'Money Hai To Honey Hai': Painful to watch!

The way recent comedies have been falling at the box-office like nine pins, proves (if proof were needed) that it is very tough to make audiences laugh.

Movie Review by Deepa Gahlot

After making the solemn 'Swami', choreographer-turned-director Ganesh Acharya tries his hand at comedy with 'Money Hai To Honey Hai' and fails again.

The film in Rat Race mould is about a bunch of disparate people being forced to come together at one place. Six losers— runaway rich guy (Govinda), failed businessman Lala (Manoj Bajpai), small time model (Upen Patel), sacked copywriter (Aftab Shivdasani), out of work actress (Hansika) and jobless designer (Celina Jaitley)— are randomly chosen by eccentric industrialist Jaiswal (Prem Chopra) to inherit his wealth. But when they get to the resort where they have been summoned, they find that they have to actually pay back a huge sum of money to the bank, and deal with Jaiswal's villainous manager Batra (Ravi Kissen).

Acharya has gathered a fairly big cast, and even managed a few funny scenes (the spoof on Ekta Kapoor and her serials) but seems to have cobbled pieces of three different films. The first half is taken up with introductions of the characters and their problems.

Then there is a trace of a thriller in the shenanigans of the manager, and finally a piece of some old 50s 'Workers of the World Unite' drama. The audience can't figure out whether to laugh, cry or applaud the belated nod to socialism from an unlikely source.

Acharya had peppered the film with a lot of lavishly picturised dances (including one where he jiggles his ample flesh), which is his area of expertise. Maybe he should leave direction to someone more equipped to handle it.

To be fair, except for the track of Upen Patel and the 'casting couch' with Archana Puran Singh, and a few Govinda lines, the film does not resort to vulgarity. But then, there's very little to relieve the tedium of so many flat gags—Manoj Bajpai's laboured attempts to be funny (in a red suit in one scene) are painful to watch.

An overage Govinda (why so much English dialogue?) leads the cast of actors picnicking in Mauritius. If only the audience could enjoy the holiday too.