Golmaal: Masti maalamaal

Pull together : two actors with great comic timing whose talents were not spotted easily in Bollywood, Arshad Warsi after Tere Mere Sapne and Sharman Joshi after Style. Of course Arshad Warsi had to wait till Munnabhai MBBS and Sharman till Rang de Basanti to get noticed.

Add the deadpan Ajay Devgan with coloured hair and a newly chiselled body making an entry reminiscent of his debut in Phool aur Kaante.

And Tusshar Kapoor who has perfected roles where he needs no acting like being invisible in Gayab and this time he is dumb.

Add Rimi Sen the standard heroine for multi-star cast comedy movies. Well she needs to watch her hair as well as her dressing, she has lost the Dhoom appeal.

Paresh Rawal, the standard torch bearer for comedies and a pleasant surprise in Sushmita Mukherjee who looks naughty even when she is playing a blind grandmom.

Golmaal is classic leave your brains at home Bollywood cinema, though not in the same league as Hera Pheri. You just have to like the chemistry between the characters and wait for the comic sequences dished one after the another. And there is enough of that which makes the movie very watchable.

The first half hour is quite trite with standard college scenes like a shouting principal who hams to the hilt and leaking question papers although none of the heros resembles a student. The movie gains traction once the four land in a blind couple's large house and Sharman Joshi becomes their long lost grandson and Ajay Devgun his voice. You can completely shut your brain henceforth ( like how can a blind couple maintain such a big house and so on) and wait for sequences and characters to jut the screenplay. Some sequences are hilarious ; the attempted rape on Rimi Sen, the parody of Black and AK Hangals Sholay sequence, the proposal to Rimi and Tushar Kapoors Chinese billi and Arshad Warsi and Sharman instigating each other to end Devguns dadagiri.

There are 2 characters who liven up proceedings big time, Vrajesh Hirjee playing the servant after the treasure with his snake-like action stunts. And Babli Bhai the don after the treasure, its the same guy who is the first con in Bunty aur Babli. He sits with a life jacket on a boat , is hard of hearing, speaks Subhash Ghai English like who will the saves for kaun bacheyaga inhe. His cronies play goti (marbles) on a pool like table on the boat and astound with their dumbness. There is a classic interaction where Babli Bhai gives Rs.5 to Vrajesh and says " Nagpanchami mein doodh pee le."

As you must have guessed by now, the movie has more lukkha boyish humour than family humour, especially if you add the gaalis and Tushars (non)mouthing of them. But the cast shows amazing comic timing. In fact there are places where the superfast editing makes you miss a dialogue/nuance or two. In summary, Golmaal makes an ideal weekday watch after a bad day in office rather than a weekend watch in a multiplex with expensive popcorn.