Thank You: No Thank You!

A bhelpuri of stars, beautiful Canadian locations, lots of skimpily clad women and sexist dialogues. Thank You. Hmmmm...Not really. No Entry, Shaadi No 1, Masti... the list of ’inspirations’ is endless for this Anees Bazmee film. What strikes you is that if someone has so much of money to splurge on making the film look so grand and opulent, why can’t they think up of a more novel idea (and aren’t we fed up of vulgar, regressive concepts). When will Bollywood start taking the ’writing’ in a film seriously?


On the positive side, Akshay Kumar is looking fresh and successfully tries to impress with his cool-quotient. He is in a good form when it comes to the song-n-dance routine (though the songs aren’t happening) and the likable con-man-come-detective act is somewhat commendable. But the actor who gifts you several laughs in the film is Irrfan Khan. That’s the hallmark of a versatile actor that he manages to give even an absurd film, a tinge of credibility. Khan is genuinely funny. Still, one must say that many of his dialogues darted towards wife Rimi Sen are downright sexist and objectionable.


Bobby Deol, Irrfan Khan and Sunil Shetty are married men with a proficient roving eye. Sonam Kapoor, Rimi Sen and Celina Jaitley play their respective wives with the common fate of failed attempts at trying to keep their husbands under check. Most of the escapades of the men are excuses for advertising generous skin show of the firang extras and hopefully get the ’eyeballs’. Akshay Kumar is a detective-come-adviser-come-brother, who, while solving the problems, actually complicates them even further.

There are way too many loopholes in the film. The story is pathetically worn out. One can indulge in stupid suspension of disbelief but still there ought to be a method in senselessness too. Even though Sonam is Bobby Deol’s wife and is flirting with Akshay primarily to make her husband jealous, but still the audience is made to feel that Kumar has a thing-or-two for the Kapoor babe. The philanthropic idea behind Kumar’s actions (or should we call them antics) is extremely silly and bizarre. Sonam’s make up is tacky and you can see the colour complexion of her skin undergo changes. Considering she is touted to be a style icon, this won’t earn her brownie points from the fashion police. Celina’s bursting-with-anger-nostrils act on catching her husband cheating on her is just one example of garish over-the-top crassness. Bobby is an undercover cop and his wife of many years, isn’t aware of it. How convenient.

Pritam’s music is a huge let down. Razia is aimed at the masses but this item song lacks the Munni-Sheila punch by a long margin. Steven H Bernard’s editing is sloppy. One can notice a blooper when after an interaction between Akshay and Sonam near a waterfall, the camera zooms out and one can notice a few people (must be assistants of the film) crouching near a wall. The pace of the film is sluggish. The gags fall flat most of the time. Four people have been given credits as writers: Rajiv Kaul, Anees Bazmee, Rajan Agarwal and Ikram Akhtar (Akhtar naam hone se hamesha ’Jaadu’ nahin hota). The dialogues, as I mentioned earlier, are somewhat funny, when Irrfan Khan is in the picture. Rest are stock lines that have heard-before, boringly written all over them.

Akshay Kumar acts reasonably well (better than Housefull, Action Replayy etc etc). Still, he needs to add some variety to the roles that he chooses. There’s much more to being an entertainer. Doling out the same fare at short intervals is not helping his stock in Bollywood. Sonam Kapoor is wasted. The simpering cry-baby act is not going to add anything to her CV (specially when she has been making loud claims and passing judgments on several of her contemporaries). Suneil Shetty’s clownish avatar doesn’t work. Bobby Deol is a shadow of a star that he could have been. Celina Jaitley should stop pretending to ’Act’. Rimi Sen is effervescent and sprightly. You will enjoy her on screen presence. Her comic timing is impressive.

Anees Bazmee as a director is losing his grip on the Bollywood Box Office. He needs to pull up his socks. The regressive stance of Irrfan-Rimi track draws analogy from the ’Saajan Chale Sasural’ brand of cinema that is not acceptable any more. To give credit, Thank You is definitely a better entertainer than Bazmee’s disastrous No Problem. But its not entertaining enough for you to bring home a bouquet of smiles.

Thank You: No Thank You!

Star Rating: **