Double Dhamaal

Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi,Kangana Ranaut, Mallika Sherawat, Javed Jaffrey, Aashish Chaudhary, Satish Kaushik, Harry Josh

Director: Indra Kumar

Director Indra Kumar, who started off with films like 'Dil', 'Beta', 'Raja' and 'Ishq', had incorporated dramatic elements in them. However he changed path with 'Dhamaal' though still he couldn't resist the temptation of adding some drama in the climax of that film as well, something that hadn't been accepted whole heartedly. However with 'Double Dhamaal' he steers clear from even a single serious moment and just ensures that the film truly stays true to it's name. Yes, it is abound with gags, rests on slapsticks, spoofs more than a dozen odd movies, scenes and actors, is filled with double entendres and is out and out goofy. But then let the fact be stated this is exactly the kind of flavour that one would have expected from the film in the very first place. It wasn't meant to be a sophisticated take on comedy. Instead, it was supposed to be loud, riotous and absolutely nonsensical in short the kind of genre that one associates with 'Double Dhamaal'. For Riteish, Arshad, Ashish and Javed, the journey continues from where they left in 'Dhamaal'. Conned by Sanjay Dutt, they now want to get even with him. In company of Mallika and Kangna, he is enjoying the best of all worlds. So much so that the dumb and funny quartet plot revenge and try to turn tables on Dutt by taking him for a ride. It is this Tom & Jerry show that ensures that the fun continues till the very end. So whether it is Riteish's constant 'dhamki' of unleashing Sanju's MMS, discovery of an oil field or introduction of a goon (Satish Kaushik) who is trying to take a religious route all of this ensures that one is engaged in the first half. Okay, so it isn't overtly breezy but good dose of slapstick, songs and skin show keep your attention on the screen.

The second half though really picks up well and while there is a brief portion (for around 10-15 minutes) surrounding the 'Oye Oye' song where you feel that the pace is slackening, it is a mere aberration because from that point on till the very end, the graph just continues to build on. The pick of the lot in the entire second half (and in fact the film as a whole) is the 'Gorilla' sequence. Really, if you are willing to unleash the kid in you, chances are you would indeed roll up laughing. This is not all as the entire impersonation act by Arshad Warsi (as a Sardar who is also 'asardar') is terrific and so is Riteish in his twin get up of an Afro-American and a Gujarati businessman. However Ashish Chaudhary's 'Barbara Mori' take off completely falls flat and is more of a put off than fun. Also, the entire 'Taare Zameen Par' and 'Guzaarish' dig doesn't work which (as stated earlier) results in a few not-so-engaging moments. However leave these few minutes aside and the fun just doesn't subside. The entire 'Tukaram' sequence is a riot as well and so is the entire 'turning over the tables' episode which ensures that 'Dhamaal' would well be entering into it's third part and even more. Dutt, who chooses to either completely enjoy himself or just sleepwalk in his films these days chooses to do the former here and shows why he is the 'baap' in his age group. Javed does well and enjoys a good screen time for himself. Satish Kaushik brings back his 'Pappu Pager' act from 'Deewana Mastana' and is terrific. Kangna (thankfully) allows herself to be carefree in this film while also coming up with generous skin show. Comparatively Mallika is restrained but shows that she can be the leading heroine material at least in movies of this genre. Music by Anand Raj Anand goes well with the film's mood and doesn't allow one single dull moment. Dialogues are wonderful at most places.

Off late there have been numerous examples when a so-called comedy has fallen flat. Thankfully and fortunately this isn't the case with 'Double Dhamaal'. It makes you laugh, and laugh really-really loud, right through it's two and a half hour duration. In fact there are several scenes that continue to play in your mind long after the film is through. No wonder, it doesn't just do well, it does very well and ends up exceeding expectations. So much so that one doesn't mind giving it a second dekko.Some things never change. Like Indra Kumar’s style of storytelling. From “Dil” in 1990 to “Double Dhamaal” now, the fun never stops…that is , if fun is what you derive out of overgrown boys played by actors ranging from 20 to 50 who repeatedly get hit in their testicles. Ouch!Balls are walls that the script scales to achieve a lowbrow calibre of hectic humour.

