Golmaal 3 - Movie Review

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade.
Director: Rohit Shetty
Producer: Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd
Music: Pritam
Released: November 5th 2010

Brand GOLMAAL is back again. Its equity continues to soar upwards. Naturally, every film of this franchise carries the burden of humungous expectations. Touted as India's first-ever trilogy, GOLMAAL 3 [G-3], the third installment of GOLMAAL and GOLMAAL RETURNS, promises to mesmerize, tickle your funny bone and entertain moviegoers of all ages. G-3 promises to be bigger, better, funnier and far more entertaining and amusing than the first two parts.

There's a flipside of having a thriving brand. No matter how hard you try, comparisons with the earlier parts are inevitable. The question everyone's keen to ask is, does it supersede the forerunners in terms of entertainment? The best thing about G-3 is that it lives up to its undertaking of amusing you from the word go, till the very culmination. From inception to conclusion, save for a few lax moments, G-3 is high on fun and entertainment quotient.

By now one is well versed with Rohit Shetty's funda: Come, have a blast at the movies. Frankly, there's no word called 'logic' in Shetty's cinematic dictionary and the moviegoer too has attuned himself/herself to Shetty's high-on-entertainment laughathons. I've often said that comedy is serious business and a director attempting one has to walk a tightrope. But Shetty has mastered the art by now and G-3 proves that when it comes to entertainers, he's amongst the best in the business.

Final word? G-3 rocks! It may not go down in history as the best side-splitting entertainer ever made, but it should go down in history as the first trilogy that would pass the audience test with flying colors. G-3 raises the bar for G-4, what say Mr. Shetty?

G-3 highlights the story of hatred between two bunch of siblings. Ajay Devgn [Gopal] lives with his brother Shreyas Talpade [Laxman], mother Ratna Pathak Shah [Geeta aka Guddi] and best friend Kareena Kapoor [Daboo]. Their world collides with another trio, Arshad Warsi [Madhav], Tusshar Kapoor [Lucky] and Kunal Khemu [Laxman].

Arshad, Tusshar and Kunal's father Mithun Chakraborty [Pritam] and Ajay and Shreyas' mother Ratna Pathak Shah decide to rekindle their relationship and with Kareena's persuasion even get married. But there's a problem: The kids detest each other. To complicate matters further, there's a thief Johnny Lever [Puppy] and his henchmen [Vrajesh Hirjee and Sanjay Mishra] and a necklace that's hidden somewhere.

Two things. One, before watching G-3, I had felt that focusing on eight main characters would lead to chaos only as there would be no scope for character development. But I was proven completely wrong because each character is well etched out and by the time the movie concludes, you don't feel that the show belongs to 'x', while 'y' was sidelined. The movie belongs to everyone!

Two, it's said that G-3 is inspired by Basu Chatterjee's KHATTA MEETHA [1978; starring Ashok Kumar and Pearl Padamsee], Umesh Mehra's HAMARE TUMHARE [1979; starring Sanjeev Kumar and Raakhee] and the Hollywood film YOURS, MINE AND OURS [1968], wherein an elderly couple, having their own kids, decide to live under one roof. Rohit Shetty and his team of writers [screenplay: Yunus Sajawal; script consultant: Robin Bhatt] may be inspired by these films, but they have given G-3 a completely different flavor and dimension altogether. The writing, I wish to forewarn, defies logic, sense and reason, therefore one has to go with the flow. It has a skeletal plot, but is packed with jokes, jibes, pranks and of course, stunts/action [Rohit Shetty's movies are incomplete without cars being blown to smithereens].

The casting of Johnny Lever as the absentminded and scatterbrained thief is a master stroke. The writing, execution and portrayal of this part must've been an arduous task, but what comes across on screen is remarkable. In fact, this track would work wonders with the audience, especially those who swear by the Johnny Lever brand of humour. Johnny's sequence on the water scooter, to cite an instance, is sure to bring the house down. Besides the sequences involving Johnny Lever, I'd like to single out yet another sequence that shows the siblings threatening each other. It's a sequence without words but a super background score [Sanjoy Chowdhury], with the siblings trying to threaten one another with every possible thing in the house - be it a cactus plant or a rose, be it a tomato or a pumpkin, while their parents [Mithun and Ratna] watch HUM SAATH-SAATH HAIN on TV. Also, Kareena's pet dog called Facebook trying to get the bone out of Mithun's pocket is bizarre, but will be loved by the hoi polloi. Prepare to laugh your guts out in the above-mentioned scenes.

Any hiccups? The climax could have been a little more imaginative. It follows the trademark Priyadarshan style of getting together the entire cast, including supporting actors to villain sidekicks, for the finale. No issues with that, but a more innovative and ingenious finale would have only proven the icing on the cake.

Relying more on treatment than content, G-3 has the by-now-famous stamp of Rohit Shetty all over it. The director gets ample help from writer Yunus Sajawal and dialogue writers Farhad-Sajid and Bunty Rathore [additional dialogues]. The screenplay doesn't give you time to think, while the dialogues are truly funny at most times. As the third installment in the GOLMAAL series, G-3 has a lot to live up to and so does the soundtrack [Pritam]. 'Golmaal' is fun, while 'Ale' moves at a feverish pace. Cinematography [Dudley] is perfect, while the action scenes [Jai Singh Nijjar] are exciting.

Like I pointed out earlier, every actor in the film contributes his/her bit in making this fun ride enjoyable. Yet, I'd like to single out Ajay, who goes for a grungy makeover. The rugged style, diamond ear studs, tattoos and cropped hair suits the hyper character that he portrays. He's excellent. Another well-written character is of Kareena, who fits in so well with the boys. She looks every bit the tomboy she is expected to be. She's matchless. Tusshar gives a brand new dimension to the character he has learnt so well to portray. He is sure to have the audience in splits with his class act. I'd also like to single out the emotional sequence, which Tusshar performs with gusto. Arshad oozes sufficient confidence to carry off the role, while Shreyas and Kunal are wonderful as well.

Mithun Chakraborty and Ratna Pathak Shah are genuinely lovable, while Johnny Lever is simply fantastic. Ditto for his henchmen, enacted by Vrajesh Hirjee and Sanjay Mishra. Mukesh Tiwari, Murli Sharma, Vijay Patkar, Viju Khote and Ashwini Kalsekar lend very good support. Prem Chopra is superb in a cameo.

On the whole, GOLMAAL 3 is an ideal fun ride with thrice the enjoyment and gratification, thrice the magic and thrice the hilarity. Go on, have a blast and make this Diwali thrice more entertaining for you. An out-and-out entertainer, it's sure to light up the celebratory festive mood.