Director Saji Surendran’s Happy Husbands narrates the story of three couples and a sexy siren, who almost wreck their peaceful lives.
An interesting premise for sure that has been made into an entertaining watch by its makers, but what lacks here is some style and a modern approach. But then, it’s not perhaps meant to be taken that too seriously as well!
Heavily inspired from the yesteryear Tamil film, Charlie Chaplin (the Bollywood blockbuster No Entry has also been based on it), Happy Husbands gives the feeling that things would have been great fun, if those behind it’s making had approached it with more passion. Despite its shortcomings, the film is fast-paced and is an engaging one as well.
Mukundan Menon (Jayaram) runs a magazine called ‘Kerala Today’ and has to cope-up with a nagging wife, Krishnendu (Bhavana), back home. She is too possessive about her husband and is concerned about his good looks, though Mukundan is the faithful sort.
Rahul Velyathan (Indrajith) and Shreya (Samvritha Sunil), the next couple, is still very much like newly-weds, even after some years into their marriage. But the poor girl is unaware that her husband has a roving eye and a big time skirt-chaser, behind her back!
The third couple, John Mathai (Jayasurya) is a photographer at ‘Kerala Today’, who meets Zarina (Vandana), some confusion ensues and the two fall in love. But the twist in the tale happens with the arrival of Diana (Rima Kallingal), a sexy bar dancer and Mukundan is attracted to her for a while. He soon wants to get out of it, but by then the damage has already been done.
With a rather meek script and with a narrative style that never attempts anything new, the film looks more like those fun shows on TV. The performances too, as a result, are mostly mechanical and even dramatic, often.
Jayaram has to act the way he does in most of his funny roles and even in the mimicry stages. Jayasurya looks good, but his diction sounds odd. It is Indrajith, with his good comic timing and mannerisms, stands out among the three and behaves quite a like a smart Romeo.
The women have nothing much to do, in general, except for the routine stuff. Bhavana often looks totally out-of-place in a role which perhaps requires a more matured actor. Samvritha and Vandana have nothing much to do other than to look pretty, smile, fume and dance. Rima Kallingal has to play a seductress. Of course, she looks chic and talks with a heavy English accent, though she finds it tough after being unemployed with the closure of dance bars in Mumbai!
The comedians, Suraj Venjarammoodu, Salim Kumar and Maniyanpillai Raju do a decent job. The visuals are nice, but some experiments with the camera would have added some style to the proceedings. The music is pretty ordinary and the absence of a good background score is evident, most of the times.
In all fairness, Happy Husbands has shaped up as a decent entertainer, far better than many of the recent comedies. Don’t analyze too much about its pluses and minuses, and chances are that you may find it quite enjoyable. Go for it, the film is worth a watch!
Banner: Galaxy films
Cast: Jayaram, Jayasuriya, Indrajith, Bhavana, Samvrutha, Nayana
Direction: Saji Surendran
Production: Milan Jaleel
Music: Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma