Housefull 5 Review: A Comedy For 69 Lovers, Not Regular Audiences

RATING - ⭐⭐ 2/5*

Housefull 5 Review Movie Talkies:

Housefull 5 is an unfortunate successor to the equally crappy Housefull 4, a film that, despite its poor quality, turned out to be a box office hit. That success has now unfortunately paved the way for this sequel, which will likely determine whether the franchise continues—or mercifully ends. Frankly, this torture needs to stop. If the plan is to keep churning out trash like this, then perhaps we deserve it. After all, there's a difference between making good cinema and making a money-spinner, and Housefull 5 is clearly the latter. It was never meant to please the critics and it will continue to do so, untill the audiences show it thumbs down. This is a terrible comedy, no two ways about it. Ironically, the film does manage to add some suspense and mystery—something no one asked for from this franchise. They’ve oddly nailed the mystery aspect but failed miserably at the very genre they claim to represent: comedy.

Housefull 5 Story:

The film opens with a rich businessman, Ranjeet, who leaves behind a massive estate worth 69 billion pounds for his heir, Jolly. Cue chaos as three Jollys show up—Jolly 1 (Riteish Deshmukh), Jolly 2 (Abhishek Bachchan), and Jolly 3 (Akshay Kumar)—each with their glamorous foreign wives, all trying to prove they're the real heir. The only clue? A birthmark on their buttocks, as mentioned in Ranjeet’s will. The madness escalates when a murder happens on a cruise ship, and all three Jollys become suspects. Enter two suspended cops, Baba (Jackie Shroff) and Bhidu (Sanjay Dutt), followed by their superior, Interpol officer Mr. Dagdu (Nana Patekar), who arrives in the climax to reveal the killer’s identity. Who isnthe killer? But honestly, by then, do we even care?

Written by Sajid Nadiadwala, Housefull 5 is a painfully cheap comedy loaded with innuendos, double entendres, and unwarranted sensuality. The film shamelessly focuses on the actresses' physical attributes—tight outfits, close-up shots, and bedroom jokes—rather than any form of credible dialogue delivery. It's no surprise the five female leads—Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa, Nargis Fakhri, Soundarya Sharma, and Chitrangda Singh—struggle to say a single line convincingly. But apparently, that wasn’t the assignment. This film is not about acting; it’s about eye candy and sleaze. In a twisted way, Sajid deserves credit for not copying Agatha Christie as rumored. The story is original—yes, it’s a mess, but at least it’s his mess, and not applicable for remake trolls. The screenplay, however, is riddled with logic gaps. A hologram talks to live characters as if it were sentient. And Akshay’s character lineage makes no sense at all—he played a completely different role in Housefull (2010), so how is this Jolly even connected? The supporting cast is criminally underutilized, adding to the overall detachment. Most disappointing, though, is how blatantly adult this so-called comedy is. The film constantly leans on the number "69" for cheap laughs, and it’s been rated 16+ despite content that would make most families squirm in their seats. That number alone inspired this review’s headline.

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Housefull 5 Cast:

Performance-wise, let’s not pretend anyone showed up to "act." Akshay Kumar starts strong but fizzles out in the second half. There’s a wildly inappropriate joke about Malaika Arora that somehow lands—it's outrageous, yet weirdly funny. That booty joke needs to go down in history books as one of the meanest jokes ever on a bollywood celebrity. Abhishek Bachchan seems unsure throughout but does offer a minor twist at the end. Riteish Deshmukh, in the look from Raja Shivaji throughout the film, looks disinterested and lost. The hotties, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa, Nargis Fakhri, Soundarya Sharma, and Chitrangda Singh, serve their purpose for glam and dirty jokes but desperately need acting workshops. Jackie Shroff appears to have enjoyed himself, surrounded by half-his-age women, while Sanjay Dutt’s talent feels completely wasted. Nana Patekar brings some gravitas in the final few minutes, but even his intensity can’t salvage this mess.

Housefull 5 Movie Review:

Technically, Housefull 5 looks plush. The production design is big-budget, the cinematography passable, and some of the mystery elements are elevated by a decent background score. The songs are mostly forgettable, except for Laal Pari, which might find a following. Editing is sloppy, dragging the runtime to feel even longer than it is. Oddly enough, the title credits offer more thrills than the film itself, and the end credits provide the most actual fun, which says everything. Tarun Mansukhani, still searching for a real fame in Bollywood, may need to wait even longer. In short, Housefull 5 wins the unfortunate title of being the weakest entry in the franchise. Watch it if you're a die-hard fan of sleazy slapstick or if you just love the number 69. Otherwise, skip it and save yourself the agony.

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