"Don't work too much. You don't put your own sensibility into it. Don't research on the character or see nuances. Just have fun when you are doing an Anees Bazmee film because you have related to that humour. Just go on the sets and have fun," Irrfan had said in an interview when he was quizzed about doing films with Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and Anees Bazmee (Thank You) at the same time.

 

Irrfan did have fun while shooting Thank You, and it transcended to the audience as he was the only watchable actor in Anees Bazmee's 2011 film. In this week's Wahiyat Wednesday, we recall a disaster called Thank You and why we are not at all thankful for it.

From a nation to distressed women with unfaithful husbands, Akshay Kumar is the saviour of all. In Thank You, Khiladi Kumar has the task of teaching a lesson to three men (Irrfan, Suniel Shetty and Bobby Deol), who cheat on their wives without batting an eyelid. Akshay plays the role of a private detective, Kishan Khurana, in the film.

At first, Sonam Kapoor, who plays the role of Bobby Deol's wife, refuses to believe Akshay when he tells her about her husband's extra-marital affairs. This instigates him to chalk out a plan to expose Bobby. Irrfan, being the only clever one in the group, saves Bobby. This starts a cat-and-mouse game between Akshay, the wives and their husbands.

Thank You's storyline is similar to Anees's 2005 film No Entry. The film was a hit and also got a teeny nod from the critics solely for its entertainment factor. But there is a limit to which the audience can laugh at the same old jokes. No Entry made us laugh, but in Thank You, we kept fidgeting in our seats waiting for that one punchline which will make us not regret watching this 2-hour-7-minute-long snoozefest.

Apart from the film's abysmal storyline, with unwanted twists and turns, Thank You's dialogues felt archaic. Lines like, "Mard kutte hote hain" and "Mardo ka toh nature yeh hai ki unhe bachche apne achche lagte hai aur biwiyan dosro ki," made us cringe.

On top of that, the film has our leading men dancing around bikini-clad women in foreign locations. It's an Akshay Kumar film, so funding wasn't a problem here. Thank You was produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Twinkle Khanna. The film also has an item number by Mallika Sherawat, which surely didn't save the day.

Bobby Deol looked out of sync in the entire film and Sonam Kapoor was as stone-faced as she could be. Rimi Sen showed some promise but the makers didn't give her the space to perform. And yes, there was Celina Jaitly too but you will barely notice her in that itsy-bitsy role.

Irrfan is the only saving grace of this film as he lifts up the mood the moment he appears on the screen. There is nothing special to write about Akshay as his performance feels like a duplication of his other acts.

Thank You lists itself among those regressive films where the men do what they want and are forgiven by their wives and the society, while the women walk in and out of the swanky malls, discuss shopping over lunch and have no spine.

Rs 61 crore was spent in the making of Thank You but the film isn't worth a minute of your time. It turns 10 tomorrow.