The Shaukeens poster

The Shaukeens

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

quick review:

As creepy as it gets, even if that is what one should've expected.

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Director: Abhishek Sharma
Running time: 120 minutes
More Movie Info

Sure, I knew what the movie is going to be about. Not being a huge fan of Basu Chatterjee's film either, didn't help. But, that The Shaukeens would have no redeeming factor whatsoever, was disappointing.

I don't consider myself a prude or conservative, but watching the likes of Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra as lechers isn't my idea of fun. It doesn't help that Lisa Haydon seems to be playing dumb, but looks too smart to be playing so dumb.

That's not to say, that they don't act well. At least the men. They do their jobs well enough to creep out any woman in their vicinity - both on screen and in the audience.

I don't really have much more to say about this one except that I had to keep comparisons with my all-time worst film ever, *Buddha Mar Gaya * at bay. And it wasn't the easiest task to do that.

- meeta, a part of the audience

29 reviewers(?) - 4 yays 11 so-so 14 nays

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

Thumbs up, Bollywood Hungama : ...On the whole, THE SHAUKEENS is a full on Bollywood entertainer that you wouldn't want to miss.... full review

Thumbs up, by Tushar Joshi, Bollywood Life : ...Watch The Shaukeens if you want to see another side of Akshay Kumar and enjoy a few chuckles along the way. Also do watch out for funny cameos by Suniel Shetty, Dimple Kapadia, Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor.... full review

Thumbs up, by Tushar Joshi, DNA : ...Watch The Shaukeens if you want to see a different side of Akshay Kumar and enjoy a few chuckles along the way. Also watch out for funny cameos by Suniel Shetty, Dimple Kapadia, Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor.... full review

Thumbs up, by Joginder Tuteja, Movie Talkies : ...Overall, The Shaukeens turns out to be an altogether different film when compared to the original and it won't be wrong to say that in terms of the humour quotient and the overall story, it only manages to better it further.... full review

So-So, by Naresh Kumar Deoshi, Apun Ka Choice : ...Surely not the National Award, but Akshay deserves much kudos for lifting things up in this otherwise dull, humdrum sex comedy. Watch ‘The Shaukeens’ for Akshay... full review

So-So, Daily Bhaskar : ...If you are an Akshay Kumar fan, than this movie will definitely be a paisa wasool for you. The film shows good comedy by veterans like Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra who have for the first time come together on-screen. Also missing three old men running after a hot chick is something you would not want to miss.... full review

So-So, by Inspector VIjay, Desi Martini : ...Great acting by the oldies but quite a drag overall!... full review

So-So, by Devesh Sharma, Filmfare : ...Shaukeen is a lopsided effort – some scenes leave you cringing while others have you rolling on the floor with laughter. A little more quality control would have given us a far better film...... full review

So-So, by Anupama Chopra,, Hindustan Times : ...The Shaukeens improves substantially in the second half when it becomes more about Akshay and less about the buddies. In fact Akshay earns the film an extra star.... full review

So-So, by Divya Solgama, MoviezADDA : ... Well, I would say 'The Shaukeens' is not a bad or terrible film. Its relatively average film with some good entertaining moments and fine performances attached to it. Its just the merging of Akshay Kumar's track fails to enhance the weak second half of the film followed by bland climax. The ones who have not seen 'Shaukeen', would recommend them to watch the original 'Shaukeen' rather than its remake. On overall basis cinema loving audiences will prefer to check out their other options and would be not so keen to watch the half baked product like 'The Shaukeens'.... full review

So-So, by Noyon Jyoti Parasara, Now Running.com : ... He has definitely not lost his mojo but this film is not half as quirky as his first. Willing to ignore the crassness and take the film for the genre is actually belongs, you might actually find enough laughs. The others could still give it a try just for Akshay.... full review

So-So, by Anish Mohanty , Planet Bollywood : ...Who would have thought that an actor appearing in an extended cameo would turn out to be the lifeline of the film? ‘The Shaukeens’ is let down by an average first half. It resurrects itself with the second half and turns out to be a decent entertainer.... full review

So-So, by Sukanya Verma., Rediff : ...Whenever Akshay appears on screen, The Shaukeens transforms into another movie -- one that's substantially more comic, cheeky and winsome -- it's the one I enjoyed the most, it's the one I wished I had come to see... full review

So-So, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...In the end, director Abhishek Sharma (Tere Bin Laden) gives us a fast food version of what was a very charming and humorous film. Go for it if you have the stomach!... full review

