House Full

Charlie Chaplin won’t be amused. Not least for not figuring in the film after all that brouhaha. A richie-rich grandpa tries to throw out his irresponsible grandson who, with the help of his hare-brained friend, hatches a plot to retain his luxury.

However, luck and grandpa, have other things in store... Several variations of this theme have been tried out and Hemant comes up with ‘House Full’. He has veterans like Loknath, Ramesh Bhat and Bullet Prakash on the one hand and fresh faces Girija Oak and Vishakha Singh on the other hand for a frisky romp. Yet, the first half is a marathon struggle for the viewer who is supposed to believe the director’s claim of ‘100 per cent comedy: zero per cent bore’.

The scenes are made more pathetic by an intentionally woebegone-faced Hemant whose dialogue delivery is deadpan most of the time - comedy requires more than this! Ramesh Bhat, who usually has fine timing, is rendered incapable of showcasing his forte except to be the butt of some cruel jokes.

Girija impresses while Vishakha fails even to provide an eyeful. Bullet Prakash, Rekha, Milind Gunaji, Myna and Jhansi Subbaiah are wasted. Digant, however, is the actual heroine of the film, with his killing looks and penchant for falling into trouble just as easily as any newbie heroine is prone to do. His voice doesn’t help either.

It is left for Loknath to manage the show which he does with his characteristic aplomb. Kiran’s background score and song conceptualisation are the pluses in ‘House Full’.