Housefull 5

<p>On his 100th birthday, billionaire tycoon Ranjeet Dobriyal throws an extravagant celebration aboard a luxury cruise ship, accompanied by his son Dev, adopted son Shiraz, loyal bodyguard Batuk, CFO Maya, COO Bedi, ship captain Sameer, and a host of social elites and board members. But just as the celebrations are underway and the cruise sets sail, tragedy strikes: Ranjeet suffers a heart attack and dies. Fearing the news could cause Ranjeet Group’s shares to plummet and trigger chaos in the stock market, Dev and the board members decide to keep Ranjeet’s death a closely guarded secret until the cruise returns to port. But the situation spirals into madness when Ranjeet’s lawyer Lucy activates his holographic will. To everyone’s shock, Ranjeet’s entire £69 billion fortune is bequeathed to “Jolly,” his son from his first marriage to Shakuntala Devi. The will specifies bizarre identifiers for Jolly: he is left-handed, married to a foreigner, and has a very distinctive scar on his butt. Just when Dev thinks things can’t get any crazier, three different men—Jalabuddin, Jalbushan, and Julius; arrives on board with their wives, all claiming to be the Jolly, each proudly demonstrates his identical butt scar as “proof” of legitimacy. With no obvious way to confirm the rightful heir, Dev proposes a DNA test to settle the matter. The results are promised the following morning. In the meantime, passengers and guests let loose for a wild, booze-filled night. But chaos strikes again when the ship’s resident clown, Aakhri Pasta, attempts to spike Batuk’s drink. Unfortunately, the drink ends up in the communal punch bowl, drugging the entire party. As everyone blacks out, the night descends into total mayhem. The next morning, the three Jollys awaken in the wrong cabins with the wrong wives, and nobody remembers what happened the night before. Confusion turns into horror when the doctor tasked with conducting the DNA test is found murdered, and panic spreads across the ship. Suspicion immediately falls on the Jollys and their wives, as the DNA test was about to expose the impostors. Dev orders all six suspects locked up in the cruise’s brig until Interpol arrives. Inside the brig, the Jollys admit to each other that they are all fakes and none of their wives are real, all having shown up for a shot at the inheritance. Desperate to clear their names and escape the chaos, they hatch a plan. While Batuk naps by the cell door, they snatch his keys and make a break for it. Meanwhile, their wives crawl through the air vents on a mission to destroy the DNA samples that could incriminate their husbands. While sneaking through the lab-turned-morgue, the wives witness Bedi coming in and acting suspiciously. He rummages through the dead doctor’s pockets, wipes his fingerprints from the door handles, and exits hastily. Convinced he’s the killer, the women secretly record him on their phones. Elsewhere, the three Jollys carry Ranjeet’s body to another room and hide the body in a wardrobe, but later also discover Bedi’s corpse, shot in the head hidden in the same wardrobe. At this point, enter Baba and Bhiddu, two quirky, suspended London cops desperate to reclaim their badges. Learning of the case from Maya (Baba’s ex-wife), they board the cruise to solve the high-profile murder. However the ship’s captain Sameer is murdered and the allegation falls into Baba and Bhiddu who are then imprisoned.<br /> To regain control, Interpol Officer Daghdu; a calm yet eccentric investigator and Baba and Bhiddu’s former boss arrives to take over. As he distributes personal investigation files on each suspect, Daghdu remarks that “everyone had a reason to kill”. He promises to reveal the killer the next day, but first insists on completing his daily prayers and meditation. That night, a masked figure sneaks into Daghdu’s cabin to stab him, only to plunge the knife into a decoy dummy. Daghdu and Julius spring out from hiding to confront the assailant. Eventually, the real killer is unmasked in two alternate endings shown in different versions of the film: • : The masked attacker is revealed to be Dev, who claims he is innocent. But when a second masked figure arrives, stabs Dev and flees, the truth emerges: Dev staged the stabbing as part of his scheme. He orchestrated the entire inheritance fraud, hiring Jalbushan as the fake Jolly. • The same killer, Jalbushan, is caught, but the true mastermind is Maya, the cunning CFO. Strangled by gambling debts, Maya plotted the murders to funnel Ranjeet’s fortune into her hands. As chaos engulfs the ship’s engine room, the real Jolly; Jalal, finally arrives. A filthy rich entrepreneur in his own right, Jalal declares he doesn’t need his father’s fortune. In a jaw-dropping twist, he offers to split the £69 billion inheritance among everyone present.