| Bollywood
directors have realised that, more than any other theme, comedy seems to work
these days. This
has been evident from past releases like Phir Hera Pheri, Chup Chup Ke
and Malaamal Weekly. Golmaal also falls in the same category. This
is the story of four lazy louts, Gopal (Ajay Devgan), Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor),
Mahadev (Arshad Warsi) and Laxmi (Sharman Joshi) who are out to enjoy life, at
the cost of someone else. They
hatch schemes to cheat people and have no qualms about taking anyone (including
their college principal or the students) for a ride. Making
money the easy way is their motto. Of the four, Laxmi is always troubled by his
conscience. Gopal
is the bully, but Mahadev always tries to challenge him without success. All
four get thrown out of the college hostel when one of their prank misfires. They
are now broke with a loan shark baying for their blood. In short their lives are
in a mess, until they chance upon a bungalow, occupied by an old, blind couple
(Paresh Rawal and Sushmitha). The
blind husband and wife mistake Laxmi for their long lost grandson. So, all four
friends decide to play along by taking advantage of the couple's blindness. They
make the bungalow their residence and as expected, this results in some hilarious
situations. Their
neighbour is Rimi Sen, a real beauty. All four become infatuated by her, often
competing with each other, for her attention. With
a local don wanting something from the blind couple and the threat of the real
grandson materialising hanging heavily over their heads more laugh-a-minute situations
arise. As
the film reaches its climax it takes a moderately serious turn for a few minutes,
before resorting to slapstick and laughter once more. As expected, all's well
that ends well. The
storyline and screenplay are well conceived. Music by Vishal Shekar is pretty
average. But
what lifts the film and makes it highly entertaining, are the brilliant performances,
the perfect comic timing, and the witty punchlines. Of
the cast, all four heroes are excellent, with perhaps Sharman Joshi and Arshad
Warsi coming tops and Ajay and Tusshar close behind. Paresh
Rawal is ever-dependable, while Sushmitha Mukherjee ably supports him. Rimi
Sen looks good but she needs to improve her acting and dialogue delivery skills.
Golmaal
is very funny. Worth a watch. Reviewed
by our guest reviewer
Vaidyanathan | 
