David Dhawan and Priyadarshan triggered off a trend - of making brainless comedies - and thus began a wave of leave-your-brains-at-home laughathons. Inspired by the success of these ha-ha-he-he fares, every second film-maker decided to join the bandwagon for that elusive hit. But, of late, no-brainer comedies have reached a saturation point. Ganesh Acharya's Money Hai toh Honey Hai actually tests the patience of the viewer. Fine, you don't expect a riveting storyline from a film of this genre, but you definitely expect laughs, don't you? You expect to be entertained, don't you? Alas, what you get to see is definitely not good!
Money Hai toh Honey Hai deals with six characters: Bobby [Govinda] is a happy go lucky guy, who runs away from home to prove himself. Lalabhai [Manoj Bajpai] becomes wealthy, but he's back on the road as his business fails and he loses all his money. Gaurav [Aftab Shivdasani], a copywriter, is fired from his job. Manik [Upen Patel] is a struggling model who sleeps with a middle-aged fashion designer [Archana Puransingh], hoping to make it big. Ashima [Hansika] is a successful TV star, but she's not happy with her career and is desperate to do films as the lead heroine. Shruti [Celina Jaitley] is a struggling dress designer.
One fine day, they all get an SMS informing them that they are the owners of a 1,000 crore company. However, their happiness does not last long for the lawyer reveals that there's a loan of 1,200 crore on the company and they must repay it and until the loan is repaid, they would be kept under house arrest.
The story sounds interesting on paper, but on celluloid, it's non-existent. Prem Chopra picks up random cellphone numbers and makes them calls. He wants them to inherit his fortune. But the entire first hour is devoted to why they became losers. It's only at the interval point that you expect the story to begin. But does it take off? Nope! Instead of sticking to the core issue, it meanders into meaningless sub-plots, which only add to the boredom. The finale at the fashion show [well choreographed by Achala Sachdev] is interesting, but by then you're exhausted and simply want the movie to end.
