The third installment in the Dhamaal franchise, Total Dhamaal is all about a hidden booty of 50 crore which leads to a mad chase.A bunch of eccentric and money hungry and greedy characters are all on a mad mad race to get to the booty!
Director Indra Kumar’s Total Dhamaal was as expected; loud! Yes Total Dhamaal is a typically loud comedy with some very predictable gags, punches, scenes and even dialogues but the film does manage to entertain to a certain extent. What I liked was the way the film opens with the title song introducing each one of the characters.However, the plot could have been better and so could the computer graphics.
The first half moves faster and is better than the second half which has been filled with too many characters.The film could have been a great comedy given the ensemble cast but unfortunately it fails to be so.The film has everything from wild animals to cars ramming, falling bridges and crashing helicopters much like Rohit Shetty’s films but it lacks the charm of a comic adventure, making the film a loud comedy instead.
However, it’s the actors who save the film and the flaws with their performances, especially Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit who play a bickering couple on the verge of a divorce. The two still share a great on screen chemistry, Anil is at his hilarious best as the typical harassed husband with a Gujarati accent and Madhuri’s comic timings only compliments it.I loved the scene where she explains why she called for a vet instead of a doctor to examine Anil! The scene is hilarious.
Ajay Devgn’s character has its own limitations but he still manages to make the audience laugh. Riteish Deshmukh as the pan-chewing ruffian Lallan is super funny especially his scenes with Johnny Lever. Javed Jaffrey and Arshad Warsi who were part of the earlier installments, were better in the earlier Dhamaals. Their scenes in Total Dhamaal are pretty slapstick. What I found most annoying was Sanjay Mishra’s character. He keeps using the word ‘bro’ repeatedly when he refers to Ajay Devgn’s character Radhe, so much so that you almost feel like taping his mouth! While actors like Boman Irani who is brilliant at comic roles has been wasted in the film because of poorly written characters.
Go watch Total Dhamaal without expecting some kind of a deep, sensible film. It’s an out and out mindless comedy so leave the mind at home when you go to watch this one and just enjoy the film!
