The Shaukeens is an occasionally funny film, and is one of the more watchable Hindi language comedies of the year. The standard isn't exactly sky-high, but this character-driven absurdity isn't as loud as its misdirecting trailers. It's not entirely original either; a contemporary remodeling of Basu Chatterjee's understated 80s classic Shaukeen.

The Shaukeens is inspired by Basu Chatterjee's Shaukeen (1982), which had Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and AK Hangal playing lonely old men looking for some sort of an excitement in their life. They find it in the form of a free-spirited girl, Rati Agnihotri, in Goa. Their feeble attempts to impress the girl lead to hilarious situations. The film offered a lighthearted take on how age has nothing to do with men being men but nowhere did it cross the lines of decency, thanks largely to the efforts of the veteran actors.

The Shaukeens is the story of three lecherous old men Pinky (Piyush Mishra) Lali (Anupam Kher) and KD (Annu Kapoor) wanting to revisit their youth and figure out a way to get laid without being labelled as tharki buddhas. Of course the deed isn't that easy and when getting access to a girl in India becomes tough they take their hunt to the exotic shores of Mauritius where they meet Ahana (Lisa Haydon).

Sitting through a film like 'The Shaukeens' is a depressing experience. We see a lot of lousy writing but a film as banal as this one deserves a special call-out. You would understand if amateurs were at work here, but the screenplay is by Tigmanshu Dhulia and actors of the calibre of Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra have agreed to do this film. You can't expect a better replacement than them for the indomitable trio of Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and AK Hangal who starred in the original 'Shaukeen' (1982). And yet, it boils down to one of the most blah outings at the theatres in recent times.

A word of caution for all the Basu Chatterjee fans. This film is not a remake of what people saw in the 1982 film 'Shaukeen'. Meet the generation next's oldies (who are as active and agile as any of the 'yo-bro' gang). Director Abhishek Sharma's 'The Shaukeens' happens to be a modern take on the classic 1982 comedy drama.

The Shaukeens was promised to be a film as cute as the original but sadly, it's just a mundanely flat and an extremely dull film. With only Akshay delivering the limited laughs of the film, it is a painfully tedious exercise of tolerating the not-so happening story of three lecherous men. The main problem of the film is that nothing is really happening in it.

The Shaukeens is a story of three oldies - KD, Lali and Pinki. These lusty old men plan a trip to Mauritius after it becomes difficult, rather life-threatening for them to get some action in Delhi. In Mauritius the trio stay with a young fashion designer Ahana (Lisa Haydon). Ahana, a huge Akshay Kumar fan, is nursing a broken heart.

But for the refreshingly self-deprecating humour that co-producer and cast member Akshay Kumar directs at himself and his acting career all through the film, The Shaukeens would have been an outright washout. This film is a disaster all right, but it is mitigated somewhat by a quirky if uneven subplot that has Akshay playing himself and poking constant fun at the work that he has done thus far as a Bollywood actor.

KD, Lali and Pinky are three friends who have been together through the bad and good times in their lives. One morning after having their fill of eye tonic (ogling at young girls as they exercise in a garden in Delhi) the three men, well in their 60s, decide that they need to get out of the country in order to fulfill their fantasies. The wisdom dawns upon them when they mistake someone for a call girl and are caught by the cops. The trio then plans a trip to Mauritius.

Three dirty old men `leching' at a pretty young thing is what 'The Shaukeens' sets out to show. If it had stuck to its guns, made its threesome more interesting, and the girl less ditsy, this remake of Basu Chatterjee's 'Shaukeen' (1982), would have done its job.