Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh

In a bid to cash in on the goodwill around the frat-boy comedy, writer-producer Sajid Nadiadwala, this time, lines his boisterous drollery with a layer of mystery in the vacation season. Set on a luxury cruise ship, where a billionaire (Ranjeet) dies and a doctor is silenced, it literally spirals into a search for the Jolly on the high seas. By the end, we encounter multiple claimants, but none pass muster. Sajid has once again put together a galaxy of stars of different wattage, but in the absence of a supple string of wisecracks, the flash of wit loses its lustre.

He draws from Todd Phillips’s The Hangover, where temporary memory loss generates unintended chaos, but the way it plays out, Housefull 5 remains a hollow play of words. The gags outlive their welcome, and the political incorrectness and situational humour that are the hallmarks of the franchise no longer organically fit into the narrative.

Director Tarun Mansukhani falters in carrying forward the unapologetic tone set by Sajid Khan. Hailing from the Dharma school, Tarun cocks a snook at animal lovers, generates racist jokes, and lets the camera loose on the cleavage but his heavy-handed approach results in diminishing returns. It is like descending into the gutter with the confidence that the clothes will remain unspoiled. The strand of suspense thriller is more potent, but the comic element does not serve it effectively.

It has been 15 years since the original hit the turnstiles. The rust on characters is palpable and demands reimagination. Chunky Panday’s Pasta has gone stale, and so is the tribute to Ranjeet’s salacious gestures. Though no longer frat boys, it is left to Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh to squeeze out some crumbs of comic relief from the corny dialogues penned by Farhad Samji. Masters of slapstick, Akshay and Riteish can survive the flaws and troughs in storytelling. Not Abhishek Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt, but when Fardeen Khan is around, not many can outwit him in ‘stiff’ competition. Shreyas Talpade and Johnny Lever demonstrate how to make the most of clichés, but they don’t get enough screen time to showcase their talent.

Tarun wastes a lot of screen time playing on the Khalnayak chemistry between Jackie Shroff and Dutt, but it doesn’t work. And Nana Patekar’s late entry fails to redeem the trite proceedings.

As always, the film is high on the glamour quotient, creating some thinly veiled sexual humour. However, the jokes don’t land. It is hard to expect anything fresh from Nargis Fakhri and Jacqueline Fernandez. Soundarya Sharma joins their league here. One gets a feeling they are cast in multi-starrers because their dates don’t clash with male stars. Chitrangada Singh and Sonam Bajwa are better actors, but this is a stage meant for giggling, shrieking, and shaking a leg in revealing outfits.

Housefull 5 is currently running in theatres