Writer: Janak

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Watch this if you liked: “Hera Pheri”, “Awara Pagal Deewana”, “Dhamaal”

Where ratings are concerned, it doesn't seem fair to rate this movie less than one star because despite the insane story and the cheap humour, it does make the audience laugh histerically some of the time. "De Dana Dan" (used to describe something quick) tells the story of a servant cum driver named Nitin (Akshay Kumar) and his friend Ram (Sunil Shetty) who is a courier boy. They face a tough decision when their girlfriends Anjali (Katrina Kaif) and Manpreet (Sameera Reddy) decide to leave them. Helpless and broke, they hatch a plan to kidnap a prized pet dog under the care of Archana (Archana Puran Singh) to extort money from the owner. When the dog runs away, that's when the chaos starts.

In terms of casting, the director manages to sign up his favorite pairing Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty again and not forgetting comedian Paresh Rawal as well. Sadly, the trio of actors who gave superb performances in previous Priyadarshan flicks such as "Hera Pheri" and "Awara Pagal Deewana" do not even get to share the screen except in the end. Instead, the supporting cast such as Johnny Lever (a bumbling hit man), Rajpal Yadav (a corrupt waiter) and Neha Dhupia (a cheap hooker) overshadow them and keep the audience entertained most of the time. However, out of the three actresses, Neha Dhupia is the only fun sexy character to watch while the other two are more for eye candy only.

The plot is most confusing. If one remembers, it's like those Hollywood movies put together such as "Blame It On The Bellboy" and also "Towering Inferno". Also, for a comedy, the director unwisely stretches the movie to almost three hours. To showcase the supporting talent, Akshay's role is greatly reduced in the second half.

On points of cinematography, Priyadarshan's movies have always been very colourful. The sequences in the second half are presented in a much better than the first half. The movie is shot extensively in Singapore and some song sequences back in Mumbai.

Regardin the music and the songs, perhaps B-grade Bollywood movies could have done better. Pritam's music for the first time fails to make any impression. Rubbing salt to would is the background score from Salim Sulaiman which is too loud most of the time. Special effects are not used much except for the climax.

Overall, "De Dana Dan" is still a comedy that made it to the screens and it does contain some fun. The writers have managed to pen some crazy entertainment out of all comedy films put together, for better or worse. The flick won't sit well with the critics but those looking for a laugh will find it.

Cinema Online, 30 November 2009