Mastii 4 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Three unhappy husbands plan to leave their boring marriages. Their bold scheme offers liberation and thrill, but the aftermath takes surprising turns.

My Take – Released in 2004, the Indra Kumar directed Masti (2004) worked well enough as breezy and mildly naughty comedy that relied heavily on the chemistry between Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani to keep things engaging. And then came Grand Masti (2013), which retained the trio and pushed the definition of being a sex comedy as further as it could, finding immense box office numbers in return.

But while success eluded the third film, Great Grand Masti (2016), now, almost a decade later, hoping to bank in the ongoing nostalgia factor, a new installment has arrived with a promise to once again deliver a no-holds-barred attempt for aficionados of this genre.

Unfortunately, with the reins of the franchise now in the hands of director Milap Milan Zaveri (the writer of the first two films), the new film not only brings puns and madness, but also a cringe-heavy ride powered more by loudness than humor.

Sure, it brings in a few chuckles here and there, but they are too scattered. The film wants to be a certain kind of old school adult comedy vibe, but the execution feels outdated, the naughty jokes tired and the spark, present in its predecessors, is mostly absent. And by the time it reaches its climax you are not frustrated because it is a silly film, but because it chose to work as cringe parade that confused sheer chaos for actual comedy.

The story follows three friends who stay in a neighborhood in the UK and are trapped in joyless marriages. Amar (Riteish Deshmukh) is married to Bindiya (Elnaaz Norouzi), who is more focused on doling out charity than her husband. Meet (Vivek Oberoi) is married to Anchal (Shreya Sharma), who is so possessive about her husband that she even tracks his blood flow through an app. Prem (Aftab Shivdasani) is married to Geeta (Rihu Singh), who is more interested in celebrating every religion and accordingly does rituals as well as cooks food. Simply told, the three are suffering mainly because their physical needs aren’t being met.

However, things take a turn when all six go to celebrate the 10th wedding anniversary of their happily married couple, Kaamraj (Arshad Warsi) and Menka (Nargis Fakhri). And later on, are told about the concept of love visa, the secret of the couple’s happiness. In which every year, the wife grants the husband a week of complete freedom to do anything he wants on the philandering side! Believing it to be a great idea, the trio demands the same from their wives, and to their delight, their wives accept. But what follows is a full-blown circus of mistaken affairs, wild confrontations and shocking revelations.

Agreed, you enter a film like this one with expectations calibrated to zero. It is not meant to be deep or layered, but just be a silly laugh fest. And writer-director Zaveri and co-writer Farrokh Dhondy seem determined to cater to this audience.

This new installment too maintains the hallmarks of the franchise, like Prem’s sudden pronouncement of an ‘Idea!’ and a social message to vindicate whatever titillating shades we have seen, and the liberal skin-show. Of course, it also includes the kind of slapstick humor that goes well past the Housefull franchise levels. Yet what unfolds somehow just falls well below those expectations. This steady decline becomes the central rhythm of the film.

By the time you approach the halfway mark you are almost impressed by the consistency with which it keeps sabotaging itself. Even the humor is more miss than hit, even when the errors arrive in bulk. While characters breaking the fourth wall and the meta humor initially leads to a chuckle, the constant recycling becoming tiring soon.

Particularly as set piece after set piece collapses under the weight of its own confusion. To make matters worse, since marriage jokes, frustrated husbands, nagging wives, and middle-aged male fantasies remain an easy formula in Indian comedy, the film ends with a promise of a fifth installment.

Performance wise, Riteish Deshmukh, being well-known for his comedic chops, is genuinely committed to his role. Bringing a sincerity that script like this one does not deserve. Aftab Shivdasani too stays with the tone of the franchise, and manages to bring in some of the good laughs. However, Vivek Oberoi (also a co-producer here), seems lost here. Not only does he look too old for his part, he seems to be obviously struggling to keep up with his co-stars.

The ladies, Elnaaz Norouzi, Ruhi Singh and Shreya Sharma, look gorgeous on screen, but their turns are strictly alright. In supporting roles, Tusshar Kapoor and Shaad Randhawa are good, but the writing never lets them take full benefit of their ridiculous roles. Nishant Singh Malkani is hamming all the way. Arshad Warsi and Nargis Fakhri are wasted in obvious cash grab roles. On the whole, ‘Mastiii 4‘ is a damp squib comedy that is too outdated in its approach and execution.