So-So, by Ritika Handoo, Zee News : ...We can say that, the young will love it while the old will think about getting, 'Shaukeen' (pun intended)!... full review

Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...It’s only when Akshay Kumar shows up – he plays himself – that we perk up. The actor is always better in films where he doesn’t have to carry the load, and he’s very funny here, spoofing the sameness of his roles and yearning to win a National Award by collaborating with an acclaimed Bengali filmmaker. Just watch the scene where he poses for a series of endorsements without missing a step. Or the scene where he attempts to emote a “ganda feeling.” Or the scene where he practices the navarasas, with the help of a chart. Too bad his part is just a longish cameo – this should have been the movie. Forget the sex – at least we would have had comedy.... full review

Thumbs down, by Bobby Sing, Bobby Talks Cinema.com : ...Hence give it a try if you wish but in case you havent seen the earlier Basu Chatterjee’s highly inspired but classic version of 1982 then go for it as a must and have a great time with Ashok Kumar, A. K. Hangal and Utpal Dutt playing the dirty trio.... full review

Thumbs down, by Deepa Gahlot, cinemaah : ...The three actors are competent and capable of handling their roles, but The Shaukeens doesn’t allow them to add any layers to their sketchy characters. It’s just one long leching session, with a few Akshay Kumar breaks.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sidhant Shori, Desi Martini : ... Shaukeenly bad... full review

Thumbs down, by Aprajita Sharad, Desi Martini : ...Put your money in to something else!... full review

Thumbs down, by Johnson Thomas, Free Press Journal : ...It’s the segments featuring the pursuit of excellence by a star on the downswing and his encounters with a national award winning Bengali filmmaker (Subrat Dutta), against the good business sense of his endorsement manager (Cyrus Broacha) and commercial minded director friend (Manoj Joshi), that brings in interest and smiles in decent measure. This subplot in fact could well have been an entire film and might have garnered much more fun and entertainment than the twin-thrusted monotony that masquerades as a remake in the hopes of cashing in on a well-remembered brand.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nupur Barua , fullhyd.com : ...There is nothing in The Shaukeens that is either relatable or entertaining. If you really want to know about three old men going through a sexual life crisis, watch the original. At least the actors are worth watching.... full review

Thumbs down, by Martin D'Souza, Glamsham.com : ...The biggest surprise for me was to read 'The name' of Tigmanshu Dhulia as writer of the film! ... full review

Thumbs down, by Sweta Kaushal, Hindustan Times : ...So, should you go for The Shaukeens? Watch it only if you are an Akshay fan. He's does not have a screen space of more 20 minutes in this 124-minute-long movie but when he is there, he makes his presence felt ... full review

Thumbs down, by Raajiv Masand, IBN Live : ...The Shaukeens'. There are the odd moments of inspired humor - all crude - between the three senior actors, but for the most part they're wasted... full review

Thumbs down, by Mohar Basu, koimoi : ...The Shaukeens is a lame, dunce, dis-satisfactory and a stupid film at its core that is so tedious and flat that you almost abhor your time at the cinema. If you can tolerate 30 minutes of Akshay Kumar making fun of himself and his colleagues by making funny faces, you can take a trip for this. But for me, it was a disappointing story of how we lost an intelligent filmmaker to fat paychecks from fancy production houses. There can’t be a better reason why someone as intelligent as Abhishek created something so glaikit... full review

Thumbs down, by Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV : ...The leading lady of The Shaukeens ditches her boyfriend because, in her words, "he made fun of my creation and called it stupid and obnoxious". That is it: those are the very adjectives that would best describe this unfunny, eminently avoidable film... full review

Thumbs down, by ANUJ KUMAR, The Hindu : ...Neither ribald nor innocent, this one is an unwarranted rehash of Basu Chatterjee’s original.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rummana Ahmed, yahoo! India : ...It’s a shame that film after film reeks of uninspired writing and lazy filmmaking. Are we really this bereft of ideas that we can’t even replicate the success of a film that once worked?... full review

36 tweeters(?) - 20 yays 2 so-so 14 nays

vishalwebs: #the_shaukeens #awesome...@akshaykumar spoof is best part,,@AnupamPkher #cool

tashfim: The Shaukeens is one hilarious movie I have watched this year.. Them dialogues #muchcomedy

