No brainer comedies are indeed a genre of films and we have enjoyed films like Andaaz Apna Apna and even the first part of the Dhamaal franchise. While the above-mentioned movies had crisp writing and great performances, the new Indra Kumar movie Total Dhamaal is a perfect example of how lazy writing can make a mess of this genre that needs to be handled very carefully. With silly dialogue jokes only favoring the film occasionally, I found myself constantly staring at that one person in the theater who was laughing hard at all the mediocre gimmicks happening on screen.
So at the time of demonetization, a guy gets Rs 50 crore in cash. And after a few days, the same person becomes the victim of a plane crash. Before he had his last breath, he decided to share the information about where the money is kept to a few random people (idiots). And the movie Total Dhamaal is about the journey of these people to get to that huge amount of money at the earliest.
Well, if you have seen the first part of Dhamaal franchise, you might be probably wondering isn’t this the same story of part 1. Yes, it is pretty much a repetition of what we saw in the first film. And what they have tweaked is the cast of the film. While the first movie was the moderate budget laughter riot, this one is a big budget bonanza with mediocre visual effects and jokes that can at times make sane people go insane. I wasn’t looking for logic in the movie as I knew what kind of film Dhamaal was. But Total Dhamaal writers seem to have no clue why the first movie worked. They have just written scenes that are usually called as scene order. And the racist jokes in the movie against Bengalis and South Indians show how pathetic the movie is.
Ajay Devgn is in his Golmaal mode with people around him doing the comedy and he just reacting to it with the same old static expression. Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey, Sanjay Mishra,
Indra Kumar seems to have lost his grip over understanding comedy. He started off Masti and he sort of ruined the whole franchise with the last one being the Great Grand Masti. Similar is the case with Dhamaal. He made an impressive start with the rip off of It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world and with the third installment in it coming your way the intention is not to make a clean comedy and it is more about cashing on the success of the previous films. I am not saying I didn’t laugh at all during the film. There are discrete moments of dialogue humor for sure. But most of the set pieces in the movie are ridiculously silly. If I start elaborating on each I will have to narrate the whole film. Looking at the climax, I would have loved to say this movie may work for kids. But then I think about those horrible racist stereotypes from which we should save the next generation. The visual effects of the movie are terrible and I think it was an assignment given to students who are learning CGI.
Aspiring or struggling filmmakers shouldn’t try to watch this movie. Because I was constantly thinking about the money and effort that might have got spent to create this trashy film and it really scared me and felt angered about the arrogance of the makers of this movie. Total Dhamaal is a no brainer made for people who hate the concept of having a brain.
Rating: 1.5/5
The new Indra Kumar movie Total Dhamaal is a perfect example of how lazy writing can make a mess of this genre that needs to be handled very carefully.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
