Dhol(2007)- Review

Cast- Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kemmu, Rajpal Yadav, Tanushree Dutta, Om Puri
Director- Priyadarshan
Rating- *1/2 One would hardly expect someone of Priyadarshan’s caliber to belt out as mediocre a product as ‘Dhol’ especially since his ‘Hera Pheri’ is considered an amazing comedy that set quite a few trends some six years ago. Unfortunately that’s what his latest ‘Dhol’ is.The story which cashes in on the latest male bonding trend is about four losers who happen to be friends (Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kemmu, Rajpal Yadav). They are finding it hard to make something out of their lives. Whatever they try out ends up flopping badly and one fine day they get the idea that they can rid of their miseries by wooing a rich girl. So when Tanushree Dutta’s Ritu moves into the city with her grand father and grand mom, these guys think they have found the perfect girl to pursue. After their misadventures in the process they find that the lady has come to find out the mystery behind her brother’s suicide there. They pretend to be friends of the deceased brother and manage to get close to her. But the plan backfires when the dead guy’s friend Payal Rohatgi and the actual villain (Murli Sharma) appear. A comedy film should invoke laughter naturally and such funny situations are very few in ‘Dhol’. Most of the situations here are formulistic and inserted forcefully, obviously to make people laugh. Sharman Joshi and even Tusshar Kapoor have proved their mettle in comedy films but in ‘Dhol’ their talents seem to be underutilized. Rajpal Yadav however remains brilliant here too and shines through with his dumb act. He does come across as really funny in a lot of portions.Kunal Kemmu is a talented young actor, and though he experiments with this comic role, this role is not something which would do him a world of good.The leading lady Tanushree Dutta has nothing extra ordinary to do. Moreover it seems she has put on some weight which doesn’t help the glamorous character much. Payal Rohatgi is average. Arbaaz Khan doesn’t have anything special to do either.

Murli Sharma’s villain is more of a caricature, straight out of formula Hindi films. Rasika Joshi as the screaming landlady is over the top at times but then it goes with the character. Asrani and Tiku Talsania have small roles but are in character. Farida Dadi is okay. But it seems a veteran actor like Om Puri has been grossly underutilized in the film.

The music is strictly average and apart from the title track none of the songs are foot tapping or melodious enough. The film is way to long and should have been trimmed to make the proceedings more interesting. Cinematography is okay.

Whether the film actually finds wide scale appreciation like the recent comic hits ‘Dhamaal’ and ‘Heyy Babyy’ remains a doubt.

Sneha Hazarika (SAMPURN)