sandy

sandy | 6 | November 27, 2009 at 9:31 pm | 243 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

De Dana Dunce?

Director: Priyadarshan
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Suneil Shetty, Archana Puran Singh, Paresh Rawal, Sameera Reddy, among others
Stars: **1/2

All those people berating Akshay Kumar films for being no brainers, be warned! With De Dana Dan, the actor takes his revenge with a film that puts you through a test for recall ability. So you get a film about supreme confusions all arising out of supreme silliness. Take that!

Like it’s title suggests, there’s great rapidity to the action with douzens of characters getting thrown into all kind of confusing events, most of them brought about by their own stupidity, rather than any real situational comedy.
It comes closest to the director’s earlier, Hungama (infinitely funnier ) and Garam Masala in the number of sub plots and characters you are expected to keep track of. De Dana Dan offers a few good chuckles and some deftly executed action-comic sequences, but essentially it’s a long-drawn 2 hr 40 mins (!) episode about mistaken identities and ensuing chaos.

To its credit, the film starts very well and stays on course right till the interval point. Nitin Bankar (Akshay Kumar) is leading a wretched life in Singapore as Man Friday to a super rich, stingy corporate czarina (Archana Puran Singh). She makes him slog it out in her house, treating him shabbily, in return for an unpaid loan.
These portions are hilarious, especially the episode with Archana’s pet dog who she treats as royalty and surrogate owner of the house.
Ram Mistry (Suneil Shetty), who comes to become an actor years ago, is now into courier delivery service and is generally unhappy with his lot. Both of them have rich girlfriends (Katrina, Sameera), who are under pressure from their families to get married to rich grooms. So before it’s too late, Ram and Nitin need to get enough money. They hit upon a plan to kidnap Archana’s dog, so as to extract a hefty ransom. Meanwhile, Sameera’s father (Mohan Joshi) fixes her marriage, and a big group of his guests and relatives check into a five star hotel. The entire sequence of events from here on are restricted to this one location.

The rest:

HERE

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Review: De Dana Dan(2009)

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There Are 6 Responses So Far. »

1. 

   sandy 27 November 2009
   10:27:00 pm

   

   I agree with the India Today review. There is a good film hidden somewhere in DDD – it just doesn’t come through very well in the end.
   The reference to French farce is correct. It’s a tough genre and requires the writers to keep the action both deft and sharp. DDD on that front is a brave effort even if it does not work in the end. This much I will say.

   On crassness, well, I didn’t like the women being slapped etc – that was unnecessary. And it’s even more disconcerting to see guys laughing at that sort of thing. But Archana getting kicked wasn’t that bad – she did worse things to Akshay, right? Yes, lots of sleazy men looking to be laid in the film though.
2. 

   ăbzee 28 November 2009
   02:46:28 am

   

   Just saw De Dana Dan. I quite liked it. Yes, it’s long at 2 hours and 45 minutes…but it has enough moments to keep you engaged.

   What I found most interesting about DDD is that it is actually an ensemble film. In fact, if one were to take out the Akshay & Sunil track, it’d still make for a film. It is almost as if Priyan wanted to make a film about the other 20 odd characters, and roped in Akki merely to headline the film and sell it. The leads are so inconsequential to this film, that Akshay spends a good hour locked inside a cupboard…and it is in this hour that the film is at its funniest, piling one complication over another, one confusion over another…resulting in the most genuine comedy of errors I’ve seen in recent times. In fact, in APKGK, I was disappointed that Santoshi did not quite go for the payoff in what was a beautiful setup when both the Don and Ranbir’s gang decide to kidnap Upen Patel with the same disguise. One waited for a blast of comedy of errors that never happened. DDD has many more setups, and thankfully has enough payoffs as well.

   On the acting front, it is Johnny Lever yet again after All The Best, who steals the show with great timing and a newfound gift of underplaying. In his second innings, Lever isn’t the loud comedian he once was. Paresh Rawal is in form after a long time, and with Manoj Joshi and Vikram Gokhale has some funny exchanges. Rajpal Yadav is wasted, and Shakti Kapoor is bad playing himself! Neha Dhupia, enticing as ever, continues to surprise in small roles. The offenders on the acting front in fact are Akshay Kumar and Archana Puran Singh…the former looking increasingly disinterested and the latter screaming, shrieking and shouting her way through in the hammiest performance of the film.

   This is no masterpiece, nor is it a great comedy compared to the bests in the genre. But I’ll say this, I enjoyed DDD more than all the films in the last couple of years that pose as comedies. And what truly impressed me, was that on the rarest of occasions, a Bollywood comedy was also expecting me to be mentally present. There is no way you can enjoy this film by leaving your brains at home…bring it along, you’ll need it to keep a tab on every single plot development (or contrivance) and every single piece of information for the comedy to work. It is a comedy that tickles on the mental level, not with funny lines or slapstick comedy. The slapstick bits are only in the opening 40 mins (courtesy Akshay and Archana), but once the action shifts to a hotel (Do Knot Disturb tried to do the same earlier this year, but failed miserably), it is sheer comic mayhem that expects you to be attentive. . While not at the level of those great British and Central European comedies, I’m sure Benny Hill would chuckle if he had a dekko at this.

   A definite 3 stars from me. Fifteen minutes before the interval and an hour after it (when none of the stars are around, only the supporting players are) is absolutely wonderful.
3. 

   ăbzee 28 November 2009
   02:52:55 am

   

   Oh, forgot to mention that the final 10 minutes of the film is quite a downer, and literally, saare kiye-karaaye pe paani pher deti hai! Well, mostly anyways

   One must never let the audience leave on a low note…quit while you’re on top.
4. 

   I(d)I(o)T 28 November 2009
   07:40:15 am

   

   Thanks for Sharing your views Abzee eand Sandy. I think I will like it..
5. 

   Arun 29 November 2009
   07:59:48 am

   

   Saw this today and found it pretty enjoyable for the most part. It was heartening to see Johnny Lever getting a decent role after a long time. One did miss him!
6. 

   sayrahul 29 November 2009
   08:58:18 am

   

   Saw the movie yeaterday and overall I liked the movie and after long time had a feeling for an AK movie that this can be watched 2nd time aswell.
   Apart from 1st 20 mins where they were doing char buildup, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would agree that there were few times when the whole theater was quite, but then I guess Director was giving time to catchup on breath.

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