Total Dhamaal review: Total nonsense in name of comedy

It's a very curious and strange thing- a complex society with abundance of emotions as we are, why aren't we able to make a good, sensible and subtle comedy? Does performing comedy only amount to create senseless situations, nonsensical dialogues and a superficial story?

Watching Total Dhamaal makes you wonder. Another irony is-- be it comedy or drama or action, all corrupt characters keep talking about corruption in an indignant tone but keep indulging in it too!

The first Dhamaal, which was a lift from It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, was a ticklish comedy of the absurd with very funny sequences which were not only inspired by the Hollywood flick but also had some quite desi ones.

But this Dhamaal, which again is a lift from the first and second one, is a completely thaki hui comedy.

The story is of course almost the same. There are rupees fifty crores hidden in a zoo and various characters with various backgrounds want to grab the money. This causes a lot of so called humorous situations which after a point start irritating you.

But it was a pleasure to see Johnny Lever in a cameo as a Bengali helicopter driver.

Vijay Patkar is an amazing comedian with a brilliant timing and a very expressive face. He was brilliant in the first Dhamaal too. Why doesn't he do more films, I wonder.

Mahesh Manjrekar impresses in a cameo again. The yester-years popular duo- Anil Kapur and Madhuri Dixit as constantly quarreling couple give a brilliant performance in bits and pieces but mostly sound superficial.

If you come to think of it, the zoo animals in a very brief appearance have outperformed most of the actors even if it’s mostly because of special effects.

Then there are of course references glorifying PM Modi and his Gujarati origins, that further put you off. (Only our sweet gods know why Bollywood is so much in awe of PM Modi and the colour saffron, that every film has some or the other reference to them, or are they simply scared?)

Well, it will be best to summarise the film like a dialogue from the film- “Ye hum jante hain ki film thakeli hai, filmmaker janta hai ki film thakeli hai, par audience thodi na janti hai ki film thakeli hai!!” (We know that the film is a bore, the filmmaker knows that the film is a bore but audience doesnt know it!!)

So, if you want to take your children for a some short bouts of nonsensical laughter in an otherwise boring film, go and watch it. Otherwise, it will be better to skip this dhamaal totally.

You can also read:

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‘Why Cheat India’ review: Good film but wonder why ‘why’ was added to the title?