Join WhatsApp Channel
If you wanna just have fun at the movies, then just book a ticket for Dhamaal 4.
No, it’s not as in the elite comedy zone like No Entry, All The Best, the first Dhamaal or Welcome. But first and foremost, we have no humor that is cringe, toilet or something we will squirm watching in the movies with kids, parents or seniors.
The film resorts plentifully into near-farce or kids-level comedy—something that used to rule in 1960s Hollywood comedies. Naturally, it encompasses puns, lampoons, tributes to the franchise’s past installments and to even director Indra Kumar, buffoonery and a smattering of a higher level of comedy as we have seen in classics like Hera Pheri and Awara Pagal Deewana. All of this is encompassed by the message that family outweighs pecuniary aspects in life and that love should also be unconditional and unselfish.
The film starts on a Dhamaal-like note with a hint of a hidden treasure, and three parties vying for it when Prithvi (Upendra Limaye) reveals its location before falling off a cliff. A pirate, Adhoora (Ravi Kishen) and his dumb deputy, Jheenga (Vijay Patkar) are principally after it, but so are Guddu (Ajay Devgn) and Johnny (Sanjay Mishra), who run an antique store. Guddu is in love with the widow, Aaliya (Esha Gupta) and must thus win the love of her brats, Amaira (Akshara Padwal) and Aarav (Riyansh Dabhi) to marry her.
On a ‘bonding’ trip with the kids, Guddu also goes after Prithvi for finding the treasure’s location, but in a major chaotic situation encounters Lallan (Riteish Deshmukh), who has married the overweight Paaro (Anjali Anand), as well as two brothers Adi (Arshad Warsi) and his exceptionally dim-witted brother, Manav (Jaaved Jafferi). When they learn about the treasure’s whereabouts, they all head there, though all face difficulties enroute. Their troubles don’t end there. They decode the clues separately, only to face threats to their lives.
The film treats its characters with a light touch throughout, and so even Adhoora, Jheenga and Prithvi are far from standard villains. In a way, this film is dark comedy that eschews—impossible as this paradox may sound—actual darkness!
The dialogues match the situations and are quite funny though rarely hilarious. The technical scale is big, with a lot of VFX and CGI used, though some of this work, like the storm and lightning, do seem a shade tacky. Indra Kumar as director seems to have clearly slotted humor into distinct sections for his two franchises: Masti for the adults and Dhamaal for kids. I had loved Dhamaal (the first Indian comedy sans a female lead), found Double Dhamaal alright and had enjoyed Total Dhamaal and I feel that this specific film lies somewhere in between the first and the last one in the franchise.
Jaaved Jafferi, Ajay Devgn and Arshad Warsi effortlessly top the list in performances among males and Anjali Anand is superb as Paaro. Ravi Kishen has a different kind of humor from both Laapataa Ladies and Maamla Legal Hai, proof if needed of his versatility as an actor, for he is excellent.
From the songs, Saree works within the film. The background score is average. The technical side is upscale except for the nitpick mentioned above. The script will find its audience as it has every kind of humor in its menu. And perhaps that is what works for the film, which I am told, is doing well regardless of the intellectuals drubbing it.
Rating: ***
Maruti International’s, Ajay Devgn Ffilms’ T-Series Films’ & Panorama Studios’ Dhamaal 4 Produced by: Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Anand Pandit & Kumar Mangat Pathak Directed by: Indra Kumar Written by:Paritosh Painter, Balvinder Singh Suri, Bunty Rathore & Ved Prakkash Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Sanju Rathod &G-Spxrk (Gaurav Rathod), Guru Randhawa, Gill Machhrai & Rony Ajnali and Aditya Dev & Neelkamal Singh Starring: Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Anjali Anand, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Ravi Kishen, Jaaved Jafferi, Sanjay Mishra, Upendra Limaye, Vijay Patkar, Brijendra Kala, Akshara Padwal, Riyansh Dabhi, Rajesh Balwani, Namrata Sambherao, Bunty Rathore, Bharat Bhatia, Saurabh Tatoba & others Sp. App.: Esha Gupta
