Don’t take me wrong: The 'Bheja Fry' director, Sagar Ballary’s latest comedy ‘Hum Tum Shabana’, turns out to be a hilarious mess for its predictable plot and inane gags.

This largely comic film seems to be a bad version of Rohit Shetty’s Golmol series and the outdated 1990 comedy flicks. ‘Hum Tum Shabana’ can be pitted to be the worst work of the director.

However the latest offering has too many graceless lumbering gags and loudness and slapstick zones that is fun to anticipate than to view.

The form of comedy in 'Hum Tum Shabana' is over the top raucous and loud, paced with melodrama and improbable situations. The lead actors of the film are markedly much better than the arduous plot mechanics and the film’s material. The bad part in 'Hum Tum Shabana' is the series of deteriorating dialogues that do not impress.

Story-line
Two young executives, Rishi Malhotra (Tusshar Kapoor) and Kartik Iyer (Shreyas Talpade) are working in an event management firm and dream of making it big in the corporate world.

These two can’t stand the sight of each other and are always competing against each other and trying to outwit one another. The executives who couldn’t make progress in their careers have been assigned the task of providing support in organizing a beauty pageant by their new boss Ravi Agrawal (Rahul Singh).

While in Goa, where the beauty pageant is to take place, the two young men fall in love with the one of the participants Shabana Raza (Minissha Lamba). And these two men somehow make her win through manipulation. However Shabana loses the contest and leaves Goa. Incidentally these two young colleagues land in her residence and they get a bit of a surprise when they meet her eccentric uncle, an underworld don called Panju Don (Satish Kaushik).

This eccentric character who keeps saying “Yaa Duniya Ko Chalao Yaa Duniya Se Chale Jao’’ slaps the person he is happy with and smacks himself when he is angry with someone.

The two are kidnapped by Shabana’s uncle’s collaborator and given tasks on a daily basis to see which one would be perfect to marry Shabana and become a don. After going through the severe tasks, the men finally decide to forget the 21-year old and decide to escape.

Cast-wise performance
Tusshar has worked on the role with sincerity and there is nothing exceptional about Shreyas’ performance but the actor has essayed the role well. Minissha is apt for the role of a bimbo, while Satish Kaushik’s character is stereotyped.

Bottom-line
‘Hum Tum Shabana’ fuses to be common with a low denominator with clumsy screenplay and story that has no novelty. Sachin-Jigar’s music doesn’t hit all the right notes and Suresh Pai’s editing is not top notch. Cinematography by Anirudh Garbyal is crisp and good.

'Hum Tum Shabana' boils down to be a not so neatly crafted film and it literally bogs you down.