Priyadarshan tries to undo the horror of yeh mera ghar yeh tera ghar with another attempt at a laughfest slapstick farce which unfortunately falls foul of too many cooks spoil the broth. Jeetu (Akshay Khanna) wants to start up his business but his miserly father refuses to give him any money. So he robs his own father and sets up a hi-fi business. Nandu (Aftab) is a struggling singer who, crooning to the voice of Kumar Sanu, sends his listeners running for cover (funniest unintentional joke of the film) and is thrown out of his job. Looking for a place to stay, he pairs up with Anjali (Rimi Sen), a runaway from her village who needs a job and a cheap place to stay. The two loathe each other at sight but are forced to pretend at playing a married couple because the only cheap accommodation available is for married couples where the landlord keeps a beady eye on his young wife.

Anjali goes looking for a job at rich seth Radesham’s (Paresh Rawal) house and is mistaken by Jeetu to be his daughter Anjali. On the look out for rich catch, he cannot believe his luck when she shows up for a job at his hi-fi shop, which he sees as an opportunity to get himself a rich wife. However, Nandu also likes Anjali and starts to think of ways to make her jealous and inadvertently involves the landlord’s randy wife. Jeetu offers to drop Anjali home every day and in order to keep up the farce of being Radhesham’s daughter, Anjali reluctantly agrees and hides in the bushes until Jeetu leaves. On occasion, Radhesham’s wife(Shoma Anand) sees Anjali in the bushes and believes that he husband is carrying on with Anjali. On the other hand, Radhesham believes that his wife is carrying on with Jeetu. As it happens, her name is also Anjali which is the root of that confusion. To make matters worse, there are another two or three subplots running parallel to the main story and what you end up with is a huge convoluted mess.

Priyadarshan attempts an out and out comedy on the lines of slapstick comedies seen in the 60s in Hollywood. I immediately thought of “it’s a mad mad mad mad world” which was farcical and zany whereas this is not. Whilst the plot is initially engaging, the fact that there so many sub plots slows the proceedings down to the point of tedium. Had the director concentrated on the three or four main characters, he may have been able to carry off the comedy of errors with some success, like he did so successfully in Hera Pheri but here, it’s one hell of a big mess after a point. It’s a huge shame because you can see the potential of a hilarious film here. Not to say that this is all bad. It has its moments and certainly, the first half does conjure up quite a few funny situations. But comedy requires pace or wit...unfortunately, the film lacks both.

Whatever credit there is must go to its cast. Akshaye Khanna does pick his roles with a certain astuteness and he plays Jeetu with a playfulness which is endearing even though his character is one with manipulative shades. Aftab is growing as an actor and certainly has a flair for deadpan comedy. As in awara paagal diwana, he almost takes the cake in this one. If the film has any merit, it is because of these two actors primarily. Paresh Rawal is amusing although one hoped for more from his role. Rimi Sen is passable. Nadeem Sharavan’s music is different from their usual Bhatt camp stuff which makes a refreshing change. Not one to avoid but a definite letdown