SAURAV__Rajput: the shaukeens..-- all bloody,tharki budhhas... hahaha..just awsm..too funny

saurabhsikki: The shaukeens...."A"certificate comedy widout any double meaning word...n watch it to meet real rajiv bhatia AKA akshay Kumar..!!

rjsudeepta: Get set go on d trip with the #Shaukeens

rjnishita: The Shaukeens : I found it a Good film, Performances of all actors definitely commendable :-)

MFarooqDhedhi: Wow .. Just awsome (Y) https://t.co/FbFOVu4fZX

Kalmaniac: Saw The Shaukeens. Superb. @annukapoor_ sahab ne to baki actors ko kachcha chaba k kha gye. Can't take your eyes off him !!

JajuRishabh: : Total entertainer The Shaukeens . Loved it."

iamyasaar: The Shaukeens is a good film. I loved it. :D

GhodkeHarshad: If you are not sure how to spend this Sunday, I would recommend go watch this movie called "The Shaukeens" ....... https://www.facebook.com/harshadg/posts/10152436912426526

Divyanshu0123: Never watched a better movie than the shaukeens awesome @HaydonLisa

being_kaushar: The Shaukeens Nice Movie

aumlan_tweets: The Shaukeens. Enjoyable on the whole - the humour is loud, crass even... the music largely forgettable - but it... https://www.facebook.com/aumlanguha/posts/10152869738189310

Aritrammarik: Its good to see @AnupamPkher ji, anu kapoor ji in such diversified roles... the shaukeens... #Bollywood

Apne2014: The shaukeens is hilarious comedy and paisa wasool movie

ankitsharma0239: watched the shaukeens it's a laughing riot excellent

akkikumaritaly: The Shaukeens review: Akshay Kumar proves that no one can compete with him when it comes to comic timing (NT)

AdorableRadhika: Lisa Haydon could have been more expressive but She was tolerable overall.Go and Watch The Shaukeens at the theatres near you BTW

achalesh: Critics be damned; the Shaukeens is a blockbuster.

smritiguptaca: Watched the shaukeens today.. A fair entertainer !

boringworkstuff: #New_Release The Shaukeens : 3/5 stars #Rangrasiya : 3.5/5 stars #BWS

vivekmeena0999: Akshaykumar's movie the shaukeens is the biggest flop movie of the year.why akki is made this movie......@«°°°°»«°°°°»«°°°°»

TirtheshP: The Shaukeens: Worst movie ever. 1/5

sachin_zawar: was very keen to see 'The Shaukeens' and aftr I need to Tweet abt it....wat a boring movie.....

moviemaniac199: The Shaukeens tries too hard to be Funny but fails.

Kailassirsat: The shaukeens the worst movie I ever seen

JungleKaMangal: The Shaukeens is an insult to original Shaukeen.

indianchevalier: The Shaukeens. Wahiyaat Movie. Zero entertainment value....I am Akshay fan but this one is wastage of money, if you ask me

ilujarap_ahsina: I m a great fan of @AnupamPkher nd @akshyakumar. Sorry to say bt I m little disappointed by the movie #the_shaukeens

i_Anubhab: The Shaukeens has been so shocking. Just waste of time & money. The plot doesn't have dat strength. Anupam ji s d only silver lining.

bengaliCEO: The Shaukeens. The not-so-Shaukeens.

Bawli_Booch: The Shaukeens: Kripya uchit doori banaye rakhiye

ASHINA_H: Watched The Shaukeens.. Disappointed. @ronesh @RazeenGutta @kajal14zn

amitchatterjee_: The Shaukeens..... yuck..

_hajmie: 'The Shaukeens' review: A film not worth the price of a ticket: There are the odd moments of inspired humor - all crude - between the...

2 readers - 1 yays 0 so-so 1 nays

Not Interested in Watching, by Anuj

Not Interested in Watching, by Fan

Not Interested in Watching, by guddu : The shaukeens

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Suman

Nay! Thumbs Down, by Anup : Just Flat

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

Parental Guidance:

  • Violence: None.
  • Language: A few abusive words.
  • Nudity & Sexual content: Skimpily clad women and lots of leching.
  • Concept: Three letchers in their 60s trying to find sex for themselves.
  • General Look and Feel: Bright and loud.

