A dose of David Dhawan films

By: Moses Navgire, IndiaFM
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
After a long tiring week, when that highly awaited weekend arrives, we are at the peak of our happiness. Fridays in office are spent dreaming about all the fun you'll have on weekends but as soon as the weekend starts, you realize that you have nothing to do. And there are times when things go bizarre. All your pals disappear for some urgent office work; your girlfriend is stuck in plans to go for shopping with her aunty who has come from the States and no good parties happening in town too. So finally you decide to sit back home and spend some quality time with your family. But your dad has better friends who took him out for a booze party. And mom is busy watching the wicked soap operas on television. You then decide to probably watch a good movie. So you go to the video parlor to get some cool flick but can't decide which one to go for. Ask for little help from the salesperson and he suggests Titanic. Yea that would be really great to create a new world record of watching Titanic for the millionth time. After scanning all the DVD's in store, you end up taking home a super romantic emotional drama, and the film turns out to be a disaster. You end up feeling so disgusted, tired, wasted. You could've probably slept for a couple of hours instead.

So here's a tip to save your weekend and have absolute fun. Don't drop the idea of watching a flick. But grab a David Dhawan comedy from the video store. This is the best way to kill time. Besides, the films are so funny that that you won't at all regret watching them. But there are certain rules which you have to follow to fully enjoy a David Dhawan movie: 1) keep your wisdom and intelligence miles away, 2) do not be judgmental at all, 3) understand that what you are going to see in the next 3 hours cannot happen in real life, so DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME and 4) finally, if you are a film critic, please just stay away. Don't even bother to watch the film and write a review.

Though some people criticize Dhawan's films, saying they make no sense, what these people don't understand is that those comedies aren't supposed to make any sense in the first place. Besides, people who waste time criticizing and judging so much don't understand that they are missing out so much of onscreen masala and craziness. So, here are some reasons why you should go for a David Dhawan comedy.

The story
The stories in his films are freaky, far far away from reality. So much that sometimes after a scene, you wonder, 'WHAT WAS THAT?'

In Coolie No. 1, the Pandit, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, wants to take revenge from a greedy landlord Kadar Khan who wants to get his daughter married to a person 40 times richer then him. So, Sadashiv plays a trick and gets Kadar Khan's daughter, Karisma Kapoor, married to Govinda saying he is prince of Singapore, but in reality, he is a coolie (porter).

In Haseena Maan Jayegi, Sanjay Dutt and Govinda are rich brats who just chill out and play pranks on people. Bugged with them, their father Kadar Khan throws them out of the house. The two brothers then enter Anupam Kher's family. Govinda poses as Sanjay Dutt's uncle and fixes Sanjay's and also his own marriage with Anupam's daughters. He also lives in that house as Sanjay Dutt's younger brother. So, there's one man living in the same house with two separate identities and no one knows about it.

Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya is all about how much Salman Khan loves Katrina Kaif and wants to get married to her and so does she. But when the time comes to do so, Salman suddenly goes for Sushmita Sen and Katrina for Sohail Khan, without any strong reason.

The scenes
As freaky the stories are, so are the scenes in the films. The characters in the film do such stupid stuff at times that you just can't stop laughing. It's the situations in the films that make things look hilarious. In Raja Babu when some men attack Karisma Kapoor, Govinda comes to rescue dressed like Dharmendra from the film Dharamveer. Both Govinda and Shakti Kapoor are dressed in funny gladiator suits.

In Jodi no.1, Sanjay Dutt and Govinda board a running train which is at the speed of more than 100kph. Sanjay Dutt gets into a compartment where Asif Sheikh, an NRI from US is complaining about India being a bad country. Sanjay Dutt then promises that he will give him one example to show the greatness of India. The train then passes through a tunnel for a second. The next thing you see is Sanjay Dutt in Asif's suit and Asif has Sanjay Dutt's attire on him. Sanju then claims to be the real NRI and gets Asif arrested for being an imposter.

In Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi, Kadar Khan agrees to get his daughter Juhi married to unemployed Akshay Kumar only if Akshay earns and pays him one lakh rupees to prove his capability. Lazy yet smart Akshay, along with his mentor Satish Kaushik goes out selling his marriage invitations to people on streets asking them to gift him 100 bucks as marriage gift and enjoy a nice meal at a 5 star hotel. This way he can collect a lakh easily.

The dialogues
The dialogues are the backbone of David Dhawan's films. The lines are neatly written with words smartly put together giving a different meaning altogether. Sometimes they are sarcastic, sometimes idiotic but they surely make you laugh hard.

Govinda dressed like an old guy, posing to be Sanjay Dutt's uncle in Haseena Maan Jayegi explains Anupam Kher and Aruna Irani how rich their khandaan is.
Govinda: Hamara ghar itna bada hai, itna bada hai ke ek room se doosre room mein jaane ke liye, motorcycle ka istamaal karna padta hai...hamara ghar itna bada hai ki bachpan mein mera ek cousin ghar mein kho gaya tha jo ab budhape mein jake mila hai.

Similarly in Coolie No.1, when Shakti Kapoor gets offended by the way Govinda keeps humiliating Kadar Khan, Sadashiv Amrapurkar makes a highly stupid statement to inform how wealthy Govinda is.

Shakti Kapoor: ...hamare jijaji ke paas bhi 100 acre Zameen hai
Sadashiv : bas? Arrey kuwarsaab (Govinda) ka toh singapore mein 200 acre ka sirf ek bathroom hai.