<br /> The film closes as Julius weds Sasikala, Jalabuddin marries Kaanchi, Dev/Maya and Jalbushan are arrested, Zara marries Jalal, Baba and Bhiddu are reinstated as cops by Daghdu. The film was announced on 30 June 2023 by . The cast was confirmed in early September 2024. Filming began in September 2024 and wrapped up in December 2024. “The cast filmed on a cruise ship for 40 days, sailing from to , , , and back to . Additional reports confirmed that the cruise ship filming schedule added a unique production element, with elaborate action and dance sequences shot at sea. The film was shot in multiple international locations and was one of the most expensive installments in the franchise. The film’s soundtrack is composed by , , , Kratex , and while the background score is composed by Julius Packiam. The first single titled “Laal Pari” was released on 3 May 2025. The second single titled “Dil E Nadaan” was released on 15 May 2025. The third single titled “Qayamat” was released on 24 May 2025. The fourth single titled “The Phoogdi Dance” was released on 31 May 2025. On 1 June 2025, a promotional event was held at Season mall in . The event attracted a massive crowd, with fans cheering for the cast and participating in fun games and dance performances. A viral video from the event showed dancing with , adding a regional touch to the promotion. The promotion marked the beginning of a multi-city tour ahead of the film’s theatrical release. Earlier set to release on Diwali 2024, the film was postponed and was later released worldwide on 6 June 2025. The film was released in two versions, titled and , each featuring a different climax and murderer. This dual-ending format was conceived by , who has envisioned the concept for 30 years. Both versions received U/A certification from the after certain edits were made to scenes and dialogues. The film faced criticism for its alleged objectification of women. Responding to the criticism, Mansukhani said the film was “led by women” and argued that calling it sexist was a biased view. The film’s teaser was on the occasion of 15th anniversary of franchise later, on 9 May 2025 the film’s teaser was unexpectedly removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim by Mofusion Studios over the song “Laal Pari”, disrupting the promotional campaign. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala subsequently presented a written declaration from confirming his exclusive rights to the track and issued a legal notice, leading to the teaser’s reinstatement on the platform shortly thereafter. received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. The film faced criticism over its maltreatment and sexual objectification of the lead actresses’ characters. On the website , 15% of 13 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.8/10. from gave the film 3.5/5, writing, “The movie is a paisa-vasool killer comedy that works due to the performances of the lead cast, subject, humour quotient, unpredictable climax, franchise value and unabashed madness. shines with his humour and charisma, supported well by . and make a strong impression in supporting roles. is decent but overshadowed. The female leads add glamour, while and are let down by weak writing. stands out in a brief appearance, while is underused.” Risabh Suri of the rated the film 3/5 stars and highlighted “The film struggles to maintain energy, relying too heavily on charm rather than strong material. Overall, Housefull 5 feels like being stuck on a cruise with a few comic veterans, and a funny script that forgot to board the ship.” Lachmi Deb Roy of rated the film 2.5/5 stars and opined “Housefull 5 is a bit of an overstretch and sometimes you can find it mindless too, but with stunning performance and Chitrangada Singh’s swag, I promise you will have a ‘jolly’ good time. And how can we forget Nana Patekar who adds a dash of thrill to this film.” Renuka Vyavahare of rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote “What surprises you is the utter lack of humour, even dirty humour if we may say so in the script and sheer wastage of a zillion actors who are known for their comic timing.” Devesh Sharma of the rated the film 2.5/5 stars and opined “Housefull 5 is an over-the-top comedy set on a cruise. It relies on a set of physical gags to get in the laughs.” Jaya Dwivedie of rated the film 2.5/5 and wrote “Housefull 5 starts with a good idea and makes the audience laugh a lot in the first half but loses its shine as it moves towards the interval. The excitement created in the first half about the murder mystery does not last till the end; the focus is lost, but the effective climax will not let your money go to waste.” Vineeta Kumar of rated the film 2/5 stars and wrote “In the Akshay Kumar-starrer, the real comedian, Johnny Lever, takes a backseat while the cruise sails full speed ahead in a tide of obscene jokes and crass humour. If this is what thinks comedy is, we might need a national sense of humour check.” of rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying, “The film is madcap all right but its pull-no-punches and respect-no-limits humour works against its own well-being. If only Housefull 5 wasn’t so full of unalloyed bilge, it would not have come across as the kind of unbridled celebration of the ludicrous that it does.” of rated the film 1/5 stars and opined “Compared to the previous Housefulls, this one has a slightly fuller house, but because no one expects anything else, it’s pretty much like the older ones.” Anuj Kumar of reviewed the film and summarized “Sporadically funny and unapologetically corny, Sajid Nadiadwala’s fifth instalment of the franchise flirts with disaster. As always, the film is high on the glamour quotient, creating some thinly veiled sexual humour. The strand of suspense thriller is more potent, but the comic element does not serve it effectively.” Rahul Desai of criticized the film for turning itself into a male gaze. He summarises “Not even Akshay Kumar’s comic timing and a twin-ending gimmick can rescue ‘Housefull 5’ from itself.” earned at the domestic box office on its opening day, followed by over its opening weekend, and in its first week. As of 3 July 2025 , the film has grossed in India and in overseas markets, for a worldwide total of . According to Box Office India, Housefull 5 received an average verdict at the box office.</p>