This slapstick comedy never escapes the ouch pouch. Cocooned in a juvenile comic mood that takes the characters through a maze of hazily written humour, the narration leaves no pause for any emotion, not even exasperation that bubbles up in you as you watch the antics of the four semi-retarded protagonists, played at various octaves of lunacy by the talented trio of Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey, plus there’s Ashish Chowdhary, looking a little lost in the maze of amazing comic timing. Chowdhary shows up in the second-half in drag masquerading in siliconed splendour as ‘Barbara Gori’ offering ‘her’ soul and, ahem, body to Sanjay Dutt. Oh, didn’t we tell you? Dutt’s the way we like it. He plays a kind of senior jester in the durbar of drollery. In almost every frame he is flanked by the two beauties Mallika Sherawat and Kangna Ranaut playing his sweetheart and sister, respectively. Feminine comfort swathed in designer ludicrousness. Significantly the two ladies don’t dress in character. They don’t need to. Attired in the best designer gowns carrying the best bags that money can buy they resemble two models who show up at a beauty pageant in a moneyed little hamlet in Gujarat .

The film spares no expenses to look sleek. The characters are either silhouetted by skyscrapers or their equivalent created indoors by set-designers whose concept of lavishness won’t match with what you’ve probably seen in the pages of Home & Interiors magazine. There is no attempt to cohere to any acceptable standards of aesthetics here. As a director Indra Kumar has not made the mistake of evolving over the years.Crude food brings forth a belch of satisfaction from the audience.The sleekness that we see in the songs and dances should not take away from the general rumbustiousness that pervades the plot.

Everyone hams it to the hilt. There is no room for subtlety and nuances. And by the time Arshad Warsi, one of the finest comic talents in our cinema, gets down to promising Dutt he won’t ‘blow’ his ‘job’ we know the writers of this flamboyant farce are happily scraping the bottom of the barrel. Wailing, young female crowds run into multiples of hundred. Because actor Ashish Chaudhary’s just waltzed in. His hair's gelled back. Girls could faint. Graciously, Ashish allows them to touch him, yes, he's for real. He offers them his autograph, lets them click his picture. Cops have to manage the commotion. Fans can't stop screaming.This is not a dream sequence from this movie. Honest to God, it's a scene I witnessed, wide-eyed, at the “world premiere” of this film in Toronto, Canada. Such was the frenzy around Bollywood at this non-resident India, it looked like anything, anyone, even Ashish (whatever his filmography), would do.

We finally walked into Double Dhamaal, the reason for the frenzy outside. I figured Hindi film actors in general, but particularly those in this film, deserved every bit of adulation before their premiere show. In fact, these gents Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Javed Jaffery (and Ashish. Of course) have had to do the kind of things for a living, endure a sort of public embarrassment for entertainment’s sake, they should be entitled to a gallantry award. No less. So should their audience.

If you’ve seen Dhamaal, this film’s reasonably fun prequel (loosely inspired by It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World), you’ll recall, Jaffery plays a UD (under-developed) man-child Manav. He ups the act further in this second part, changing his costume, hamming it up as a moronic kid with Mickey Mouse hair, among other mimicries. The other three actors, Manav’s buddies, double or quadruple up their parts, non-stop for over a couple of hours, impersonating everything from fake gorilla making out with a real one; black polished Caribbean lover boy under a huge Afro; Gujarati businessman with weird teeth; Sikh security guard getting his Punjabi right; Spanish hooker with massive cleavage.... When they’re in their own character, relatively normal selves, they’re supposed to sound like Shatrughan Sinha, Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjeev Kumar Truly, this couldn’t be easy. What’s it for but? Frankly. I don’t know. I don’t think they asked either.

