Golmaal 3

Director: Rohit Shetty

Actors: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Ratna Pathak, Shreyas Talpade, Kunal Khemu, Johny Lever, Johny Lever,Sanjay Mishra,Vrajesh Hirjee,Ashwini Kalsekar,Murli Sharma,Mukesh Tiwari,Vijay Patkar

It is touted as the first trilogy of Indian cinema. It's about time that the distant cousin of Hollywood had one. Yet, what's important is that Bollywood did not need to have trilogies as one hit film has the habit of spawning a whole generation of films that look and feel like the original. "Golmaal 3" also suffers from that syndrome. Thankfully, it only feels like its previous avatars. Despite retaining most characters from its previous outings, "Golmaal 3" enters a hitherto uncharted territory. Madhav (Warsi), Laxman (Khemu) and Lucky (Kapoor) are the three scheming sons of Pritam (Mithun) who manage to lure Vasooli (Mukesh Tiwari) into one scheme after another.

However, as luck would have it, in everything they start, they find competition from three other down-on-their-luck kids Gopal (Ajay Devgn), Laxman (Shreyas Talapade) and Dabbu (Kareena Kapoor) with funding from Puppy bhai (Johnny Lever). Gopal and Laxman are the sons of Geeta (Ratna Pathak Shah). Inevitably, locking horns they end up destroying each others businesses. What the two groups don't know is that their parents are unrequited ex-lovers. When Dabbu finds out she schemes and unites the two lovers in a marriage without letting their children know about their step-brothers. All hell breaks loose when they finally find out and a hilarious war engulfs between the two groups right under their parents noses. Like its predecessors "Golmaal 3" has enough laughs going through the film to keep the momentum. Johnny Lever as the Ghajini-style forgetful don who adopts a new filmy avatar every few minutes has the audience in splits. The few spoofs of old Hindi films, full of camera pans and quick zooms, will nostalgically tickle the funny bone. The twists of various popular phrases and known adages, raises more than a chuckle.

Mithun gets to do his "Disco Dancer" once again. Theatre veteran Ratna Pathak-Shah waltzes through the film with aplomb. Arshad Warsi is his usual tapori self while Shreyas Talapade and Kunal Khemu do a good job. It is however the beefed up Tushar Kapoor who seems to be trying too hard, and despite raising giggles, fails to arouse laughter. In the first part he, looking the most vulnerable, was the funniest of the lot. Director Rohit Shetty tries his best in merging comic vignettes into one comprehensible film. However, had it not been for the funny dialogues, his lack of directorial verve would have shone out. He is spared the fate by some ingenious dialogue writing by Robin Bhatt ("Aashiqui", "Sadak", "Baazigar") and Yunus Sajawal. Now that Bollywood finally has a trilogy, will it please also make one that also has some real standing in the world of cinema? Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn return to screen again this Diwali after two very successful years. On Diwali 2008 they had an extremely successful Golmaal Returns and last year they had an equally hilarious All The Best. Without a doubt they will be been hoping to carry on with the winning streak. And in the optimism of directing Bollywood's first third film in a sequel, beating the Krrish and Munnabhai series, Rohit Shetty gets in much bigger cast and canvass. Unfortunately though, over-confidence seems to have infected his optimism.

Golmaal 3 starts with a lot of fanfare and celebrations; with an on-the-face declaration that it's a sequel to Golmaal and Golmaal Returns and hence a laugh-riot can be expected. And then of course there is the Golmaal title track shot lavishly in carnival style. But when half an hour into the film you find that the director is pumping in more well shot songs rather than taking the film ahead, it makes one wonder where he got the courage to narrate the producer such a script. Worse, how did the producer agree to back the project! Don't get me wrong. There is a story no doubt. It's in fact borrowed from none other than the 1978 film classic comedy Khatta Meetha directed by Basu Chatterjee. Rohit Shetty sets the story into his style of filmmaking. Hence there are more characters, loads of gags, hilarious dialogged, exciting action scenes and of course colorful songs. You can rest assured that your eyes will be pleased and you lungs will get some exercise but then that's won't be throughout the film. Some gags completely fail to make you laugh. Moreover due to the treatment of the film whenever the gags are missing it gets boring.

Apart from the over the top approach Rohit also uses subtle humour as he used old film songs to suit funny situations. The dialogues are hilarious and the characters are well written. But most of the humour is borrowed from Bollywood and for someone who has not been watching as many Hindi films; it will be a completely waste of effort. Screenplay is quite loose and emphasis clearly is more on the look and feel than storytelling. Technically the film is very good - shot and edited very stylishly.

Performances too are top notch. The minor characters of Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Mukesh Tiwari and Murli Sharma shine better than the main cast. Sanjay Mishra continues what he did in the 2008 film One, Two, Three and is terrific. Johnny Lever too makes a mark after a long time. Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi are very good. But among the primary cast it's clearly Tusshar who outdoes everyone else. This is one character Tusshar has come to excel in. Kunal Khemu and Shreyas Talpade do well. Mithun is a delight as he does his Disco Dancer number once again after all these years.

