Bol Bachchan

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 6th July, 2012
Time : 154 minutes
Director : Rohit Shetty; Writer : Yunus Sajawal, remake of Golmaal (1979); Music : Himesh Reshammiya, Ajay-Atul
Starring : Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Prachi Desai, Asin, Archana Puran Singh, Asrani, Krishna Abhishek, Neeraj Vora, Jeetu Verma

To the old, sweet, amazingly funny, classic comedy, Golmaal (Hrishikesh Mukherjee, 1979), apply the Higgs Boson particle ie attempt to make it a ‘mass’ film, an entertainer. So add liberal doses of silliness, unnecessary plot complications, shrillness, crassness, slow motion fight sequences and many, many blown up vehicles. Also add a few sequences & a few jokes that really make you laugh. Just pray the cringe-worthy moments don’t outnumber the LOL moments & that depends entirely on your sensibilities.

The broad outline of the original story is retained. Ajay Devgn, local tough & rich landlord, employs Abhishek as a supervisor. Unfortunately, Abhishek, a Muslim in the film, has to pretend to be a Hindu in front of Ajay. One lie leads to another and soon he has to invent a gay, Muslim identical step brother, a mother, the mother’s identical twin sister etc. Prachi, Ajay’s sister, is Abhishek’s love interest. Asin, Abhishek’s sister, is Ajay’s love interest. And Jeetu Verma is there as Ajay’s evil cousin only so that muscles can be rippled and bones broken. Neeraj Vora as Ajay’s sidekick and Asrani and Krishna as Abhishek’s uncle and son, respectively are there to attempt to wring a few more laughs from you.

Ajay’s character likes to speak English and mangle it beyond belief, and this ability provides many of the comic, funny moments of the film. You watch in awe, wondering what he will come up with next, a bit like when you watch Sidhu comment on cricket. It works in short doses and appears a bit stretched in the second half. ‘When elders get cozy, youngsters don’t put nosy’ or ‘Thank you for the Complan Boy’ (compliment) don’t seem rib tickling but given Ajay’s fulsome delivery and the situation, it does generate quite a few laughs.

Abhishek plays his two roles quite straight, pun intended. The sequence where the gay character has to dance to a medley of songs in unison with two of Ajay’s henchmen is crass but makes you laugh in parts. Asin is strangely muted in the film, while Prachi also has a small role, without much meat.

The movie is too long, the songs aren’t great, the fight sequences too similar to what we’ve already seen from Rohit Shetty’s earlier films. There is a vision here to make it a comedy for the masses and judging by the loud laughs from the audience, he’s got it right.

I feel, with the same cast, just keeping it along the lines of the original could’ve worked just as well, but I fear I would be in the minority in the industry. Would love it if there was a face-off between an intelligent, well made comedy (like a Vicky Donor, Khosla ka Ghosla) & a ‘mass’ one like this, with similar level of star power in both. I wonder which film would then have a bigger box office ?