It’s an unbeatable fact that we, the moviegoers, have deprived many wonderful films of their due. Dhamaal was no doubt a commercial success but is long forgotten when the fact that it was a complete laugh riot and in a league of its own. I was totally spellbound to see how the writers and directors presented one witty-funny scene after another. It was sure no easy job. Double Dhamaal too has its share of smart and outrageously hilarious jokes and moments. However, the big problem is that it’s a ‘sequel’. Hence, comparisons are bound to arise with the first part. And that’s where Double Dhamaal seems inferior. It gets stagnated in the middle of the second hour and the abrupt climax is sure to have its adversaries. Still a worthy watch for the memorable punches and performances!
The story of the movie: After donating their loot in a charity show (in Dhamaal), the 4 jokers – Roy (Riteish Deshmukh), Adi (Jaaved Jaafery), Manav (Arshad Warsi) and Boman (Ashish Chowdhry) – are back to square one. They continue trying their stupid antics in order to get quick money but it backfires. One fine day, they come across their arch rival, Kabir (Sanjay Dutt). The corrupt inspector has suddenly become a wealthy businessman, owning a big business group, bungalow and a Merc. However, he’s hiding a secret from the world that could bring him back to where he started. And the jokers learn about it and they blackmail him into making them his business partners. Kabir has no choice but to agree. However, the four don’t know that Kabir and his partners-in-crime Kiya (Kangna Ranaut) and Kamini (Mallika Sherawat) have a hidden agenda that would give the jokers the biggest shock of their lives. To find out who wins, head for Double Dhamaal!
Unlike Golmaal series (where there’s a new story/setting in every part) or Bheja Fry 2 (where some of the memorable characters of part 1 found no place in the sequel), Double Dhamaal is a sequel in real terms as the film begins at exactly the same place where the first part ended. All the 5 main actors are retained with the addition of few new characters too. The film keeps you hooked for most of the portions because of the extremely witty and equally funny moments and dialogues. In fact, some of these were so so funny that I’m still laughing! At the same time, your respect enhances for the script and dialogue writers (who often don’t get the appreciation they deserve) for coming up with such sequences! Kudos!
While the first hour is indeed ‘Double Dhamaal’ in all respects, it’s the second half where the film disappoints. Though the Riteish-Kangna romantic track commences well (the gorilla kissing scene was terrific!), it gets boring after a point. Ditto for the scene where the four guys create a rift between Sanju and Kangna-Mallika. However, the film picks with the song Jalebi Bai and the casino robbery sequence. The final confrontation between Sanju and jokers and the twist at this juncture was too good. However, the abrupt ending again spoils the joy. I wish the writers would have used their wonderful brains and come up with some hilarious moments at this point rather than just concluding the film suddenly with an indication that part 3 is in the pipeline.
Talking about the performances, Sanjay Dutt comes up with a very natural but restrained performance which gets overshadowed because of the four jokers! Riteish Deshmukh yet again proves that his comic timing is unbeatable! He also gets a chance to showcase his mimicry scenes. His imitation of Sanjeev Kumar and Aamir Khan is just outstanding! Jaaved Jaafery was the next best and it’s great to see how he comes up with a performance like this with ease. Some of the best dialogues are reserved for him! Arshad Warsi too was efficient and looked damn cute as the sardar! Ashish Chowdhry doesn’t get much scope in the first hour but scores when he comes in the disguise of a chimp and later as a woman!
Mallika Sherawat was sizzling and raises the temperature by many notches with her Jalebi Bai song! Kangna Ranaut looked and acted weird in the first hour but got better from the point her romantic track commenced. Satish Kaushik (as Batabhai) was just too good! Easily one of his most memorable performances! Zakir Hussain and others also play their part well. Asrani, who rocked in Dhamaal, was missing in Double Dhamaal.
Anand Raaj Anand’s music was quite alright. However, Jalebi Bai was a brilliantly composed and well shot too! It was good to see lensman Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography after a hiatus and as usual, he doesn’t disappoint. The locales of Macau are wonderfully captured!
Now to the winners! Tushar Hiranandani comes up with a story that defies logic but nevertheless makes for some great humour and drama. Hope it wasn’t copied/inspired from the West! The creative duo, Farhad-Sajid, as mentioned before, have penned some awesome lines that are sure to raise laughs! Hiranandani’s script compliments the dialogues well. And director Indra Kumar executes the script very well and does almost justice to it. If only the film had a better ending and had an equally hilarious second hour as the first, Double Dhamaal would’ve been in a different league.
Some of the best scenes:
The four friends robbing patrons in a bar
The four friends record Kabir’s MMS and blackmail him
The four friends scare away the initial aspiring partners of Kabir (terrific scene # 1)
‘Black gold’ discovered on Kabir’s plot (terrific scene # 2)
Batabhai’s pravachan
The four friends mistake blood for sauce and dip fries in it (terrific scene # 3)
Gutter water comes out of Kabir’s plot (terrific scene # 4)
Chimpanzee gets turned on (terrific scene # 5)
The song ‘Jalebi Bai’
The jokers escaping Batabhai’s wrath (terrific scene # 6)
Kabir confronts the four friends in the finale
On the whole, Double Dhamaal is enriched with some extremely hilarious and witty situations that is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. Sadly, it loses track at few places in the second hour and doesn’t turn out to be as good as Dhamaal. Nevertheless, it’s worth giving it a watch for the gags, funny moments, performances and Jalebi Bai!
My rating- ½