Golmaal Again (2017) Review!!!!

Synopsis – The gang encounters with some spiritual bodies and finds out the truth about the Jamnadas Orpahnage where they were brought up.

My Take – While this weekend saw Bollywood release the much hyped Aamir Khan film Secret Superstar with a strong backing of positive reviews, looking at the BO stats, it seems like myself, a major chunk of the audience, decided to opt for director Rohit Shetty‘s fourth installment of his successful comedy franchise. A thinking audience member would definitely question my judgment, but like most average movie going audience, after a stressful week, I would prefer picking out some insane blockbuster to watch over anything else just to allow my brain cells to heal over. Being a perfect pick for the weekend, the tagline ‘No Logic, Only Magic’ kind of explains itself, so best to keep your brain at home when you go out to watch this one! Should we hope for any signs of intelligence or depth in the script or the execution of it? No chance, but then, who cares? This comedy series has been responsible for entertaining millions of people ever since its first installment Golmaal: Fun Unlimited released back in 2006, and introduced us to Ajay Devgn, known mainly for its dramatic roles as someone with an excellent comic timing, while of course laying the foundation for Rohit Shetty‘s very successful directorial career. Sure, one would question for how long can you tolerate the insanity or irrationality shown in the films? Well, that depends on everyone’s individual taste or preference; personally, I have enjoyed all the Golmaal films, including this latest addition. Returning seven years after its last entry, this fourth installment too did not promise a thick plot or a story, but instead offers everything a mass audience has come to the theatre looking for – rib-tickling dialogues to a hoard of stars pulling of crazy antics in one single film. On that front, this Rohit Shetty film delivers what it promises! While it is a tad predictable, this Diwali Bonanza is still a lively & fun watch with some genuine laughs that works for the most part.

Narrated from the point of view of Anna Mathew (Tabu), a librarian and a ghost whisperer, the story follows Gopal (Ajay Devgn), Madhav (Arshad Warsi), Laxman 1 (Shreyas Talpade), Laxman 2 (Kunal Khemmu) and Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor). Growing up in the Jamnadas Orphanage in Ooty, since their adolescence, Madhav, Lucky, Laxman 2 have been constantly at loggerheads with Gopal and Laxman 1, as Gopal is petrified of darkness and ghosts and the three of them love to take advantage of his fears and annoy him. Gopal, in turn, being a hot-headed easily gets angry leading him to being involved in scuffles. One night, after a serious tussle the five end up leaving the orphanage, and move towards the city where they grow up to become rival land-sharks. While, Gopal, prompted on by Laxman, beats up people to claim plots for Bubbly Bhai (Sanjay Mishra), the other three work for Vasooli Bhai (Mukesh Tiwari) and stage hauntings to scare residents out of prime properties. Despite still enticing each other, the news of the passing of their foster parent Jamnadas (Uday Tikekar), reunites the five as they head back to their orphanage, where they meet Anna and are introduced to Damini (Parineeti Chopra). Unknown to them, the five move into haunted bungalow next to the orphanage, thereby setting off events with all signs pointing towards a sinister plot and their past. Just like a party-hopper bouncing out of one venue to enter another in a near-inebriated state and starting to dance without having to go through the initial awkward stage of introductions, the five characters seem to have walked out of the earlier part of the franchise and sauntered into this one bringing along with them their standard form of over-the-top comedy, fast-paced action sequences, colorful locales, witty dialogues replete with puns and innuendoes and spontaneous performances As I mentioned above, director Rohit Shetty yet again succeeds in creating a make-believe fantasy world with eye popping candy, lots of gloss and imaginary characters that once again engage you completely. Like his previous film, here too he keeps everything grand & consistently high on energy, never losing any form of momentum, even when it gets overloaded at times. Even though, the film begins slowly, it quickly picks up the pace and maintains the momentum right up to the time when the intermission card roles in. While the actual plot kicks in only in the second half, director Rohit Shetty keeps the film breezy & funny thanks to the excellent banter among the leads along-with their over-the-top yet likable supporting characters. In earlier installments of Golmaal, director Shetty had paid tributes to selected Bollywood icons, for example, Golmaal 3 was themed around Mithun Chakraborty and his signature disco based music & moves from the earlier part of his career, this time around, the focus is on Nana Patekar‘s signature banter, and the dialogue writers and Patekar himself seemed to have a ball with it, making his sequences the best part of the film. The camaraderie and comic-timing of the actors apart, it is the writing that stands out, whether it is punning on words, films, or songs, the script keeps you tickled sufficiently, even though some of the situations seem trite and gimmicky. Particularly worth mentioning is the lullaby “Jamnalal Ka Nandlala, Laxman ka Gopala hai” sung by Shreyas Talpade’s lisping Laxman, which is hilarious. Plus despite being a film about ghosts, director Shetty keeps the film devoid of scares and goes full throttle at the entertainment quotient, mainly depending on the on-screen his actors’ comic timing.