Detailed Ratings (out of 5):

Direction:
Story:
Lead Actors:
Character Artists:
Dialogues:
Screenplay:
Music Director:
Lyrics:

The Shaukeens - Cast, crew, links

Official Sites:
Producer:
Screenplay:
Running time:
120 minutes
Reviewer:
Language:
Country:

Comments (27)

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Suman

Direction: 2
Story: 2
Lead Actors: 3
Character Artists: 1.5

Dialogues: 2
Screenplay: 2
Music Director: 0.1
Lyrics:

Well Meetu!! atleast write about your ordeal that you expreinced sitting through out the film. A review needs to be written complete either bad or good depending upon your observation. Honestly speaking it feels like eulogy. :p :) :)

ANuP

as i thought this one doesnt come as a biggie of the year ,, neither the reviews are any better......
Doenst excites much.....NOT gonna watch this at theater

Anuj

@Meeta : Why don't u review Hollywood films? I'd like to read your views on Interstellar,Fury and Gone Girl.

Anup

@Anuj - actually meetu have reviewed some hollywood movies earlier in this blog ,, for example see review of THE INTERNATIONAL ....
But for now Pradeep Menon is doing a great job as reviewer of Hollywood movies forbthis blog , he is my Favorite and i m a big fan of his reviews.....Personally my thoughts match more with Pradeep as compared to meetu....

Fan

@Anuj: Pradeep is doing a swell job with the Hollywood department. Having said that, yeah why not a rotating system for both Hollywood and Bollywood. Unless of course Meetu doesn't like watching Hollywood or Pradeep doesn't like watching Bollywood.

Anuj

Wish Bollywood learns to rip off films like Fury and Gone Girl instead of the Knight & Day's of the world. We Indian audiences ain't that dumb after all (as proved by HNY's collapse at the BO). As they say, "Nakal ke liye akal chahiye" :P

Anuj

Of course an Inception or Interstellar kinda film ain't possible in India since it would cost a production over a 1000 cr investment.

Fan

Inception wouldn't be understood by a vast majority of Indian audiences. It's too complicated to follow. It forces you to think along with the film. Most Hi-fi fans, yours truly included, like to watch without having to think during the film.

Anuj

@Fan: Its not as complicated as it appears at first! By the way, didn't u like Inception?

Fan

Yes, I enjoyed Inception. But it is one of the rare sci-fi that I enjoyed. Plus I hate to think when I watch movies - I am more the Manmohan Desai generation than a Shyam Benegal - or our favourite Vishal Bharadway ;-)

Amongst the Hollywood sci-fis that thoroughly disappointed me in recent times are Oblivion, After Earth. Waste of time and money. And so usually I avoid sci-fi until there is an excellent review - like what Pradeep did for Interstellar. I will certainly go and watch it on giant screen now.

@Guddu Well, every once in a while I take the liberty :P

@Anuj @Anup ha ha ha ha... I love movies. Period. Language and Nationality no bar. And I think I can say the same about Pradeep, but will wait for comment from him. There are two reasons I have tried to stay out of reviewing Hollywood -

- I think this system accords consistency. As one would expect, Pradeep and my choices don't match a 100% of the time and it helps keep things in perspective if one person reviews all Hindi films and the other goes for Hollywood and now we have a new writer for Marathi films. Considering each of us can review only one or maximum two films a week, we stick to this categorization.

- Pure convenience. We get invites to Press shows for Hollywood films, most of them are in Mumbai and Pradeep is based out of Mumbai.

@Fan I'm not sure of that one. We are a big population and I think we are ready for a change in the type of cinema we watch. I'd say, let the filmmakers give us a chance and maybe they'll find enough takers for films that "force you to think". Even if it won't be a huge percentage, we as a absolute number is huge enough that even a small % of the population makes for a big enough number.

Anuj

@Meeta : Barring the obvious budget constraints, another reason why we cannot make a good sci-fi film is 'coz it involves the coming together of genuine knowledgeable scientific minds. Nolan himself is an engineer by profession and one of the producers of Interstellar is an astro physicist. Such concepts involving deep scientific concepts do need minds with in depth knowledge about the subject which unfortunately none of our film makers do. And scientists and researchers never become film makers in India!

Anup

May be Sci fiction could be a impossible genre for Bollywood,, but there are a lot of other genres which Bollywood can be inspired from...... David Fincher is a great example for making small budget crime thriller..... NOT just gone girl, but girl with the dragon tattoo , Zodiac(his master piece), panic room, the game, Seven,, in fact THE SOCIAL NETWORK(his second masterpiece),,,, Bollywood never tries such deep thinking crime thriller or so intense biopic(like social network)..... At least they could try to make more movies like KAHANI ........but no one has time for these........
Expecting a good movie from Dibakar Benarjii next year,, BYOMKESH BAKSHI which is a remake of soft humour and great suspense thriller Bengals movie........

