Housefull 5A or 5B?: Why Akshay Kumar’s new comedy has 2 different endings

Housefull 5 has stunned audiences not just with box office numbers, but with an unusual twist — two different endings, rolled out as Housefull 5A and Housefull 5B, each revealing a different killer in its murder-mystery climax.

While the first two hours of both versions are identical, the final 20 minutes diverge, offering alternate resolutions that create distinct viewing experiences. 

The move isn’t artistic whim — it’s a calculated bid to double audience footfall.

“The strategy behind releasing two endings is clear – to encourage repeat viewings,” claimed an analyst. Producers hope to tap into nostalgia for theatrical repeat viewing, now rare in the streaming era. 

Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh have publicly urged fans to catch both versions in cinemas.

This isn’t entirely new to Indian cinema. The Malayalam film Harikrishnans (1998) pioneered the concept by releasing two region-specific endings. Globally, the 1985 American film Clue and Netflix’s Bandersnatch (2018) also offered multiple outcomes. 

However, Housefull 5 is the first major Hindi film — and certainly the first Bollywood comedy — to release two endings simultaneously at scale.

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala acknowledged the format’s novelty for Bollywood, adding to the buzz. The approach is also a strategic move to make the theatre experience irreplicable at home — part of a larger trend to combat streaming fatigue.

A lesser-known example is My Wife’s Murder (2005), originally conceived with two endings — one accidental, one deliberate — but only one version was ever released after protests from women’s groups.

By fully executing the dual-ending format, Housefull 5 stands out not just for its franchise records but also as a rare Bollywood experiment that could signal a new marketing playbook for theatrical releases.