No 'kamaal', no 'dhamaal' and it can be safely presumed that no one associated with the film would indeed get 'malamaal'.
A complete mishmash of affairs which just doesn't proceed in any direction and tries to bring in various episodes, none of which actually manages to catch your attention one bit, 'Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal' is clearly one of the weakest films ever by Priyadarshan.
So what does it really turn out to be? Is it a love story about a meek boy (Shreyas Talpade) and his fellow village girl (Madhurima)? Is it about a stranger (Nana Patekar) who enters Shreyas' household? Is it about a cross that has been stolen from the church? Is it about the personal enmity between Om Puri and Paresh Rawal? Is it about the ground that Nana Patekar just keeps digging? It is about a Church Father (Asrani) who suddenly has a love interest (Pratima) emerging out of nowhere? Is it about a village which loves to bully Shreyas and tags him as a 'bakri'?
Or is it about Priyadarshan who just assembled a bunch of friends and acquaintances made over a period of time and just went about putting together a series of episodes without caring much about their relevance (or the lack of it) in the overall plot?
Really, KMD has to be one of the most incoherent films to have come out of Bollywood on this side of the year. If the beginning is hardly impressive with Rajpal Yadav's voiceover prelude hardly bringing you on the edge of the seat, constant bullying of Shreyas ends up leaving lesser and lesser impression with every passing sequence. Arrival of Nana Patekar 30 minutes into the film does make you look forward to that twist in the tale. However save for a dialogue or two where you break into a brief chuckle; and that too courtesy change in Shreyas' body language after Nana's arrival, there is nothing to smile about.
What makes the proceedings all the more tiring are the songs that have been incorporated every now and then but make minimal impact. There is a comic fight sequence every 15-20 minutes but that doesn't excite either. What's worse is the complete absence of any hardcore comic sequences that could have made the film tolerable.
Even from the performance perspective the film just about manages to touch the average mark. While Shreyas still manages to scrape through in a totally one dimensional role, Om Puri barely passes muster while Paresh Rawal is hardly there. Nana Patekar is actually a disappointment and starts getting on your nerves after first 15 minutes itself. This will count as one of his most lifeless performances till date. Madhurima looks pretty but hardly has any scenes. Neeraj Vora's jokes fall flat while Shakti Kapoor is utilised as an extra!
Really, what was the idea behind this film which fails on multiple counts? First and foremost it defies the very title of the film. While one expects a 'kamaal' storyline in the offering, it dulls out to be a supremely boring experience. Secondly, what was being promoted as a comedy hardly manages to even make you smile, leave aside making you burst into full-on laughter. Thirdly and very importantly, it doesn't have a semblance of a storyline, which is a rare surprise especially considering the fact that it is coming from the house of Priyadarshan.
Rating: *1/2
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