The filmmakers were possibly busy scoring a tax-free contract to shoot in Macau. Dialogue writers were giggling over their rhymes in every other line, pun on every second word. The editors were paid to keep their trap shut. Whining women (Kangna Ranaut, Mallika Sherawat) were picked up for pretty posters. Male actors then were naturally left to somehow figure their way through this mess. From what I could tell, despite a piercing headache, this big-ticket pic exists because the said four friends want to become partners in their millionaire nemesis’ (Sanjay Dutt’s) profitable company. These blokes are broke. Their rich archenemy shows them a plot where they’ve discovered oil. These beggars produce Rs 25 lakh, lure an underworld don (Satish Kaushik; sad) to invest several crores in the supposed property. The firm turns out to be fake. The boys are in trouble now. They seek revenge, try to screw their bete noire (Dutt) over, disguising themselves in various parts, hoping to bag some serious bucks off him. For two years before this, these unemployed buddies had been standing at an accident-prone spot, so they could find a crashing car. And? I don't know. Later, they'd hung around a desi theka (a run-down dive), beating poor fellas up, picking their pockets, asking people at the bar to keep an egg in their mouth without breaking its shell. Excuse me? By now you know, a drunken devil’s in the befuddling, brain-dead detail.

It’s sufficient to suggest, there were at least four ‘item songs’ that blasted through my ears one of them called Jalebi Bai that Mallika Sherawat moved to, shortly after a quick jig on Dabanng’s Munni Badnaam Hui. Those South Asian girls in Toronto could practice their Bollywood steps to these tracks. That’s what the hoopla’s roughly about anyway. Some curious Canadians may have entered the premiere to figure the fuss around our pictures still. There were English subtitles, with gentle explanations thrown in as well: “He’s my Godfather, he’s my Nayakan (based on Godfather), Dayavan (based on Godfather)” I’d wager a bet if they sat through even half the flick. Or if most regular folks can.In the times when there are sequels of any and every film irrespective of the original being a hit or a flop, it's but obvious for the filmmakers of the super hit 2007 comedy Dhamaal to come up with its sequel. Now it only remains to be seen whether Double Dhamaal actually doubles up the fun of Dhamaal or not.

The film takes off from the last sequence of Dhamaal. Four dimwit friends Roy (Riteish Deshmukh), Adi (Arshad Warsi), Manav (Jaaved Jaafery) and Boman (Aashish Chawdhry) are back. They are poor, stupid and awaiting quick money. Just then they see their old enemy, the corrupt cop Kabir Nayak (Sanjay Dutt) passing by in his Mercedes and chase him to know how he earned so much money. They enter into his lavish house and see his beautiful wife Kamini (Mallika Sherawat) and sister Kiya (Kangna Ranaut). Green with envy they decide to eat out of Kabir's success and try blackmailing him to make them his business partners. Kabir does that but little do the four jokers know what's in stores for them. As the film proceeds the madness keeps increasing with one incident after another.

You certainly can't expect anything less than double the fun from filmmaker Indra Kumar who's had super hits like Dil, Beta, Ishq or even Dhamaal to his credit. In fact the title itself assures a double whammy. However, what it turns out to be is a shoddy show of lunacy. The film is complete slapstick no brainier and manages to make you laugh in very few places. In a bid to create humor the characters keep hollering on your ear drums consistently with their off-timed buffoonery making you wonder if certain things were even meant to be funny. The first half still manages to earn some guffaws but the predictability of the second makes it fall flat. Some scenes though do make you laugh specially the ones that have Jaaved Jaffery in it. He still as the lisp, retard is very likable and funny. Even the comic scenes of Riteish and Satish Kaushik are good. But what mires them is the tripe and hackneyed plot which works on the clichéd formulas of slapstick comedies. DD tries creating humour taking digs at other films like Taare Zameen Par, Shola and Guzaarish but falls flat in most cases. The mimicry of many actors like Shahrukh, Aamir, Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra etc is still funny. Actors like Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Aashish Chawdhry fail in their comic timing. Riteish, Javed and Satish Kaushik are decent still. Kangna Ranaut is in bad make-up, bad hair and bad styling throughout the film. Moreover, it's her surgically made-orange lipstick covered huge pout that worsens her appearance all the more. No improvement in dialogues too. Mallika doesn't get much to do but covers up with her scintillating item song Jalebi Bai. Anand Raj Anand's music is average with only Jalebi Bai standing out.