Dhamaal 4 review: You will find buried treasure before you find the comedy
Dhamaal 4 review: Ajay Devgn's film follows a familiar treasure hunt as more players join the chase. But how far can weak writing, bad AI visuals and dated humour take the franchise's comic spark?
Whoever said comedy is serious business was probably talking about the people making comedies in Bollywood. Because the level of earnest absurdity being served in the name of humour these days is almost admirable. Dhamaal 4 is the latest addition to that ever-growing list.
Directed by Indra Kumar, the fourth instalment of the beloved comedy franchise sticks to the one formula it knows best: a treasure hunt. The cast remains largely intact. Ajay Devgn leads the pack as Guddu, joined by Sanjay Mishra, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh and Jaaved Jaaferi. The new additions include Anjali Anand, Ravi Kishan, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Esha Gupta (who appears for barely four scenes), and two children. Unfortunately, none of them add much to a plot that feels as elusive as the treasure everyone is chasing.
The story opens with a pirate (Kishan) searching for a long-lost fortune. Word spreads, more people join the race, misunderstandings pile up, stakes get higher, and chaos follows. On paper, it sounds like classic Dhamaal. In execution, it feels like watching people desperately search for something the audience has already given up on: laughter.
The film throws every kind of comedy at the wall in the hope that something sticks. There's a jungle comedy with AI-generated animals doing the heavy lifting. There's body-shaming masquerading as humour, where a plus-size character exists almost exclusively as the gag. There's meta humour, with the film constantly breaking the fourth wall to remind you that everyone is in on the joke. The problem? Nobody is.
In fact, if you happen to doze off before the interval, consider yourself lucky. You won't miss much, and no one around you is likely to complain.
The plot is so generic that a six-year-old's comic book feels more inventive. But even that isn't the film's biggest problem. The real issue is how artificial everything looks. Entire stretches resemble AI-generated visuals, and not even the polished kind. They look like the very first image an AI model spits out before you realise you should probably refine the prompt. The film seems to have accepted that first draft and released it in theatres.
Remember the iconic 'W' from the original Dhamaal? This time, the treasure is hidden behind a giant 'M'. Fittingly, the distance between those two letters mirrors the gap in quality between the first film and this one. Every sequel has chipped away at what made the franchise special, but Dhamaal 4 may well be its lowest point yet.
Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Mishra still share an easy chemistry. A handful of their exchanges work, largely because they know comic timing better than the script does. Watching them struggle through underwritten scenes feels like watching accomplished chefs being asked to prepare a gourmet meal with instant noodles.
The bigger tragedy, however, is Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaaferi. Their Aadi-Manav duo remains one of Hindi cinema's most delightful comic pairings, but the film gives them almost nothing worthy of their talent. Instead of laughing with them, you end up feeling protective of them.
Ravi Kishan's villain serves little purpose beyond stretching the runtime. His presence only reminds you that the film is still not over.
Riteish and Anjali generate occasional sparks, but that's more because they are capable performers than because the screenplay gives them something interesting to do. And every time you begin to warm up to them, the film returns to making Anjali's body the joke. The humour feels dated, lazy and strangely proud of itself.
Visually, there's little for the cinematography to rescue. When almost every backdrop looks digitally created and every frame feels synthetic, the camera has very little to capture beyond green screens and missed opportunities.
The writing, meanwhile, feels trapped in a version of Bollywood comedy that audiences have outgrown ages ago. It makes you want to revisit the original Dhamaal, Golmaal, Dhol or Welcome - films that probably understood an important truth: loud isn't automatically funny.
By the end, the characters finally discover the giant 'M' they've been searching for. You, however, may spend the entire film searching for a single genuine laugh. And unlike the treasure, you won't find it.
Whoever said comedy is serious business was probably talking about the people making comedies in Bollywood. Because the level of earnest absurdity being served in the name of humour these days is almost admirable. Dhamaal 4 is the latest addition to that ever-growing list.
Directed by Indra Kumar, the fourth instalment of the beloved comedy franchise sticks to the one formula it knows best: a treasure hunt. The cast remains largely intact. Ajay Devgn leads the pack as Guddu, joined by Sanjay Mishra, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh and Jaaved Jaaferi. The new additions include Anjali Anand, Ravi Kishan, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Esha Gupta (who appears for barely four scenes), and two children. Unfortunately, none of them add much to a plot that feels as elusive as the treasure everyone is chasing.
The story opens with a pirate (Kishan) searching for a long-lost fortune. Word spreads, more people join the race, misunderstandings pile up, stakes get higher, and chaos follows. On paper, it sounds like classic Dhamaal. In execution, it feels like watching people desperately search for something the audience has already given up on: laughter.
The film throws every kind of comedy at the wall in the hope that something sticks. There's a jungle comedy with AI-generated animals doing the heavy lifting. There's body-shaming masquerading as humour, where a plus-size character exists almost exclusively as the gag. There's meta humour, with the film constantly breaking the fourth wall to remind you that everyone is in on the joke. The problem? Nobody is.
In fact, if you happen to doze off before the interval, consider yourself lucky. You won't miss much, and no one around you is likely to complain.
The plot is so generic that a six-year-old's comic book feels more inventive. But even that isn't the film's biggest problem. The real issue is how artificial everything looks. Entire stretches resemble AI-generated visuals, and not even the polished kind. They look like the very first image an AI model spits out before you realise you should probably refine the prompt. The film seems to have accepted that first draft and released it in theatres.
Remember the iconic 'W' from the original Dhamaal? This time, the treasure is hidden behind a giant 'M'. Fittingly, the distance between those two letters mirrors the gap in quality between the first film and this one. Every sequel has chipped away at what made the franchise special, but Dhamaal 4 may well be its lowest point yet.
Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Mishra still share an easy chemistry. A handful of their exchanges work, largely because they know comic timing better than the script does. Watching them struggle through underwritten scenes feels like watching accomplished chefs being asked to prepare a gourmet meal with instant noodles.
The bigger tragedy, however, is Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaaferi. Their Aadi-Manav duo remains one of Hindi cinema's most delightful comic pairings, but the film gives them almost nothing worthy of their talent. Instead of laughing with them, you end up feeling protective of them.
Ravi Kishan's villain serves little purpose beyond stretching the runtime. His presence only reminds you that the film is still not over.
Riteish and Anjali generate occasional sparks, but that's more because they are capable performers than because the screenplay gives them something interesting to do. And every time you begin to warm up to them, the film returns to making Anjali's body the joke. The humour feels dated, lazy and strangely proud of itself.
Visually, there's little for the cinematography to rescue. When almost every backdrop looks digitally created and every frame feels synthetic, the camera has very little to capture beyond green screens and missed opportunities.
The writing, meanwhile, feels trapped in a version of Bollywood comedy that audiences have outgrown ages ago. It makes you want to revisit the original Dhamaal, Golmaal, Dhol or Welcome - films that probably understood an important truth: loud isn't automatically funny.
By the end, the characters finally discover the giant 'M' they've been searching for. You, however, may spend the entire film searching for a single genuine laugh. And unlike the treasure, you won't find it.
