Hindi
‘Entertainment’…This one is for kids and likeminded!
MUMBAI: A dog rates as the most accepted and loved pet anywhere and everywhere. They are easily adaptable to training and loyal as companions. The pet and the owner have a tendency to get emotionally attached to each other, so much so that fortunes are sometimes willed to a pet on the owner’s death.
Dogs are often used in films too, usually with the aim to entertain children or, otherwise, to solve mysteries. Entertainment seems to have been inspired from an American film, Bailey’s Billion$, a children’s film about a pet dog inheriting a billion dollar and the deceased’s nephew and spouse wanting to eliminate him for the billion to pass on to them.
Akshay Kumar is a devoted son who has no regular job. To tend to his ailing father lying in hospital, he keeps doing various odd jobs every day. Every time he does an odd job, he is shortchanged but he avoids getting into a fight as his priority is to run to hospital to check on his father, Darshan Jariwal.
On one such visit to the hospital with his friend to check on his father, he learns that Jariwala is not sick at all and just exploiting Akshay to enjoy the luxury of the five-star hospital and is romancing a nurse. When confronted, Jariwala reveals that Akshay is not his son but he adopted him after a train accident in which his mother had died and the compensation to her close relatives was Rs one lakh which he wanted to claim. Akshay is actually the son of a wealthy jeweller (played by Dalip Tahil as a photo frame) from Bangkok who sired him and later betrayed his mother.
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Directors: Sajid-Farhad. Cast: Akshay Kumar, Tamannaah ,MIthun Chakraborty, Johny Liver, Prakash Raj, Sonu Sood, Krishna Abhishek, Darshan Jariwala and, in cameo, Riteish Deshmukh. |
Producers: Ramesh S Taurani, Jayantilal Gada.
Just when Akshay learns of this history about his family, he happens to watch a TV news bulletin and learns that his biological father has passed away. Akshay is thrilled and decides to go to Bangkok along with his sidekick, Krishna, to claim his father’s fortune. On his arrival at his late father’s palatial mansion, he meets Johny Lever, the family lawyer and executor of the will. Lever does not take much convincing to accept Akshay as the jeweller’s son. However, Akshay can’t inherit the Rs 3000 crore fortune since his dead father has bestowed all of it to his pet dog named Entertainment!
Akshay thinks nothing of it and decides that all he has to do is to get rid of the pet and, as the son of the deceased Tahil, he will be the next heir. Meanwhile, two jailbirds, Prakash Raj and Sonu Sood, also claimants to Tahil’s fortune, are just out and proceed to claim it. But they realise that there are two other heirs before them, a dog and Akshay. They realise that Akshy plans to kill the dog so all they have to do is wait till that happens after which they can kill Akshay.
This is one smart dog who has saved Tahil from Prakash and Sood and outsmarts Akshay every time he tries to kill him. On one such attempt to kill the pet, it is Akshay whose life is in danger; the pet saves him. Akshay has a change of heart. Now he accepts the pet as the true inheritor of Tahil’s fortune and decides to leave Bangkok. But, not for long since he knows that the pet’s life is in danger.
Now the battle of wits is between Akshay, Krishna and the pet on one side and Sood and Prakash on the other.
Since this is supposed to be a light entertainer, aiming more towards kids, wittingly or unwittingly, the treatment is of the sort one would find in the Hollywood hit Home Alone. Not only the theme but also a lot of things are borrowed from earlier films: the pet’s tricks for instance are sourced from the movie Kung Fu Hustle and Akshay describing ghosts to Prakash and Sood is from Mahmood’s famous scene from classic hit, Pyar Kiye Jaa. Little is original—except for the best part of the film, which is Krishna’s linking and rhyming various film titles to convey whatever he wants; that is funny. Songs are pleasant and peppy but used randomly whatever the situation. While their direction is okay with ample help from other sources, dialogue on which Sajid and Farhad have built their career is a notch below their standard except for Krishna’s lines. The second half needed some trimming.
While the dog Junior is expectedly the mainstay of the film, Krishna and Johny Lever’s parts add to the fun quotient. Akshay is his normal self: funny at times, almost so at others. Prakash and Sood as blundering villains are apt for a film aimed at children. Tamannaah is kept away for most of the first half while she does get due exposure in the latter part.
Entertainment is a fairly amusing film which the children will enjoy. However, with cinema chains blocked for the next week’s release, Singham Returns, this film has limited time to recover whatever it can.
Hindi
Shekhar Suman opens acting academy in Mumbai
The veteran actor-presenter launches SSFA, promising immersive, mentorship-led training for aspiring actors and storytellers
Mumbai: Forty years in front of the camera, and Shekhar Suman still isn’t done. The actor, host, writer and director, one of Indian entertainment’s most restless polymaths, is now training his sights on the next generation, launching the Shekhar Suman Film Academy (SSFA) in Mumbai on 22nd April 2026. Registrations for the inaugural batch are already open.
SSFA pitches itself squarely against formula-driven acting schools, leading with an intensive three-month programme that Suman says he personally designed and will largely conduct himself. The curriculum blends voice and speech work, emotional access, body awareness and camera technique with the Linklater Voice Method, film language and on-set discipline, and rounds off with a student film, giving trainees their first taste of a real set.
Masterclasses with actors, casting directors and filmmakers sit alongside the core course. The academy is conceived as a platform that will eventually sprawl into screenwriting, direction, cinematography, music production and post-production: a full creative ecosystem rather than a single acting school.
“For me, this academy is not just an institution. It is a very personal way of giving back to the craft that has given me everything,” said Suman. “Over the years, acting has taught me discipline, imagination, resilience, and the importance of truth in performance. Through this academy, I hope to create something that goes beyond training and becomes a true creative journey for every student who walks in.”
Behind the scenes, the academy is backed by GBM Studios. Dharmesh Sangani, founder and visionary, is the driving force, bringing what the academy describes as “a focused approach to creating meaningful opportunities within the industry.” Adhyayan Suman, founder and director and Shekhar’s son, adds a performer’s perspective honed across acting, music and direction. Ekant Babani, partner and chief operating officer, handles strategy and operations.
Entry is deliberately low-barrier. No prior training is needed: applicants sit a basic self-audition test, shifting the focus firmly to potential rather than polish. The academy says it aims to stay accessible while delivering a premium, hands-on experience.
In a country where acting schools multiply almost as fast as OTT platforms, Suman’s personal stamp and his willingness to stand in the room and teach may be the sharpest edge SSFA has. For those ready to test that promise, the curtain is already up. Apply at shekharsumanfilmacademy.com
