Golmaal Movie Review: A Rib-Tickling Laugh Riot

When your objective is clear from the onset, and when you don?t veer from that objective (save on a limited 2-3 occasions) the results are usually quite successful and the same holds true for Rohit Shetty?s Golmaal. His objective is to make people laugh, to entertain, and overall to create an enjoyable experience; his objective is not to create landmark cinema or an award winning affair; he does not try to create a typical ?masala? affair by incorporating a little bit of everything and leaving the audience with nothing; he wants to make you laugh, and that he does quite successfully.

The film really does not have a strong screenplay or story to boost of; however what it does have are very well etched characters who move from one hilarious scene to another, scenes which are often not even linked or required, but scenes which are absolutely rib-tickling. The story of the film can be summed up in a sentence or two, but as mentioned earlier, here the intention is just to make the viewer laugh; sometimes through witty one liners, sometimes through smart aleck under the breathe retorts and sometimes just though plain, slapstick comedy, without resorting to an inkling of vulgarity. This film is a case in point that even though a comedy does not require a strong story line, if the characters are well defined and the scenes well written, and if the actors bring life to the characters and deliver the lines with the required timing and chemistry which is the basic requirement of a comedy, the film can work as is proven by Golmaal.

Golmaal is about 4 friends who have nothing better to do in life other then con people in order to ensure that they have enough money in their pockets to enjoy life on a day to day basis. When they get kicked out of Laxman (Sharma Joshi?s) hostel the foursome of Gopal (Ajay Devagan) the gang leader much to the dismay of the others, Madhav (Arshad Warsi in a superb performance), Laxman, the relatively more well behaved and highly ethical of the lot and Lucky (Tushar Kapoor) the one who can not speak and yet has some of the best lines, in the process of evading a money lender, they land up at the bungalow of a blind elderly couple (Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukherjee) and pose as their only grandson from America. However, their well planned execution goes astray and instead of 1 of them being the grandson while the remaining 3 are to be silent occupants, the grandson Sameer enters as a combination of Laxman and Gopal, wherein Laxman is the body and Gopal is the voice.

There are numerous scenes which will not only have the viewer reeling with laughter, but scenes which will remain with them even after leaving the theatre. Madhav?s take on Rani Mukherji in Black is an absolute laugh riot and is one scene which the viewer will definitely remember. The black and white to colour song picturized mainly on Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukherjee, is enjoyable due to its treatment as well as the fact that it takes a dig at the films of yesteryears, otherwise the song actually acts as more of a hindrance.

Ajay Devgan seems out of place in an attempt to create a ?cool-dude? persona although he excels in his scenes with Arshad Warsi, where their timing and chemistry is clearly impeccable and they both play off each other very well. Ajay?s old man act in front of the dean is also a treat to watch and will for sure be remembered as one of the most memorable scenes of the film. However if there is any one actor who steals the show it is Arshad Warsi; his timing, facial expressions, reactions and dialogue delivery are perfect to the tee. Sharman Joshi as the ?bechara? of the group excels and his role as the voice of Lucky will evoke strong laughter from the audience. The surprise package of the lot is Tushar Kapoor, who technically has no dialogues in the film (since he is mute) and hence he uses his body language and expressions to make-up for the lack of dialogues and he truly does make up for it. Rimi Sen is apt for the role, but how one wishes she would have had a slightly more substantial role. Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukerjee are perfect for the role of the old couple and they truly make the black and white song enjoyable.

The only flaw in the film lies in the fact that a few scenes slip out of the comedy genre and create a serious atmosphere, which inevitable puts a speed breaker in the laugh riot and one can sense that the audiences are just waiting for those scenes to end. Also one can not help but feel a sense of d?j? vu in the climax as it seems to be too similar to the climax of Hulchul. In spite of these flaws, the film is a must see for all those who love comedies and want to see a film which will have them leave the theatre with just a smile on their face and not a single thought on their mind.