In Haseena Maan Jayegi, Govinda brings Satish Kaushik (his father's secretary) to a cafeteria where Govinda actually wants to flirt with Karisma Kapoor.
Satish : Monu Baba (Govinda), aap mujhe is English type ki chai ki dukaan mein kyun lekar aaye hai? Govinda: .... baat yeh hai Kunj Bihari (Satish) ki kal raat maine 'Teri Meherbaniyan' naam ki film dekhi. Usmein kutte (dog) ka kaam dekhkar mujhe aapke wafadaari ka jo ehsaas hua hai...

Some Famous and catchy lines:
Govinda in Deewana Mastana: I'm OK, I'm fine, I'm feeling better...
Akshay Kumar in Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi: Abey Dholkiyonke!
Abey ab kya tu bache ki jaan lega?
Satish Kaushik in Haseena Maan Jayegi: Suniye toh sahi, rukiye toh sahi, baat kariye to sahi

The songs
The songs are completely out of place. In most of David Dhawan's films, the songs are non situational with no connection to the story. You are watching a particular scene and suddenly, the hero-heroine start dancing on the streets of European villages. But then the tracks are quite peppy and very famous among the stall audiences. The songs mainly give you a break from the laughter ride, so that you recuperate for the next half.

Some extremely nonsense songs
Haseena Maan Jayegi - Cheeti pahad chadhe marne ke vaste, ladki kare fashion ladke ke vaste (ant climbs a mountain to die, girl does styling to attract boys)

Jodi no.1 - Aao sikhaaon, tumhe aande ka funda. Yeh nahi pyaare, koi maamuli banda... (let me tell you a little secret of egg........ it's not just another thing...)

Hero no.1 - Maine paidal se jaa raha tha, unkhe cycle se aa rahi thi, kiya tring tring ka ishaara, mujhe badnaam kiya na.... (I was walking, she came on bicycle. She hinted by ringing bell...oh she humiliated me!)

Chal mere Bhai - Mere Baap ki beti mereko bhai bolti, mere baap ki biwi mereko beta bolti. Mera maa ka bhai mereko bhanja bolta, mere bhai ki beti mereko chacha bolti... ("please don't ask me to translate this")

The team
Needless to say that Govinda is David Dhawan's trump card. The two when teamed up together can come up with some real crazy stuff. Akshay Kumar is another actor who pulls of comedy very well under David's direction. Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt too rock in his films. Then there is Satish Kaushik who has always been noticeable in David Dhawan's films. Satish Kaushik has a unique style of being hilarious which no one else can do. Then there are other actors like Kadar Khan, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor, Himani Shivpuri, Rakesh Bedi, Shashi Kiran, Gulshan Grover, Ashish Vidyarthi and Bindu, who are among David's favourites and will feature in most of his films. Besides the writing credits go to Anees Bazmee and Rumi Jaffery for many of his films.

The Tributes
Not sure if one can call this a tribute but David Dhawan's films always have special mention of some film personalities. Sometimes, they are also referred through their famous character names.

Haseena Maan Jayegi has a scene where Govinda acting as a blind guy says that even if he is blind, he'll work and earn. He says that he'll sell lottery tickets or open an STD booth or even do music direction; subtly referring to another popular music director.

In Jodi No. 1, Govinda and Sanjay Dutt's character names are 'Jai' and 'Veeru', inspired by Sholay of course. Also, the Villain, Ashish Vidhyarthi is called 'Sir Jon', inspired from Raja Murad's name in Ram Lakhan. Also, Govinda and Sanjay Dutt dress like Birju and Lala Sukhiraam from Mother India and loot the jewellery store. Yunus Pervez's character name in Raja Babu was also Lala Sukhiraam.

In many David Dhawan films, the actress at some point is referred to as Madhubala. Either her character name is Madhubala - like Karisma's name in Raja Babu is Madhubala and so is Ramya's in Banarasi Babu. Or maybe it is used in song - like in the title track of Haseena Maan Jayegi, the heroine is referred to Madhubala.

The heroine's father or an elderly character is mostly named Raisaab in his films. Guess it should be inspired by some character in old B&W films.

The Idiotism and Insanity

That's the USP of David Dhawan's comedy films. It is that craziness which makes his films standout from others. And it's surely not easy to make senseless comedy and yet be funny. The interesting part is that David uses real life characters in his films, the kind of people whom we see and meet daily. All he does is portray those characters in a hilarious manner. That is where his talent comes to play. Thus, many of the jokes in his films are subtle yet so easy to relate.

In Haseena Maan Jayegi, to fool Anupam Kher, Sanjay Dutt talks on the phone telling his dad to buy him a new aeroplane and give the old one to servants for going to market to buy vegetables.

In Chor Machaye Shor, Bobby Deol hides a diamond in an under construction building by sticking the diamond to the ceiling. The building later becomes Police Headquarters. Bobby then just enters the place in an inspector's attire and becomes the head of the department. Adding to that, the diamond is still safely up there though the place is now a ventilator.

In Jodi No.1, the kids are watching TV. Monica Bedi suddenly arrives and turns off the TV. The kids then call Shaktimaan for help. And next scene you see, Sanjay Dutt comes running from nowhere, but dressed as "Zorro" and not Shaktimaan and the two break into a song.

But in spite of all this insanity, these films succeed in making you laugh. You are left with no option but to keep your brains aside, forget the thing called "logic" and enjoy watching cartoons take human form. One can even call it a therapy to de-stress. By the end of the film, all your facial muscles have gotten a good exercise and brain has lost its reasoning ability. Besides, the films also serve as an interesting topic to chat about during coffee break on boring Mondays. So, we prescribe you to spend your free time on weekends watching David Dhawan's comedies. This therapy has been tried and tested on some highly sadistic creatures we know and trust me, it works. And, no, Mr.Dhawan hasn't paid me to write this article. He doesn't even know that I exist.

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