REVIEW: DOUBLE DHAMAAL

DOUBLE DHAMAAL
If you are a film purist and/or a specimen who cannot put your grey cells to sleep for two hours and twenty minutes, I am certain about one thing: you must skip further reading on this movie: DOUBLE DHAMAAL. If you are not, then you may read further, although I cannot guarantee the resultant action from your side.
Last week it was BHEJA FRY 2 and as the next in the line of sequels hitting the screens, DOUBLE DHAMAAL has the advantage of a lowered expectation following the damp nature of BHEJA FRY 2. This is very crucial since an average movie could be considered above average or below average depending on the type of production house and the person wielding the megaphone. Director Indra Kumar came onto the Bollywood scene in the early nineties and unleashed a couple of quick hits which were also quite enjoyable to watch, although no one would have termed any of these as classics: DIL, BETA, ISHQ. RAJA. All these movies had good popular songs; can anyone forget the Madhuri Dixit based song: Dhak Dhak Karne Laga? And he went into hibernation and made some non-descript films till he surfaced in 2007 with DHAMAAL. Although loosely based on a British comedy, the antics of the four lead actors, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey, Riteish Deshmukh and Ashish Choudhry supported by their nemesis Sanjay Dutt managed to create funny situations at regular intervals and so as a whole, this inane venture was in fact inanely comical and funny.
DOUBLE DHAMAAL tries to repeat the same formula with the same lead artistes and adds extras to make sure that it clicks. You therefore have two heroines, Mallika Sherawat and Kangna Ranaut, an item number featuring Mallika as Jalebi Bai and half of the film being set in Macau. And to a large extent, it succeeds in recreating the incredulous situations and causes the audience to break out in laughter at frequent intervals. What unfortunately saps the film are a few avoidable double meaning innuendos, needless references to skin colour and skin show and some unwanted buffoonery. Therefore we have Mallika making no impression with her Jalebi Bai item number, a Character Dheela type of setting in the opening parts feeling real DHEELA and tasteless remarks on challenged children and persons ( a very avoidable reference to Aamir Khan’s classic TAARE ZAMEEN PAR) causing discomfiture in civilised audiences.
Kangna Ranaut, for a change looks fresh in her role, just as Sanjay Dutt looks more jaded. The movie belongs to the four lead actors and they carry the film on their shoulders. Only, the result compared to the DHAMAAL of 2007 is not DOUBLE DHAMAAL; it is more like 80% DHAMAAL; but that would not be a good title, would it?
RATING: 3 out of 5
June 24th, 2011