In 2007, Sagar Ballary was the toast of Bollywood for writing-directing one of the most engaging and intelligent comedies- Bheja Fry. But just within 4 years, he is showing signs of burning out. His next two efforts – Kachcha Limbu and Bheja Fry 2 were damp squibs and now Hum Tum Shabana is all set to join that avoidable duo.

The story premise is simple. Two guys, who are constantly at each other’s throat to get ahead in their jobs, fall for the same girl. The guys are ad company executives and the girl is a model entering into a beauty pageant. So it is inevitable that both the guys are desperate to impress the girl by passing tips to win over the pageant-judges. As they indulge into an all-out game of one-upmanship, little do they know that the girl is a notorious underworld don’s niece and the uncle is out to convert all her suitors into a model bridegroom, read a perfect gangster. So before even they know, they are abducted and sent to a Gangster Training School to make them a perfect match!

The movie begins with a promise for some good slapstick comedy but soon turns into a meaningless, mindless and more importantly mirthless chain of patched up scenes. The beauty pageant scenes are pain in the neck and even worse are scenes with the crazy gangster element.  This particular element has been used to death in so many recent Bollywood comedies. Forget bringing in any fresh comedic perspective, the film just keeps flogging that dead horse.

With a terrible screenplay, clueless direction and horrible overacting Hum Tum Shabana makes you wince! Before you decide to watch it, beware of the irreversibility of passage of time. Rather than wasting your two and a half hours in watching this excruciating film, put them to better use!