Worst Picture and Ram Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Riteish Deshmukh shared the Worst Actor award.[23][24] The film also has a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
References
- ↑ http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/why-did-sajid-khan-make-humshakals-the-rs-40-crore-weekend-collection-is-the-answer/article1-1233013.aspx
- ↑ Bollywood Hungama. "Humshakals". bollywoodhungama.com.
- ↑ "Humshakals". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
- ↑ "Saif Ali Khan plays triple role in Sajid Khan's Hamshakals". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh to play triple roles in Sajid Khan's Humshakals". The Indian Express. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ http://boxofficeindia.com/Movies/movie_detail/humshakals
- ↑ "Aamir Khan vs Saif Ali Khan: 'Peekay', 'Humshakals' to release in June next year". Divya Goyal. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
- ↑ "Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta, Tamannaah to wear Bikini in Humshakals". news.biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ↑ "Tournage de "Humshakals": Bipasha Basu et Saif Ali Khan débarquent à Maurice" (in French). L'express. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ↑ "TOURNAGE DE HUMSHAKALS : Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Ram Kapoor à Maurice demain" (in French). Le Mauricien. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ↑ Ankur Pathak (18 July 2014). "Saif Ali Khan: Humshakals was a mistake". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ↑ Geety Sahgal (7 July 2014). "Humshakals box office collections: Despite criticism, Sajid Khan has the last laugh". The Financial Express. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ↑ "Box-Office Verdicts of Major Bollywood Releases of 2014". Koimoi. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ "Humshakals collects Rs. 25 Crores in 2 days despite negative reviews". news.biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ↑ "Movie review: Humshakals is three times trash". India Today.
- ↑ "Humshakals review: How Saif, Riteish teamed up to give your brain damage". Firstpost. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Movie review: Saif Ali Khan is the worst thing about Humshakals". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Humshakals Movie Review | Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor". Koimoi.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Bipasha: Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". Rediff.com. 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "I asked my father not to watch the film, says Esha Gupta". The Times of India. 2 July 2014.
- ↑ "Humshakals' leads nominations list at Golden Kela Awards". The Hindu. February 17, 2015. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
- ↑ "Sonakshi and Arjun grab top Golden Kela awards". The National. March 15, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Ghanta Awards 2015: Sonakshi Sinha, Saif Ali Khan named worst actors". indiatoday. March 10, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Ghanta Awards 2015 Complete Winners List: Sonakshi Sinha, Ajay Devgn Win Worst Actor Awards; Farah Khan Worst Director". International Business Times. March 9, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.