Money Hai To Honey Hai poster

Money Hai To Honey Hai

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable (?)

quick review:

An adorable idea pulped to a deplorable mince. 6 characters are so busy doing their own thing that the story just seems like a by-product.

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Director: Ganesh Acharya
Running time: 135 minutes
Genres: Slapstick, Social
More Movie Info

"The common man should have style too." is an interesting concept to put forth. And to bring about that you have an ensemble of interesting characters. A rich, spoilt brat but he has business acumen, a fashion designer who cares for the common man, an honest advertising creative head, a fashion model, a popular TV actoress, and a loser who has an unbeatable positive attitude. And the attempt is by keeping the vein light. Unfortunately, ultimately nothing comes of the synergy they could create as a team or to them as individual characters.

You're right, this is too serious an analysis for a movie in this genre and with this look and feel. But, every time I see a good idea blow up in execution, it hurts...And think about it? A comedy that squeezes out the sense of humor in you (believe me, I do have one!)

Of course, the common man here refers to a person with no means to wear labeled brands, and has no sense of fashion. However, if the basic idea were thought through properly, it could have been extrapolated to so many situations where the common man suffers an unnecessary inferiority complex. This complex could be treated with something as simple as a product created just for him and by just being honest with him. Alas, if wishes were horses...

If the elaboration of the story is amateurish, the other departments from screenplay, to dialogues, to their delivery, to the expressions on the actors' faces, to the ambience created around the actors, to the background music are equally amateurish. It's really a shame that when half an hour is spent in establishing the 6 main characters and 2-3 side characters, in the end it all seems futile. For example, Aftab Shivdasani's character who's creative at coming out with advertising taglines, does nothing spectacular in the end! None of the actors are given anything out of their comfort zone and thus nothing seems more than below average. As we have it, Govinda fans could very well be disappointed too.

I guess we should be grateful to Ganesh Acharya for deciding on limiting usage of Om Puri as a voice over. Otherwise, we know what he can be made to do in slapsticks such as these. But, that doesn't relieve us from Prem Chopra's antics. One can't get everything one wishes for.

Yet, there can be no excuse for keeping him on screen for long spans of time with just one expression on his face. And this happened more than once, where nothing was happening on screen, even the camera wasn't moving! So yeah, some trimming was obviously called for.

There are digs on various characters and issues you would encounter in your day-to-day life - Label designers and their attitude. Family soap operas, the camerawork and sound effects they use and of course, their viewers. Industrialists, the rich and their problems which have seemingly simple solutions. Telemarketers and how they annoy us. Popularity can make the commonest person a TV show host.

I thought the non-jumpy movements given to the actors in the songs were nice, if only for being different. But, the placement of the not-so-good-sounding music is so abrupt that the 'nice' feeling comes too late in the song to register.

As Manoj Bajpai, the guy with the ultimate positive attitude, says when he loses 80 lakhs in a business deal, "I gained 1 crore worth of experience, I'm still in the green with 20 lakhs!", anyone who sees the movie can say, "they gained 1 crore worth of experience of not watching a movie that looks slapsticky and has a cheesy title!"

- meeta, a part of the audience

16 reviewers(?) - 0 yays 2 so-so 14 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

So-So, Filmiholic : ...If you’re a diehard Govinda or Ganesh Acharya fan, ok. Others, walk on by.... full review

So-So, by Patcy N, Rediff : ...The director takes his own time to introduce each character, parts of which should have been cut down.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhil Kumar, Apun Ka Choice : ...‘Money Hai’ begins pretty well as each character is introduced... full review

Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...a wag at the theatre yelled “Thank you” when the power went off for a minute... full review

Thumbs down, by Suranjani Nandi, Buzz18 : ...An extremely old Govinda pretending to be in his late 20s (reminding you of Dev Anand)... full review

Thumbs down, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...a good-looking bad movie.... full review

Thumbs down, by Khalid Mohamed, Hindustan Times : ...Excruciatingly juvenile and as annoying as a traffic jam... full review

Thumbs down, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...The story sounds interesting on paper, but on celluloid, it's non-existent... full review

Thumbs down, by Janhvi Patel, indya.com : ...Ganesh Acharya is not Farah Khan and he should stick to choreography.... full review

Thumbs down, Movie Talkies : ...MainSiteID ReviewerName ReviewPageAddress Excerpt Rating 23 #http://www.movietalkies.com/movies/editor-reviews.asp?MovieId=19220# The only actor who manages to raise a laugh or two is Govinda.... full review

Thumbs down, by Anupama Chopra, NDTV : ...The film is supposed to be a comedy but I didn't crack a smile once.... full review

Thumbs down, by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com : ...the pace slackens, the interest-level droops and the chuckles drop drastically... full review

Thumbs down, by Hanumant Bhansali, Radio Sargam : ...a dose of horrifying music, over the ‘bored’ acting performances, stale dialogues and no comic relief whatsoever.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...For a comedy, the humour is severely below par.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...HARD to understand why Govinda needs to be so desperate?... full review

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This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

An heirless business tycoon is about to die. He chooses 6 random people to inherit his business.

What Worked

Nothing really...except for the basic-basic idea.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

  • How can there be a clause in the will that the company will not be sold!? Is it even an enforceable clause? Ok, assuming the clause is enforceable, how come talk of a sale came up later?
  • The Govinda-Lord Shiva swimming pool scene. What was that? Why was that?
  • The sudden infusion of familial feelings in the team.
  • Sudden burst of philosophical/preachy dialogues given to Govinda's dad.
  • Why was the will not read out in one go? Why was it being read out in installments as convenient to the twists in the story?
  • How come Ravi Kishan's character didn't know that the business had liabilities?

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • The sketch pen tattoos that Govinda and Upen Patel wore were visibly smudged!

Parental Guidance:

  • Violence: None
  • Sexual content: There are quite a few mild sexual innuendos. But, they exist there nevertheless.
  • Concept: The concept actually is very sweet. If only, it was gone about cleanly.
  • General Look and Feel: Well, it’s a bright, chirpy environment, alright.

Money Hai To Honey Hai - Cast, crew, links

Supporting Cast:
Screenplay:
Dialogues:
Cinematography:
Background Score:
Choreography:
Music Director:
Lyrics:
Costume Designer:
Art Direction:
Running time:
135 minutes
Reviewer:
Language:
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Genres:

Comments (3)

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Money hai to honey hai review...

An adorable idea pulped to a deplorable mince. 6 characters are so busy doing their own thing that the story just seems like a by-product....

I will Surely watch the movie,only for the laughter king GOVINDA.

cool...do come back and let us know what you thought. It'll be great to know what a Govinda fan thought about the film...

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