The Shaukeens Movie Review – Lost in too-much of everything!

In 2011, Abhishek Sharma gave us Tere Bin Laden, A film so refreshing, intelligent and funny at the same time! Now in 2014, he directed ‘The Shaukeens’ which has none of these ingredients. In an overambitious attempt to remake the 1982 hit, he lost his inventive approach that was found in his debut movie.

The Shaukeens is the story of three old men who struggle to accept the reality of their growing ages and therefore decide to accomplish their unfulfilled desires. And therefore these three -1)  Laali (Anupam Kher), a family man whose over-pious wife doesn’t allow him his needed dose of lust, 2) Pinky (Piyush Mishra), a lonely widower, 3) KD (Annu Kapoor) a 60-year old bachelor embark a journey to the fun-filled Mauritius to do some ‘Ladkibaazi’. Also, Delhi is no longer safe.

In Mauritius, they come across Aahana (Lisa Haydon) who is young, hot and sexy and is a crazy fan of the Alcoholic superstar – Akshay Kumar and the three oldies try to impress her by promising to make her meet the superstar. Their pursuit of wooing Aahana is the rest of the story.

The old Shaukeen was simple and sweet. Abhishek Sharma tried too hard to make its modern adaptation full of naughtiness and laughter but failed in keeping the simplicity of the original. But there were some genuinely funny lines penned down by Tigmanshu Dhulia who wrote the Screenplay. Also, the part where Akshay Kumar is craving for the National award is quite interesting and tells us about the sporting spirit of the actor.

The highlight of the movie is the song Meharbani which has been made beautifully from its lyrical composition to its wonderful cinematography. Alcoholic and Ishq Kutta hai are catchy and foot tapping. Yet,  the music does not leave a great impression on the audience and will be soon be forgotten along with the movie. 

Talking about the performances, the three veteran actors were top-notch. Annu Kapoor proves yet again why he should be given more movies to portray his acting brilliance. Anupam kher as Laali and Piyush Mishra as Pinky are equally terrific. Akshay Kumar also gives a few laughs but could have been utilized much better. Lisa Haydon is a letdown after the superb performance in Queen as we know from it that she could do so much better. However she retains her charm and looks hot and sexy as required. 

In all, The Shaukeens is no match to the old one and should be skipped. Rather, one should go and watch the 1982-hit on Youtube. But if you are a Akshay Kumar fan you won’t be so disappointed.

Ratings - 2/5