Hera Pheri was beyond hilarious. The film clearly showcased the simplicity behind Priyadarshan’s talent. Phir Hera Pheri, which was taken over by Neeraj Vora proved to be a complete dud because of its lackluster screenplay and overdrawn climax. The cast of the films then took a sabbatical from one another only to be reunited for yet another comical adventure, De Dana Dan. With Priyadarshan taking the directors cap, he quickly signed on the hit trio, Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty and Paresh Rawal along with Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy and Neha Dhupia all in tow. The film’s title speaks for itself and is clearly based on a subject that all of the actors and most of the aam janta love: moolah; paisa; money; the green notes. The promos immediately had audiences curious about the film simply because it was bringing back the team of the initial Hera Pheri, which if your memory serves you right, was a full on funny ride. De Dana Dan was definitely going to be no Hera Pheri but did promise to tickle your funny bone. Read on to see if this flick is worth your weekend Dan.
Please meet Jack of all trades, master of none Nitin (Akshay Kumar). He works as an everything man for his hell boss Archana (Archana Puran Singh) and is in love with Anjali (Katrina Kaif). The same goes for his best bud Ram (Suneil Shetty) who is as useless as they get; this dude is in love with the rich Manpreet (Sameera Reddy). Then there is the uber cheap Harbans (Paresh Rawal) who insists on marrying off his son (Chunky Pandey) to a rich girl whose dowry money would ultimately help pay his debtors off. Now Nitin and Ram, who rely on their girlfriends to pay bills along with showering unconditional love, must find a way to make bags of money in order to marry their lady-loves. Amidst the chaos, they devise a plan to kidnap Archana’s most prized possession: her dog Moolchand. And when the dog runs away is when all hell breaks loose and causes mayhem for the numerous characters in the film.
De Dana Dan is funny and then not. There are points in the film which will have you in splits and then other times you can’t help but go eh? The film is a brainless fest filled with nonsensical jokes, which mind you is exactly what Hera Pheri was about. However, the effortless acting and scripting in Hera Pheri is not visible in De Dana Dan. In fact you almost feel like Priyadarshan is trying far too hard to be funny. You have to hand it to him though; with so many well-etched characters who all are maestros in comedy, Asrani, Johnny Lever, Chunky Pandey et al, he still manages to make you laugh enough for your tummy to hurt. Of course, the films climax is where most of the funniness dies out much like Phir Hera Pheri which is once again overly long and tiresome. It eventually works out to be a far too loud affair which could have easily been toned down a tad bit and had the same effect.
In terms of performances, each of the three: Akshay, Suneil and Paresh need each other in order for the film to work. Individually, they perform well but collaboratively their chemistry shines. Akshay, too loud; Suneil, too quiet; Paresh, too usual. Together however, they are dynamite. The ladies are all average including Katrina who is her usual mannequin-self. Asrani is hilarious. Ditto for Johnny Lever, Chunky Pandey, Manoj Joshi, Vikram Gokhale and Archana Puran Singh.
If you enjoy “leave your brain at home” comedies, then De Dana Dan is for you. The music is fun as are the one-liner dialogues which are two other reasons to watch the movie. Watch De Dana Dan if you’re missing the Hera Pheri crew.
