No Entry was released theatrically on 26 August 2005 with a budget of ₹20 crore, and attained blockbuster success, grossing a worldwide total of ₹74 crore, thus becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of 2005.
Plot
Kishan, a wealthy print media owner, is married to the suspicious-minded Kajal, who thinks he is having an affair with another woman, though he is faithful to her and never wants to betray her anyway. His friend Prem, a rich businessman, has the opposite situation and has many affairs with other girls, even though he is married to Pooja, who is very trusting. Kishan's employee, Shekhar, accidentally falls in love with Sanjana, who hates lies and doesn't tolerate other women in a man's life.
As Kishan takes Prem's photos with his girlfriend and threatens to inform Pooja, Prem sends Bobby, a call girl, to seduce Kishan. The plan is that he'll fall into Prem's trap. Kishan plans to meet Bobby at his home while Kajal travels to Ajmer. As her passport is left at home, she returns and finds Bobby with Kishan in their outhouse, which they'd given Shekhar to live in. Kishan tells her that Bobby is Shekhar's wife; Sanjana, set to marry Shekhar, thinks Bobby is Kishan's wife.
Prem, in order to save his friends' marriages, tells Sanjana and Kajal that Bobby was his first wife. It becomes a bundle of confusion, arguments, and comedy when all the various couples meet together. The truth is eventually told through many comedic encounters, and eventually, Kishan, Prem, and Shekhar seemingly turn over a new leaf. It is hinted at the film's end, however, that the three friends haven't fully turned over a new leaf with the entrance of Sameera Reddy in a cameo.
During the production of No Entry, speculations arose that it would be a remake of the film Masti (2004). The comparisons were made due to both films revolving around the same subject of extra-marital affairs. However, producer Boney Kapoor strongly denied the similarities and clarified that No Entry would be a remake of the Tamil movie titled Charlie Chaplin (2002). Kapoor also stressed that he would never endorse innuendo-based films such as Masti.[2]
It was a box office success, grossing ₹74.13 crore worldwide.[3] The film topped the Chennai box office on its opening weekend.[4]
Critical response
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, and stated "No Entry is a joyride that is bound to click with the masses in a big way. At the box-office, No Entry has all it takes to prove a success story on account of its massive star cast and excellent comedy it has to offer. Go have fun!"[5]India Today stated, "The movie is mostly about suspicious, nagging wives, extramarital affairs and lots of semi-clad, sexy bodies cavorting in foreign locations."[6] Patsy N of Rediff.com stated, "If we can watch men sleeping around, and laugh about them, why can't we do the same with movies about woman having extramarital affairs?"[7] Vinayak Chakraborty of Hindustan Times wrote that the movie "works as thoroughly unapologetic, paisa vasool slapstick — the popular formula that Bollywood’s new-age makers of ‘comedies’ have hit upon, post David Dhawan," and that it rides on the "raw star power of Salman Khan."[8]
Jaspreet Pandohar of BBC gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated "After tackling a romance and thriller, writer/director Anees Bazmee tries his hand at comedy with No Entry, a caper jammed-packed with Bollywood stars. Great gags sadly deteriorate into a series of stinky slapstick scenes you'll wish had never entered your life."[9] Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, and stated "Writer-turned-director Bazmee has crafted a relatively smart and snarky war of the sexes minus the sex but with plenty of juicily hammy performances and enough outrageous one-liners, sight gags, and mistaken-identity yuks."[10] Ekanshu Khera of Planet Bollywood gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, and stated "Well-etched characters, hysterical situations, showcase of stars, witty dialogues, striking cinematography and scenic locales are some of the moments that stand out."[11]
