Thank You - Movie review

Does Anees Bazmee need to make a No Entry 2 when he's put together what looks like an exact sequel to the 2005 release? Nothing changes, except the faces of the lead actors and the scenic locales of Canada

Thank You
U/A; Comedy, drama
Dir: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Irrfan Khan, Sunil Shetty, Sonam Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Celina Jaitly
Rating:''1/2

What's it about: Does Anees Bazmee need to make a No Entry 2 when he's put together what looks like an exact sequel to the 2005 release? Nothing changes, except the faces of the lead actors and the scenic locales of Canada.

The story revolves around three friendsu00a0-- Sunil, Irrfan and Bobby who have a roving eye for everyone but their wivesu00a0-- Celina, Rimi and Sonam. When they star falling short of excuses and their cover-ups are exposed, a pied piper (Akshay) playing a melody on his flute steps in. Why's he playing that tune, we don't know. But Bazmee finds some way to make the harmony a focal point in his climax. Confused? Don't be, because this comic caper really doesn't have any place for logic and reason. It's a no-brainer that works on the merit of its one-liners and some genuine funny situations.

What's hot: Thank You has some solid hilarious moments that work because of the right comic timing and some good writing. It's the classic premise of a cheating husband trying to fool his wife to avoid getting caught. Using it as a backbone to create some guffaws comes easy to Bazmee. The first half has a slow start, but once the ball starts rolling, it never stops. Irrfan has the best scenes and lines which he eats up with delight.

Hisu00a0 timing is perfect as he uses his serious straight jacket face to pull off some really amusing scenes. Sunil is a pleasant surprise where he goes all out to make a fool out of himself in a no-holds-barred performance. He puts in more effort than just playing a regular hen pecked husband. Among the girlsu00a0-- Sonam looks like she has a flavour for comedy which can be developed. Her pairing with Bobby is a bit off but works because it's so unconventional. Celina disappears in the second half, only to turn up in the climax. But it's Rimi who steals the show as she plays the 'sati-savitri' wife who has a wicked twist in the second half. Akshay looks his best in a long time and seems like he's having fun. There's a natural charm to his performance which doesn't seem rehearsed. The Razia and Pyaar Do songs are well choreographed providing the gasoline to fuel the masses.

What's not: Something Akshay needs to do is stop slappingu00a0-- be it a monkey (Housefull) or a woman. It just doesn't seem right when he whacks an extra dancing in the song on her face. We didn't get the joke! The second half needs serious trimming. The songs just keep popping out of nowhere. Once the humour starts waning out, we are presented with a romantic track that really doesn't do much for the story. Akshay's undercurrent of feelings for Sonam really doesn't hold any ground. Neither does his long drawn flashback explaining why he's become the messiah of the married folk sorting out their lives. Why does Bazmee need to hold an assembly of his actors in the climax? Right from the driver to the lead actors everyone is jostling for space as the story comes to a conclusion. He needs to break out of this hackneyed approach of winding up his films. Bringing a mafia don with an extremely screechy wife (Rakhi Vijan) was unnecessary and didn't do anything to make the story any funnier.