Cast: Ajay Devgan, Tusshar Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Kareena Kapoor
Direction: Rohit Shetty
Golmaal Returns alternates between drop-dead hilarious and drop-dead dull.
Much in the tradition of popular Hollywood spoof films like Naked Gun and Scary Movie, Golmaal Returns works best when it’s taking digs at other films or film stars; Tashan, Black, Saawariya, they’re all in the firing line.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali seems to be a favourite whipping boy, and even Sharman Joshi – who starred in the earlier Golmaal film but didn’t return for this one – isn’t spared.
More than once, the jokes are directed at the very actors starring in this film – the infamous Kareena Kapoor tattoo, Ajay Devgan’s flop films, even Tusshar Kapoor’s sister’s TV serials. Nothing is sacred and everyone is fair game.
If only director Rohit Shetty and his writers had succeeded in sticking to a consistent tone, Golmaal Returns might have been a sparkling comedy; truth is, it’s a film that’s very funny in parts, but plain boring in others.
For one, the film has no real script to speak of, at best a skeletal plot. As a result, the director often relies on juvenile gags and slapstick jokes to keep the momentum going, but it’s hard to laugh at scenes in which characters stick scissors into each others’ backsides, or torture one another by electrocuting their nipples.
I think it’s fair to say that after stumbling through the first half with puerile jokes that have been done to death, Golmaal Returns comes into its own only after the half-way mark.
Expectedly, much of the film’s humour is derived from the actors and their interactions. Prepare to laugh your guts out in that scene in which the film’s four male stars go drag, with Arshad Warsi repeating the Black gag.
Of the four, it’s unquestionably Tusshar Kapoor who emerges the star of the film, having perfected the art of miming his way in and out of tricky situations, cast as he is once again as the mute fellow. Neither the other male leads nor any of the four female leads can hold a candle to Tusshar as far as comic timing is concerned.
Golmaal Returns has many moments of pure unadulterated humour. Sure it’s got its share of distasteful jokes, gay stereotypes, and mocking the physically challenged. Because the film never takes itself too seriously, you’d forgive even that if so much of it weren’t so damn predictable. But because it’s only half good and because it often tries too hard to get a laugh out of you, it is in the end only an average film.
I’ll go with two out of five for director Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Returns. Watch it, yes, but here’s a helpful tip – go in after intermission, that way you’ll only catch the best bits.
Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)
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