Malamaal Weekly – no maldar comedy

Director: Priyadarshan
Credited cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Rimi Sen, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal and Arbaaz Khan

Comparing Priyadarshan’s previous track record (Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala) of hit comedies, Malamaal Weekly fails to tickle your funny bones. The story of the movie is very confusing as the sub plots keep interfering in the main plot. Also, apart from some funny dialogues, which are mainly kept for Paresh Rawal and Om Puri, the rest of the movie seems plain. The movie that is stuffed with comic maestro such as Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Om Puri and upcoming comic actor Ritesh Deshmukh (Bluffmaster, Masti, Kya kool Hai Hum), has featured below par performances of each actor.

Story:
Malamaal Weekly starts with sutradhar Naseeruddin Shah’s narration of a small drought affected village where people are fighting for survival from poverty, poor harvests and a Thakurani called Karamkali (Sudha Chandran) and her brother Baijey (Rajpal Yadav) who harass the poor illiterate villagers by squeezing excess interest from them. These people are barely able to make ends meet. (more…)

Priyadarshan wants to recreate the success of Garam Masala (which was released during Diwali) through his much-awaited comic caper Malamaal Weekly, by releasing it around Holi festival.

Exhibitors in the trade are counting on the March 15 release of the film to keep the cash registers jingling. They are of the opinion that Malamaal Weekly will revive the box-office excitement that was last visible in Rang De Basanti.

After RDB, many films came but could not stay at the box office for long. So, many are pinning their hopes on Priyadarshan’s forthcoming. (more…)

Recently John went to see his latest film Taxi 9211 with a thousand cab drivers. He told them bikes are better than Taxis and they taught him how to actually put meter down (by making it upside down from right side and not from left side as he was doing). He had so much fun with them. And now John Abraham gets candid about taxis, his co-star Nana and the film Taxi 9211.

John on taxis
Cabs form the pulse of Mumbai. I remember a picture in The Times of India recently when there was a taxi strike in the city and all the cabs were parked outside the airport. The yellow and black combination looks fantastic. They keep Mumbai moving and we all owe a lot to them for their services. (more…)