That director Rohit Shetty is a fan of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal is quite evident from the fact that he has named his most successful movie franchise after it and even his All The Best had two of its heroes watching the film on their home theatre. So it is no surprise that his latest Bol Bachchan starring Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Prachi Desai, Asrani, Archana Puran Singh and Krushna Abhishek is a tribute of sorts to that evergreen Golmaal.
Abbas (Abhishek Bachchan) and his sister Sania (Asin) move into a family friend Shastri’s (Asrani) house in Ranakpur after losing all their property in Delhi. Ranakpur is ruled by a gentle giant Prithviraj (Ajay Devgn) who hates lies and liars more than anything. By a twist of fate, Abbas is forced to lie about his identity to Prithviraj and ends up working for him under a new name – Abhishek Bachchan. One lie leads to many more and soon everybody is caught up in a web of lies that turns everybody’s lives upside down.
Bol Bachchan has Rohit Shetty’s stamp all over it – the colourful sets and costumes, over the top action sequences, more cars in the sky than birds, and of course, the zany humour. What is added this time is emotional drama, but unfortunately this new addition does not gel well with the other ingredients. The film peaks when the focus is on comedy, but falls badly whenever it tries to get serious.
Some of the comic sequences in the film are simply outstanding and have one rolling on the floor with laughter. Too bad they are too few and far between as unnecessary drama and action takes over for long periods in the 150-odd-minute running time and tests the audience’ patience. The uninspiring music and mediocre choreography only makes one wish that the movie was song-less. However, the competent star cast tries its best to rise above the erratic screenplay and is helped by an excellent dialogue writer. The witty dialogues are indeed one of the high points of the film and help keep the audience from losing their interest at more places than one.
Ajay Devgn has developed a good comic timing over the years and he shines as an innocent toughie with a penchant for speaking hilariously wrong English. Abhishek is okay as Abhishek Bachchan, but brings the house down with his portrayal of an effeminate Abbas. Asin and Prachi have nothing much to do except looking good. Asrani is competent as usual. Krushna Abhishek is adequate but does not live up to the promise he showed in his popular reality show. The best performer of the film is undoubtedly Archana Puran Singh – she is absolutely hilarious and adorable as the shayari-spewing Zohra.
Bol Bachchan falls a bit short of delivering what it promised. A few excellent scenes, a few good scenes and a quite a lot of boring scenes is how I would describe the film. It doesn’t have the laugh-a-minute quality of Shetty’s earlier comedies but is still a decent time pass flick to be enjoyed with family or friends. Keep your expectations low and you may end up having a good time.
