Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Sajid Khan completely botches up what had the potential to be a rib- tickling situational comedy of errors. With premise reeking of comedy gold, on his hands, and with a trio of multi-talented male actors boasting of impeccable comic typing, only a complete twit could have ruined this movie. And what's more surprising is that Sajid Khan has been known to entertain audiences with his no-brainer, madcap, situational comedies. But, since "Himmatwala", he seems to have completely lost his mojo, or maybe he just had a limited supply of mojo that has now been exhausted over the course of his first three, laugh- out-loud, humorous adventures. In fact, there are several scenes reminiscent of his initial three hits, which seem to be mutilated into something else. The jokes fall flat, the gags are tiresome, and the exceedingly sparse amount of buildups that start out as funny, quickly swerve into painful territory because of Khan's hackneyed direction.
It's criminal that the Director has completely wasted three powerhouse performers in the form of Saif Ali Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, and Ram Kapoor, and despite their umpteen attempts, the three talents simply cannot salvage the crumbling ruins around them. Even more shameful is the fact that Khan seems to explore new territories where he can turn his actors into mere caricatures of themselves – scenes where Saif and Ritesh act up as insane canines and Ram Kapoor masquerading as a woman are unbearable to the point of being cringe-worthy. Heck, he even dresses up Ram Kapoor in a one-piece bikini! Which normal human being with his senses in the right place would ever do that? It's not just moronic, it's unethical! The less said about how the actresses are blatantly underutilized through the slipshod, inane proceedings, the better.
"Humshakals" seems to have rung the death knell on Sajid Khan's directing career, and only a miracle would seem him emerge from the ashes he has smoldered himself into. On a parting note, there a scene in the movie where Satish Shah, who plays the totalitarian warden of an asylum ward (Shah takes pride and displays an overt love for some of history's most notorious dictators such as Hitler, Saddam, Amin, and Gadaffi – one instance among the film's many tasteless and insensitive jokes), tortures dissenting inmates by forcefully making them sit through a copy of Sajid Khan's own "Himmatwala". Well, suffice to say, Khan has even outdone himself this time as far as competing from behind goes.
