MUMBAI: Double Dhamaal is a sequel to the makers’ earlier film, Dhamaal. Since the star cast is the same as Dhamaal, not much needs to be done to elaborate on the characters.
The theme is an old fashioned one of a caper woven largely around gags, gimmicks and buffoonery by its actors. That is to say, you may enjoy the film while in the cinema but there is nothing to take home, no story to tell anybody.
Continuing from where the earlier version ended, where the four good-for-nothing lads, Riteish Deshmuh, Arshad Warsi, Ashish Chowdhry and Jaaved Jaafery, chase a hidden treasure and end up losing it eventually, here the foursome is on the road again, hunting for another easy way to make money. They are allergic to work and an honest
rupee.
That is when they spot Sanjay Dutt, a corrupt cop-turned-business tycoon or so it seems to them. After all, he rides a chauffer-driven Mercedes, works from a well-appointed, spacious office and lives in a posh villa. While these four smell big money on Sanjay Dutt, he has found in them just the bait to swindle some potential Mr Moneybag.
The man they lure happens to be a local don, Satish Kaushik, who is in the process of changing his vocation from don to a swami delivering sermons.
When Sanjay Dutt shows the four chaps, oil gushing out from a plot for his ‘new office’, they start dreaming of riding camels and cavorting with white women in deserts; Satish Kaushik is soon added to share this camel riding dream after investing Rs 2.5 billion to drill oil wells. However, he quickly realises, there is neither oil nor an office plot and that Sanjay Dutt has vanished with the money and leaving the boys at the mercy of the don.
Escaping from the don’s wrath, the boys reach Macau, again crossing paths with Sanjay Dutt, who now owns a casino there. The latter part is all about the four planning and plotting to get even with Sanjay Dutt. Also part of Sanjay Dutt’s team are the two girls, Kangana Ranaut and Mallika Sherawat, his sister and beau, respectively. They both are too actively involved in his schemes.
Double Dhamaal alternates between some good and some mediocre gags but manages to keep its pace most of the time. Director Indra Kumar’s roots being in Gujarati films, which catered mostly to lower strata of Gujarat audience, the traits still show in him and the content of this film has that flavour all over; it caters to the stalls.
Also on display are his economic ways of working because of this background. The film’s music is functional, nothing worth humming or to set as ring tones. Cinematography by Aseem Bajaj, who has a horde of films behind him as an assistant as well as additional photographer, does a good job here. Writer Tushar Hiranandani is a good addition to the rather thin muster of comedy writers.
While performances are all about buffoonery and get-ups, which includes mimicry of veteran film artistes, all four, Riteish Deshmuh, Arshad Warsi, Ashish Chowdhry and Jaaved Jaafery, get their few minutes of glory. Of the four, Jaaved Jaafery is the most natural. While Kangana Ranaut and Mallika Sherawat are adequate, Sanjay Dutt decides to remain just that, Sanjay Dutt.
Released unopposed with healthy promotion, Double Dhamaal is assured of a decent opening response with better prospects at single screen cinemas; it is just the potion to get over, to some extent, the ‘Ready‘ hangover.
