Yeah, it’s wild because you’d think Akshay Kumar and a huge cast like that would smash all the records, right? I think what made Housefull 5 fall short, even though it beat a bunch of Akshay’s own past movies, is that people just didn’t connect with the film the way they hoped for. Critics kept saying the jokes and story just weren’t that good, and honestly, a lot of people I know found it kinda cringey or just "meh."

Even though it had a massive opening—like over 91 crores on the first weekend—movies like Chhaava and even older comedies did better. Housefull 5 also changed things up with more mystery and less of the laugh-out-loud stuff that people liked from the older movies, so maybe that new suspense style didn’t land for everyone. Plus, after so many "big ensemble" films, the hype just isn’t the same as when it was new. Like, after five movies, you kinda know what you’re getting! So yeah, the buzz was there, but it just didn’t explode like people thought it would.