Entertainment

About the film

Entertainment is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language comedy film written and directed by screenwriter duo Sajid-Farhad and produced by Ramesh S. Taurani under the Tips Industries Limited banner. Based on an original story by K. Subash, the film stars Junior: The Wonder Dog as the titular protagonist and Akshay Kumar, along with Tamannaah Bhatia, Mithun Chakraborty, Sonu Sood, Krushna Abhishek, Johnny Lever and Prakash Raj. The film's music was composed by Sachin–Jigar, with cinematography by Manoj Soni and editing by Steven H. Bernard.

Entertainment was released theatrically worldwide on 8 August 2014. The film received mixed reviews and grossed ₹115.93 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹81 crore, falling short of breaking even.

Plot

The film begins with Akhil Lokhande being paid for an advertisement, but a fight ensues when he is not given the full amount he was promised. This pattern of underpayment and resulting fights continues through several other assignments. Each fight ends when Akhil receives a phone call, prompting him to leave. He then arrives on a shoot where Saakshi is filming her television series. After her shoot, they go for a walk in the park, observing other couples. At the end of their walk, Akhil proposes to Saakshi.

Akhil and Saakshi visit her father's house, where her father insists that Akhil must become rich, (become a crorepati) before he can marry Saakshi. Determined, Akhil visits his film-obsessed friend Jugnu's shop and informs him that he is going to visit his father in the hospital due to chest pain. However, Akhil's father, Mr Lokhande, is actually faking his illness and enjoying the hospital's luxury services. Akhil arrives just in time to witness this and goes to confront Mr Lokhande, who reveals that Akhil is adopted. He explains that Akhil's real father was not ready for a child, so Akhil's mother left, only to be killed in a train crash. Akhil survived, and Mr Lokhande adopted him to claim compensation from the railway officers. In a fit of rage, Akhil beats up Mr Lokhande.

Back at his house, Akhil opens a chest containing love letters from his real father to his mother, along with a locket with their pictures. He discovers that his father is Pannalal Johri, a billionaire in Bangkok. Just then, the news on television announces Pannalal Johri's death and that his 30 billion fortune will go to anyone who can prove they are related to him. Upon arriving at his father's house in Bangkok, Pannalal Johri's lawyer informs Akhil that the dog named "Entertainment" is the heir to Johri's property. Akhil tells Jugnu, and they plot to kill Entertainment by having Akhil become the dog's caretaker, but they fail.

Production

In February 2013, Ramesh S. Taurani announced a film starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Sajid-Farhad. Tamannaah Bhatia was confirmed as female lead in the following month. In April, Taurani confirmed that Sonu Sood and Prakash Raj will be playing the antagonists, with Johnny Lever in key role. The film was tentatively titled Entertainment. In an interview, Sajid-Farhad said that Kumar had motivated them to start their directing career and they had prepared the script for their directorial venture a long time ago. Shooting started on 3 June 2013 in Mumbai, where the mahurat shot was filmed. Television actor Hiten Tejwani also made a special appearance as a TV presenter. An audition was conducted in Bangkok for the role of the dog, Entertainment. A Golden Retriever named Wonder Dog was chosen from a total of 50 dogs to play the role. In June 2013, the producers, directors and Kumar discussed about shooting locations. Kumar expressed his wish to shoot the film in Bangkok, where he had worked as a waiter and trained in martial arts. The finalised locations included Baanpradhana Bungalow in Ongkuruk, Asiatique Mall, Ancient City, Bangkok University and Ongkuruk Railway Station.

On 1 July, shooting started in Bangkok for a three-month-long schedule, during which 80% of the film was shot. The remaining 10% of the film was shot in Mumbai, with one song in Goa during late 2013. The shooting was wrapped up in April 2014. A few songs and an item number were shot in Mumbai. During the film's censoring process, the Indian Censor Board objected to the name Abdullah for Johnny Lever's character, citing its sacred nature and frequent mispronunciations in the film, which could offend religious sentiments. Consequently, Sajid-Farhad changed the character's name to Habibullah a week before the film's release. The Board also objected to a joke involving the word HIV, leading to its removal from the film. Additionally, Kumar's character using a trident was objected to, resulting in the removal of the scene.

Music

The soundtrack is composed by Sachin–Jigar, with their new A&R platform White Noise Productions, including only the duo at that point, composing the background score. This marked the first time the duo worked with Kumar. The song "Teri Mahima Aprampar" was lifted from the duo's composition of a song "Rowdy Fellows" for the Telugu film D for Dopidi. Kumar also sang one of the tracks of the film. The YouTube link of the making of the song was uploaded on Twitter.

The party single "Johnny Johnny" was released first. Based on a nursery rhyme, the song featured Kumar lip-synching to a female voice. The directors said about the song "...in a small subtle way, we are showing our support for women empowerment". Sunitra Pacheco of The Indian Express said that it had "all the ingredients to become a new party anthem". In a review for Rediff.com Joginder Tuteja said that the film's music "is entertaining, providing good fun at a frantic pace." He called "Veerey Di Wedding" "an infectious number" and praised Mika's voice. About the song "Johnny Johnny", he said, "it has addictive beats that get you hooked at the first listening" and praised the lyrics and singers. He added that the song "will be played for many months, till the next New Year party at least."

Key details