17 years of Dhamaal: Why comedy flick still stands tall as Bollywood's funniest adventure

It's been 17 years and still Dhamaal is one of the most unforgettable and hilarious comedies Bollywood has produced. Fans still remember the one-liners from Dhamaal nearly two decades after its release, and they frequently revisit it on OTT. Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria collaborated on the 2007 comedy flick Dhamaal. The film's main cast includes Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary, and Javed Jaffrey; supporting cast members consist of Asrani, Sanjay Mishra, Murli Sharma, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Pahwa, Tiku Talsania, and Prem Chopra. This film, the debut installment in the Dhamaal series, has a dedicated fan base.

A plot full of laughs and treasure hunting

Roy (Riteish Deshmukh), Manav (Javed Jaafrey), Aditya (Arshad Warsi), and Boman (Ashish Chowdhry) are the four slacker buddies who embark on a hilarious adventure in Dhamaal. One day, while attempting to save a dying mobster, they discover the location of a treasure and set out on an adventure to retrieve it. When they find out that others are also after the treasure, a string of outrageous escapades begins. An equally resolute police inspector, Kabir (Sanjay Dutt), is hellbent on discovering it and concealing it. Is there really any hidden treasure? The friends find themselves in amusing and perplexing situations that leave everyone thinking. Upon confirmation, whose turn will it be to do it first?

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All of the original cast members returned for a 2011 sequel called Double Dhamaal. The third reboot sequel, Total Dhamaal, made its debut in February 2019. It included a cast of new actors, including Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, and Ajay Devgn, alongside Deshmukh, Warsi, and Jaffrey, but had no ties to the previous two.

Riteish Deshmukh’s revelation about Dhamaal

Earlier, during an interview with Firstpost, Riteish revealed details about the movie that the public is unaware of. He related the story about Dhamaal for the first time. His routine included a number of multi-star performers. After Masti was completed, Indra Kumar extended an offer for Dhamaal. Once the filmmaker signed him, he left. The actor apologised for the inconvenience, but he wrote to Kumar and told him that he is not interested in doing the film because he has already done too many multi-starrers. Additionally, Riteish returned the cheque to him. 

Kumar expressed his desire to reunite with him. "I get it, but you gotta do this film," he told the actor when they met on set. "And I said, okay. Now let’s do that," I responded.

The actor confirmed that they had reunited for Part 4, and he is forever grateful that the filmmaker cast him in that role and included him in this franchise. Imagine instead that he had been involved in too many multi-starrers and didn't want to do this film—not because he was against it, but because he simply didn't want to. Just think about how much Riteish would regret not doing Dhamaal.

Streaming platforms for Dhamaal

You can stream Dhamaal on ZEE5 (OTTplay Premium), Prime Video, ShemarooMe (OTTplay Premium), and Lionsgate Play (OTTplay Premium).

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