10 years back when Housefull had released, no one knew that it would turn out to be one of the biggest and most popular franchises in Bollywood a decade down the line. Director Sajid Khan had made Heyy Babyy for Sajid Nadiadwala with Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh, and the hit quartet decided to collaborate again on Housefull, a slapstick comedy for the masses with a lot in the offering for the class audience as well. With extensive shoot in London, lavish sets, lush locations, striking cinematography and an up-market appeal, a franchise was born.
The film turned out to be a good success on its release and took a double-digit opening of 10 crores back in 2010. Not many films managed such feat back then but Housefull boasted of a lot of other plusses too, including gorgeous and strikingly beautiful leading ladies (Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan) as well as chartbuster songs. The film enjoyed a good shelf life in theaters and went on to net 78 crores in its lifetime run, a number that would be over 100 crores in today's time.
This is when producer Sajid Nadiadwala decided to go bigger and better, and plans were put together for Housefull 2 (2012). The cast became even bigger, what with John Abraham, Asin and Jacqueline Fernandez along with veteran actors Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Randhir Kapoor and Boman Irani joining in along with Shreyas Talpade, Zareen Khan and Shazahn Padamsee. Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh were the constants as the comedy found its base all over again in London, this time on an even more extravagant scale.
Audiences gave a nod of approval too as the film not just opened much bigger (Rs13.70 crores) but also traversed a much larger distance to close at 116 crores. The film marked the entry of Akshay Kumar in the 100 Crore Club and the quartet including him, Riteish Deshmukh, Sajid Nadiadwala and Sajid Khan knew that they had a hit franchise in hand that would go on to have many more installments.
Housefull 3 was announced, though after a while as the film was planned for 2016 release. Onus of direction changed hands too as Sajid-Farhad came in, instead of Sajid Khan. While Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh along with Jacqueline Fernandez stayed on, Abhishek Bachchan was the new entrant along with Nargis Fakhri and Lisa Haydon. The film took the biggest opening ever amongst the franchise with a start of 15.20 crores. However, the lifetime number was a bit lesser at 109 crores. It wasn't as appreciated as the ones before but stayed on.
Considering the fact that the film still managed to hit the century mark, Sajid Nadiadwala turned even more ambitious for Housefull 4 [2019] and decided to play on the front foot instead. The film was pitched as 'housefull' set in the Baahubali era and plans were put in place for the biggest reincarnation comedy ever coming out of not just Bollywood but the whole of country. Sajid Khan was back in the fold and he even finished shooting for close to 70% of the film before Farhad Samji took over to complete the remaining portions.
Bobby Deol was the new entrant this time around while three leading ladies debuted in the franchise - Kriti Sanon, Kriti Kharbanda and Pooja Hegde. The promo of Housefull 4 was much loved and even though the film released pre-Diwali, the first day collections were good enough at 19.08 crores. Surprisingly, the film saw quite some negativity coming its way and though it hung on during the weekend (Rs 53.22 crores), there were panic waves in some sections of the trade and the industry. All eyes were on whether the film would hold on well post Diwali.
This is what happened indeed as Housefull 4 defied all odds and then went on to gain from strength to strength. First it went on to enjoy a tremendous first week of 141.31 crores, hence toppling the lifetime collections of Housefull 2 (Rs 116 crores) in real quick time. Post that it went on to stay quite good in weeks to follow as well, hence entering the 200 Crore Club. With lifetime numbers of 208.50 crores, it was a huge superhit for everyone associated with the film.
What has further worked tremendously in favor of the film is the popularity that it has been enjoying on the satellite as well as OTT circuits ever since its release. With record breaking numbers on these mediums as well, Housefull 4 (and the first three installments as well) are mighty popular on the small screen too with a recall value going all the way 10 years back.
No wonder, it is now a given that Housefull 5 would be made soon as well. With Sajid Nadiadwala already having great plans for the film as a producer as well as the story writer, one can be rest assured that Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh would be aiming for a 300 Crore Club blockbuster here.
Now that's something where even Chunky Panday, another regular ingredient of Housefull franchise as Aakhri Pasta - would be all serious instead of exclaiming - 'I am joking'!
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