The film is also visually very appealing and all credit for the same goes to cinematographer Jomon T John and art-director, Madhur Madhavan. Production value of the film is quite rich which is evident thoroughly. Production design team members Swapnil Bhalerao, Madhur Madhavan and Tajamul Shaikh have done a brilliant job. It’s quite evident that the makers have spent a quite an amount on the film which just shows in every frame. Coming to the negative aspects of the film, the second-hour, where the story kicks in, is strangely enough, a little weak. Most of the second half of the film is devoted to explaining the newly introduced story so the laughs are rather sporadic. It is pretty obvious from almost the second scene who the apparition is, yet the writers force in hints to form a grand reveal which despite being a funny sequence, could have been better handled. After establishing this vast ensemble, director Shetty also introduces us to the sinister plot which centers around two avaricious builders, played by Prakash Raj & Neil Nitin Mukesh, as a result, the goings-on don’t remain as funny as they should’ve and nor does the revenge angle offer any novelty, it’s all been-there-seen-that stuff. Almost all of the last hour is devoted to freeing the disquiet spirit and bringing the baddies to book. Every now and again, Johnny Lever pops up and breaks the seriousness of the dark plot with his brand of slapstick humor. The screenplay suffers with a surplus of this characters and repetition as each one needs to be convinced of the presence of a ghost. The entire part of the boys trying to scare Prakash Raj also feels long and could’ve been funnier. The climax could’ve been better – with some constructive participation by the boys. The way it is penned makes you wonder why the five were needed in the first place. Yet, thankfully despite this short comings, the film managed to remain an overall fun watch, because there is enough to laugh & enjoy, and that’s mostly thanks to Sajid-Farhad‘s funny and at times laugh-out-loud dialogue. One of the film’s best scenes is when the 5 leading-men get into a long prolonged fight over a Samosa, that leads to much chaos & a sequence where the ghost possesses Prakash Raj‘s character leading him to perform a mujra in front of the whole orphanage. Performance-Wise, the five principal characters of retain their superb chemistry and timing. Ajay Devgn as Gopal is his usual self is terrific. As a man who’s brave in the day, but a complete faint-hearted at night & petrified of ghosts, Devgn raises some great laughs. Tabu brings a lot of dignity to her role as the film’s narrator and backbone. As always, Arshad Warsi is expectedly competent. Shreyas Talpade constantly steals the thunder from the gang with his lisp and consistently funny demeanor. Kunal Khemu as the other Laxman is a treat to watch and his energy brings alive his character on screen. Tusshar Kapoor as Lucky stands out in the scene where he is infused with the spirit speaking in Nana Patekar voice, while also continuing his funny mute act. Parineeti Chopra looks pretty and fits well into the film, although she has nothing much to offer by way of histrionics. Johnny Lever being his talented and versatile self and along with Sanjay Mishra, Mukesh Tiwari and Vrajesh Hirjee never fails to bring in the laughs even in the film’s dullest moments. Prakash Raj and Neil Nitin Mukesh don’t get prominent parts, but they try to leave a mark with whatever they have been given. On the whole, ‘Golmaal Again’ is a fun film, which uses it entertainment galore and situations, though devoid of reality, to evoke constant laughter.