There are some nicely giddy moments in Golmaal. Like Gopal (Devgan) and Madhav (Warsi) playing a game called "Black-Black"—a wacky spoof on the Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie. Then there’s a villain called Vasooli (Sharma) who worships Sanjay ‘Munnabhai’ Dutt. And of course, there are Rawal and Mukherjee, an old blind couple, singing a duet that’s a throwback to the much-loved black and white classics with Sushmita looking stunningly like Vyjanthimala in Madhumati.
However, the giddy gags notwithstanding, there’s also something rather rusty about the film. Yet another in the line of the mass-produced Bollywood comedies, Golmaal seems to have arrived a bit too late in the day. The male bonding, the silly heroine, the sillier villains (one of whom is called Babli), the low brow jokes, the risque one-liners, the sexual innuendoes—haven’t we seen them all over and over again? What works for Golmaal are the four lead actors. As four good-for-nothing idlers, Devgan, Warsi, Joshi as Lakshman and Kapoor as Lucky are a hoot together, perfectly in tune and sharing a great comic timing. Unwittingly, it’s Kapoor who proves to be the maddest of them all—as a dumb guy who keeps babbling like a "Chinese cat". Kapoor was born to play this role!
It should be amply clear that there’s nothing much by way of a story or plot here. It’s all about these four blokes who park themselves in the house of the blind couple who mistake Gopal and Lakshman as their grandson Samir. Gopal plays Samir’s voice, Lakshman his body. Strange? Well, it’s only to be seen to be believed. In the midst of the madness, Shetty does go on the wrong foot by putting in a strong emotional track towards the end of the film and then immediately lapsing back to mad slapstick. One more point one feels strongly about—the mindless Bollywood comedies have a way of cracking insensitive jokes about the physically challenged. Haven’t we had enough of that? And in Golmaal there’s also a series of digs on a woman getting raped. How can such a heinous act be up for laughs? It’s definitely not a laughing matter.
High Fives
Bollywood
1. Krrish
2. Golmaal
3. Phir Hera Pheri
4. Corporate
5. Fanaa
Hollywood
1. Pirates of the Caribbean II
2. Little Man
3. You Me and Dupree
4. Superman Returns
5. The Devil Wears Prada
Hard Rock & Metal
1. Black Holes and Revelations: Ltd Edtn.
2. Black Holes and Revelations (Muse)
3. Trouble (Ray LaMontagne)
4. Stadium Arcadium (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
5. Razorlight (Razorlight)
Courtesy: Film Information
