The death of an aging billionaire (Ranjeet) on his luxury cruise brings chaos to the lives of those aboard the ship.
His will names his son ‘Jolly’ as the heir to his property. Chaos turns into frenzy when three Jollys (Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh) show up to claim the wealth.
If the plot wasn’t crowded enough, there’s a masked killer on the loose and everyone’s a suspect.
Directed by Tarun Mansukhani, “Housefull 5” suffers from an utter lack of humor and wastes numerous actors known for their comic timing.
In a span of 2 hours and 45 minutes (a bit too long for a whodunnit-comedy), the banal first half is loaded with random songs, pointless arguments, and loud noise… everything but humor. The film somewhat takes off in the second half but truly sheds its stagnancy only in the climax. The arrival of Nana Patekar as an Interpol chief based in London is terrific and infuses life into this overloaded, derailed cruise.
Interestingly, the film has two different endings – 5A and 5B, each with a different killer. In version 5A, Dev (Fardeen Khan) is the murderer who tries to tamper with the DNA tests. In version 5B, Maya (Chitrangda Singh) is revealed as the killer who, under pressure from mounting debts, orchestrated everything to secure the inheritance. In both versions, Bobby Deol makes a special appearance as Ranjeet’s real son. If you must choose, version 5A is recommended for viewing.