Overall, as stated earlier, Golmaal 3 is fun but not throughout. Also the need to spend all the money is smashing cars and creating carnival atmosphere in storytelling is not understood. And most importantly unlike the previous installments in the series, this story has no 'golmaal' hence failing the series name itself! It can be best describes as funny in intervals, but boring in much regular intervals! You may as well watch Khatta Meetha! You see Mithun. You make way. As does this movie. It flashes back to mid ‘70s. Mithun da (Ayeeessh!) is the disco dancer. “I am a disco dancer” is the song on his lips, and his profession to the girlfriend’s dad: "Zindagi mera gaana. Mein kisika deewana (Life’s singing for me. I’m also crazy about someone).”

That father is Prem, Prem Chopra. The baldie isn’t too impressed. He hands over an empty suitcase, asks the poor boy to make Rs 5 lakh before he can claim his daughter’s hand. Mithunda says he sold halwa over weekends (Dance Dance). He sold coconuts during day (Agneepath). But he couldn’t make those lakhs and win his girl. Another Disco Dancer ditty, Yaad aa raha hai plays in the background, and as a full-on track. The spoof alludes to a minor phase in Bollywood, when Hindi movies had momentarily lost their mind. Mithun da willingly plays fine sport, pokes fun at himself. This sequence could be a skit of its own, on MTV, Channel V, Laughter Challenge; if it hasn’t appeared already. So could the rest of Golmaal 3. The film picks up all its humour from Bollywood alone. Practically every dialogue, almost every scene, refers to another film, or a celeb - some of them who’re in the movie, and some who are not. “Kareena is on the Saif side”, Arshad is waris (inheritor), not a Warsi (his actual surname), Shahid Kapur is the kamina (from the movie Kaminey)… The cutesy villain (Johnny Lever) is called Pritam (after the popular music composer).

He enviably suffers from a short-term memory loss. By the end of this flick, you wish, so could you. Or maybe you do. But do imagine a film industry screening of this comedy and all celebs in the house, rotfl (rolling on the floor laughing), as it were. It’s truly that filmi. And for most parts hardly as funny for all. The cast and crew certainly had a laugh filming it. They even held an extended discussion on the picture Ghajini for us. Great for them. How about telling a story of your own? Well that again, I guess, can be outsourced to ‘70s Bollywood: Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha (1979), I suppose. Mithunda and his sweetheart once (Ratna Pathak Shah) are single still. Kareena Kapoor plays cupid, and gets them and their families together.

Old man fathers three adopted monsters: Ajay Devgn (can’t resist cracking people’s fingers), Shreyas Talpade (stammers for our pleasure). Old lady likewise mothers another set of aged orphans: Arshad Warsi, Kunal Khemu (in top form), Tusshar Kapoor (more moronic than mute). The two groups, supremely high on energy, hate each other. Another set of comic villains back the two gangs. Those buffoons have separate stories of their own. The missing link is the movie itself. No one anchors it.

Rohit Shetty brings back the highly successful franchisee of the Golmaal series to the big screen once more. Golmaal 3 brings back all the popular characters from the previous movie and there are some additions to the ensemble crew as well. As a Diwali release Golmaal 3 promises to be a major crowd puller. The Golmaal 3 star cast has done a wonderful job and this time Tusshar Kapoor has outperformed himself with the fantastic acting prowess. Golmaal 3 primarily tries to highlight the sibling rivalry between two groups. The first group consists of Ajay Devgn (Gopal), Shreyas Talpade (Laxman), Kareena Kapoor (Dabboo). The world of Gopal frequently collides with that of Arshad Warsi (Madhav), Tusshar Kapoor (Lucky), and Kunal Khemu (Laxman).

The movie is an out and out laugh riot that will keep you engaged for the entire length. The inclusion of Johnny Lever as an absent minded thief is fantastic and it adds to the confusion. Johnny Lever shows the audience that he is the master of slapstick comedy and comes back to claim his crown. The climax however is not that imaginative and could have been a lot better. Kareena’s dog has been named Facebook and the scene where it tries to get a bone out of Mithun’s pocket is hilarious. The scene where the siblings threaten each other without saying a single word is a masterpiece in itself. This movie is a highly recommended Diwali family entertainer which will bring a wide grin on your face.

Golmaal was a sleeper hit of 2006. Since then, several ensemble comedies (Dhamaal etc), some of them put together by this film’s team as well (Sunday, All The Best) have tried to repeat the run. Golmaal 2 (second-rate stuff) apparently raked in big bucks. Such success can boost anyone’s over-confidence. Which explains this turd part.

Close to three hours is long time in anyone’s life. It’s longer still to pack into a screenplay. The filmmakers have six main actors to juggle with, and as many side comedians to lend parts to. There’s a deadline (Diwali) to meet. Never mind the narrative, they’d be happy with as any corny antics and dialogues with whoever’s available. You can cheat shots for actors not present. Shoddiness shows.