Review : Phir Hera Pheri

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Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2.3 hours
Director : Neeraj Vora
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Bipasha Basu, Rimi Sen, Johnny Lever, Shakti Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav

Phir Hera Pheri : Watchable fare !

I looked forward to this film, since it was a sequel to a pretty decent comedy. And then I do think Priyardarshan’s films offer a respectable respite from the films that purport to be comedies. I can’t say I’m disappointed (Paresh Rawal is fabulous) although I did expect better. “Hera Pheri” was definitely better than this film. PHP comes strung together on a very thin thread of believability, so leave your logical, inquiry seeking minds at home. And if you’re expecting a finished, polished product think again – PHP is slap-dash, moving scene-to-scene with very little attempt at finesse.

So, here’s the gist, I am too stricken with the Delhi heat (vacationing) to write more : there’s the trio Babu Rao (Rawal), Shyam (Shetty) and Raju (Akshay Kumar) like there was the last time, you know. The last film ended with the buffoons being swamped in cold, hard cash. Thus they are firmly ensconced in a Rs. 50 lakh posh bungalow (complete with swimming pool) at the start of this film. However they scheme to get richer and invest all their savings and the house and borrowed cash in a chit fund scheme run by Anuradha (Bipasha Basu). The scheme turns out to be fraudulent, rendering the threesome penniless and forced to move to a chawl. The real trouble however starts when debtors come collecting for the borrowed cash, and things turn nasty. Do our favorite goofy characters carve a way through the mess ?

OK, acting – Sunil Shetty is bad, bad, bad. Akshay Kumar displays comic timing while Rawal as I said before, is absolutely fab. The women (Sen, Basu) have very little to do except heave their bosoms when time permits, which is very often. Diya Mirza appears in an item number, and turns bosom-heaving into an art form. And what exactly does Bipasha Basu (not) eat – the woman has slimmed down like there’s no tomorrow !

The script defies logic and common sense and all else. Direction is perfunctory, basic enough to keep things in sync. – nothing to write home about. The songs are average – I don’t remember any except one. The end turns Wodehousian with all the characters, bad and good, converging on circus grounds, and displaying amazing acrobatic skills. Add to that a man in a gorilla suit, and you get the picture.

All that said, with all the trash out there, this film is still watchable. Only don’t pin your hopes too high.