Producers: Keshu Ramsay
Director: David Dhawan
*ing: Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla, Kadar Khan, Satish Kaushik,
Paresh Rawal, Upasna Singh, Himani Shivpuri, Gulshan Grover, and
a special appearance by Johnny Lever
Music : Anu Malik
Reviewed by: Mohammad Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com
out of 
David Dhawan is presented an interesting predicament as director of Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. Given Akshay Kumar's currently sagging box office status, he must resurrect the actor with a new comedic avatar while not omitting the Action Jackson antics which audiences expect from the 'Khiladi' movie series. The task is not as easy as one would think.
The story offered opportunities for the movie to be a cash cow at the box office. Akshay Kumar, an apparently over-educated but unemployed youth, keenly awaits the passage of each day as his Pandit Mama (Satish Kaushik) has predicted he will become King within a year's time. Till then our hero plans to lead an aimless and pitiful life with his widowed mother and 'desperate to marry' sister. Lucky for Mr. Khiladi that Shalu (Juhi Chawla), a rich and spoilt child of a multimillionaire (Kadar Khan), wants to marry him. Shalu forcibly convinces Daddy dearest to wed her to Mr. Khiladi and so they become Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. The hitch is that Daddy is not at all impressed with his overconfident, pain-in-the-butt, 'ghar jamai' so the latter must spend the rest of the movie discovering the meaning of hard work. And the motivation for Mr. Khiladi's efforts is the 'suhaag raat' with his wife, which he has been denied.
Akshay and Juhi make a very cute couple, but Mrs. Khiladi can easily act circles around her filmi spouse. (I feel that a female-oriented romance would be a better vehicle in which to present the twosome together in the future.) Juhi's comedic timing (as well as her look in the movie) is near perfection, whereas Akshay occasionally appears uncomfortable with the comedy film set-up. He tries to compensate by yelling and whining, but that will never make him a Govinda. (To be fair, Akshay's character is also too stupid for the audience's support. One wonders how this well-educated man could become such a moronic couch potato.) Kadar Khan's character displays some dichotomy. On one hand the man is mega-rich, but he dresses like the heroes of David Dhawan's earlier movies. Daddy is also a strict authoritarian but he turns to mush when dealing with his daughter. Paresh Rawal as Shalu's Mamu, is wasted in the annoying role of a failed Doordarshan compeer who provides a synopsis of the happenings every five minutes.
David Dhawan's directorial capabilities are also not at their peak compared to his other movies. The reason for this semi-disappointment may be the 'Khiladi' style action requirement thrust upon David by Akshay's image. David does a great job in directing a parody of Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi's wrestling scenes by using a humorous comic slant and a sumo wrestler (Mr. & Mrs... is also a far better flick than the abysmal, aforementioned K-K-K.) Plus, the Juhi-Kadar new car sequence is also wonderful, but much of the remaining movie lacks proper comedic pacing.
I wonder if another problem lies in the lack of crisp editing and a mediocre background score. Judwaa, Aankhen and Hero No.1 all had very slick presentations, but that is not the case with Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. The cinematography is decent and the dances/songs are fine, but each successive scene is rarely linked neatly together. (By the way, Torontonians and other Ontarians will have a whale of a time identifying local sites in the songs... though they are also a bit distracting.)
Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi is generally a time-filler. The story and a few comedy sequences are fine, but the film needs a more comedic, less idiotic, male protagonist and some technical rework. As is, some individuals may like it, but not if they have seen David Dhawan's other, more superlative comedies.
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