'Thank You' for something to smile about

Film: Thank You (U/A)
Director: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Irrfan Khan, Suniel Shetty, Rimi, and Celina Jaitley
Rating: **1/2

Hilarious comic caper at best, tedious melodrama at worst, Thank You is something of a cross between Masti (2004) and No Entry (2005) with its focus on philandering husbands who later repent their infidelity.

Raj (Deol), Vikram (Khan) and Yogi (Shetty) are good friends and unfaithful husbands who pull the wool over their unsuspecting wives' eyes every now and then, until, one day, Kishan (Kumar), a private detective, exposes them.

Raj’s distraught wife Sanjana (Kapoor) almost kills herself, but of course knight-in-shining-armour Kishan appears at the right moment to save her. Predictably, he gangs up with the three women and hatches a conspiracy to teach the unabashedly fickle men a lesson in sexual morality.

While Thank You is fairly enjoyable on the whole, it fails to excel in any one department, whether it is the story, screenplay, direction or acting. Side-splitting scenes are followed by others that are so jaded that you desperately wish for a remote control. Of course, the comic timing and off-the-wall dialogues keep the humour quotient up. The songs and item numbers, too, act more as unnecessary intrusions than pleasant distractions from the story. The camerawork is quite impressive, unlike Pritam’s music, which can't quite bolster your flagging interest.

While Akshay Kumar, thankfully, refrains from the over-the-top histrionics seen in his earlier comedies, Deol and Shetty perform reasonably well. Khan, unquestionably the saving grace, is a delight to watch. His tongue-in-cheek dialogues and candid demeanour leave your belly aching with laughter.

Kapoor (badly paired opposite Deol) has hauled her real-life status as the worst dressed celebrity into her reel life. Outlandish costumes apart, you wonder whether the production house forgot to assign her a make-up artist. But her dark circles are no competition to her pathetic performance in the film.

Thank You offers a refreshing break from the world of bat, ball and runs. It may not leave you panting for breath, but it is sure to provide you some rib-tickling entertainment.