Fan

Anup: basic issue is a combination of lack of good writers and the urge to make a quick buck. Looking at Memento or Avatar or Inception etc . the story is rock solid. And once you've got a great story rest all falls in place. Urge for quick buck is to have low costs by not paying for whatever few good story writers available.

The only rock solid "un plagiarised" Hi-fi story that I have seen is of Jewel Thief. I have seen it several times. And each time I watch it as intently as before with the objective of finding that one logical error or chronological error - or a fast one that the director tried to pull in order to make the tale gripping. But I have not found any gap or lapse or even a lucky coincidence that allowed the story to progress.

@Anuj That is only up till now. Who know what's in store tomorrow. Forever, an optimist, that's me.

I believe as the audience gets exposed to more and more cinema through TV (in the interiors) and multiplexes and film festivals (in the cities), we will see a change in the kind of films made.

Anuj

@Fan : Avatar? Really? Its the most senseless, illogical and boring sci fi movie ever made! Damn I nearly fell asleep half way through it.

@Anup : One guy whose gonna change the face of bollywood is Neeraj Pandey. With A Wednesday and Special 26 behind him, watch out for BABY on Jan 23rd!

Anuj

@Fan : Have u watched "A Wednesday"? One of the rare bollywood films to have even inspired hollywood film makers!

Anup

The movie was so uninteresting,,,,,the scenes where Akhshay is not there are so dumb....Unnecessary songs ,, and foolish gags....It tries so hard to make audience laugh.....Seriously who laugh in this time on a Fat girl doing Poll dance.....
AK cant save the movie ,, as he has very less to do.....This movie should be a flop......For making a good movie into a crap by remaking it.....And where all the money has been wasted.....It has a bugdet of 42 crores !....Seems we got a production house much more foolish compared to YRF......

Fan

@Anuj: Personally I rate A Wednesday as one of the finest movies to come out from Bollywood in recent times. Mind you it's a UTV product :-). Having said that, I could accept and grant the criticism that there's a fair deal of lucky coincidence helping the film. Like your typical R K Laxman common man (read next door uncle) being so well versed in latest hacking techniques that even geeks are incapable of. Doesn't happen in real life. But for me such liberal licence is granted to a film maker. And so I enjoyed it.

If your question however was in comparison to my example of Jewel Thief, then I'd say that JT was much better, as it was devoid of all cinematic licences aka convenient coincidence or convenient change of hearts to make the story move ahead.

Fan

@Anuj: I didn't mean Rajesh Khanna's Avatar ;-)

Fan

@Anuj: which Hollywood film are you referring to when you say A Wednesday is inspiring Hollywood film makers?

Anuj

@Fan : Even i'm not referring to Rajesh Khanna's Avatar. For all the money spent on its production, it was an extremely over rated film with a wafer thin and laboured plot. Inception,Source Code and the Matrix series are still the greatest sci-fi hollywood films that are all produced on a fraction of Avatar's budget.

Anuj

A Wednesday was remade into a movie called "Stupid common man" starring Ben Kingsley. Unfortunately the English version was a dud and not a patch on the original. It was even remade in Tamil starring Kamal Hassan and Mohanlal. Today, 6 years after its initial release it is one of the biggest cult classics in urban India and generates higher TRP's than the likes of Dhoom-3 and Krrish-3 even today!

Anuj

@Meeta : Looking up the archives and your review of A Wednesday, I'm actually a little disappointed that you didn't give it the highest rating on this site! Wonder what turned you off in what I describe as a near "flawless" and perhaps the most gripping thrillers in modern day bollywood.

Fan

@Anuj: I was not aware of the film called A Common Man till you drew my attention. Looked it up on imdb. It cannot be classified ad a Hollywood film. It's a Sri Lankan production based on A Wednesday. Thrre are 9 producers credited for the film and majority of the names are typically the sub continent names. Apart from Ben Kingsley there's no other notable Hollywood name associated. Largely explains why the film did not succeed despite a powerful script of A Wednesday. Had it been produced by an established Hollywood studio then they would have correctly marketed it, and hopefully would have tasted success like the Oscar winning Argo from Ben Affleck.

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