Movie Review: De Dana Dan

A comedy movie made by Priyadarshan featuring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal, that resonates of Herapheri in my memory - one of the best comedies ever made. The trio of these actors recreated their magic in Phir Herapheri but for me that movie was inferior to the first one (it was not directed by Priyadarshan also).

Herapheri came around 10 years ago in 2000. During that time Priyadarshan was known for making remakes of south movies and was never known for making good comedies. Akshay Kumar was just another actor in the fray. Johnny Lever was the only famous comedian at that time and Paresh Rawal was known for his serious character roles and as a villain sometimes. Then came Herapheri and it started many things that are still true today. It shot Akshay Kumar to fame and that was the beginning of making of The Star Akshay Kumar. Paresh Rawal achieved prominence as a comedian and after that he got known in film industry as one of the better comic actors. After that Priyadarshan churned out various comedies of a similar genre but was never able to repeat the success that Herapheri achieved.

Now the trio is back along with the same director in "De Dana Dan". The story is on a similar lines as Herapheri. Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty are friends and want to get rich as soon as possible otherwise their girlfriends would be forcibly married by their family to someone else. Their scheme of getting rich lands them in Pan Pacific Hotel where Paresh Rawal is trying to get his son Chunkey Pandey married with Sameera Reddy. Now starts the confusion of mistaken identity, lies and what not.
All the confusion reaches its summit and explodes in the end. The only regret i have is that the trio of Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal doesn't feature even in one frame together. Crackling chemistry between these 3 actors in some scenes could have enhanced the impact of movie a lot more, the reason of it could be that Priyadarshan didn't wanted audiences to compare this movie to Herapheri.

First i would write about the bad parts which are not that many......there are some scenes where actors go overboard and the humor becomes slapstick to an extent that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Thankfully such scenes are not many. If a person is willing to put his brain to rest while watching it these scenes are also not bad. The pace of movie slackens a little bit at some places.

Now the good parts.....Akshay Kumar's comic timing is amazing. The chemistry between Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar is excellent. Paresh Rawal is nice in his role as a fraud business man. Other actors play their part well. Johnny Lever as a professional killer with his special solution that can make any person unconscious is funny. Rajpal Yadav who has become a permanent fixture of all Priyadarshan movies is impressive in his small role, he is funny as a foolish waiter. Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy are just there to soothe the eyes of audience. There are other supporting actors like Neha Dhupia, Archana Puran Singh, Asrani, Aditi Gowitrikar etc. who did justice with whatever they were given.

The amazing thing is that Priyadarshan has been able to manage all the commotion and confusion between all the characters. Its a big achievement to pull off this amazing feat while making people laugh hysterically. The one thing that went wrong was that Akshay Kumar was locked in a cupboard for around an hour. His presence was missed. Barring that drawback the movie was well handled.

Some people have criticized "De Dana Dan" for going overboard but for me this movie remains one of the better comedies i have seen in recent times. Its humor of a different kind and according to me it should appeal to masses. There were instances when i was laughing out loud hysterically and in some scenes i just couldn't stop laughing. If it was released before "Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahaani" and "All The Best" its box office collections would have been all the more. Nevertheless, i would recommend this movie to everyone. Don't miss this one, watch it and have a laugh!!!