At the first day, first show of Golmaal Again in a Mumbai suburban theatre, one member of the audience doubled up with laughter for most of the two-and-half hours of the film. He represents Rohit Shetty’s audience.
Do we hope for any signs of intelligence or depth in the script or the execution of it? No chance. But then, who cares?
In the fourth episode of the franchise, Shetty brings back the five standard characters – Gopal (Ajay Devgn), Madhav (Arshad Warsi), Laxman 1 (Shreyas Talpade), Laxman 2 (Kunal Khemmu) and Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor). This time, the setting is an orphanage. The five boys escape the establishment in their teenage years and end up becoming goons, doing petty jobs. The five return when they hear of the death of the kindly man who ran the establishment and it is here that they realise that they are in the midst of a sinister plot. A builder (Prakash Raj) and a businessman (Neil Nitin Mukesh) plan to usurp the land. The librarian of the orphanage, Anna (Tabu), ask them to help her and Khushi (Parineeti Chopra) to foil the plan.
Just like a party-hopper bouncing out of one venue to enter another in a near-inebriated state and starting to dance without having to go through the initial awkward stage of introductions, the five characters seem to have walked out of the earlier part of the franchise and sauntered into this one. Devgn and Warsi seem a little tired from the constant motion, but Talpade, Khemmu and Kapoor are still in the mood to enjoy themslves. It’s good to see Tabu let her hair down, and one hopes to see more and more of her. Parineeti tries hard to fit in.
There are ghosts moving freely, possessing an on and off button that renders them invisible. There are characters played by Sanjay Mishra and Johnny Lever, each crazier than other and each baying for your attention. There is no trace of logic in the film. Is it entertaining? Oh yes. Is it funny? The first half is, though the energy dips in the second half.
In earlier episodes of Golmaal, Shetty paid tribute to select Bollywood icons. (Who can forget Mithunda and Disco in the earlier part?) This time it is the Nana Patekar’s turn and the dialogue writers and Patekar himself seemed to have a ball with it, making his sequences the best part of the film.
Tabu’s character Anna loves repeating a line. “God ki marzi ho toh koi cheez me logic nahi magic chalte hai.” It’s as if Shetty is using her to remind us to refrain from seeking any traces of logic in his films. Take his advice and you might end up laughing as hard as the man in the Mumbai theatre.