Review: All the Best: The Fun Begins

Sonia Chopra

Mixed identities are the staple of slapstick. But every filmmaker treats a subject differently. Adapted from a play called Right Bed, Wrong Husband, ATB’s plot is as inane as you’d expect, but director Rohit Shetty’s treatment is supremely entertaining.Somewhere in Goa, Veer (Fardeen Khan) is drunk and competing with best buddy Prem Chopra (Ajay Devgn) over who’s the more pathetic loser. It’s a difficult contest; but the latter wins on account of the name his parents chose for him. His wife, Jhanvi, (Bipasha Basu) looks after their rundown gym where the treadmills are so outdated their `stop’ buttons don’t work. As for Veer, we learn that he’s a struggling musician of sorts, living in a lovely bungalow thanks to pocket money sent by his big bro Dharam (Sanjay Dutt). Only hitch is that he’s been lying that he’s married to girlfriend Vidya (Mugdha Godse). So, when Dharam arrives in Goa unexpectedly, all hell breaks loose. Things get mixed up as do people. Dharam mistakes Jhanvi to be Vidya. The new tenant (Sanjay Mishra) arrives to fix his nameplate at the door. The local don (Johnny Lever doing a Sir Judah spoof) from whom they had borrowed money also lands up at the same time. Screenplay writer Yunus Sejawal (Life Partner, Do Knot Disturb) and Robin Bhatt (U, Me Aur Hum) give us a riveting script. Interestingly, the King of identity switcheroo films – Chupke Chupke finds its way on the TV screens of our characters, and that’s a nice touch. The humour is consistently good and comprises self-deprecating jokes (Ajay Devgn mistaken for a driver), some witty one-liners (dialogues by Bunty Rathod, Sajid Farhaad) and hilarious situations. Rohit Shetty steers clear of calling women `item’ this time (your audience will appreciate that for sure, Mr Shetty) but cannot resist some terrible jokes comparing a woman to a car (lagta hai market mein nayi ayi hai. I wish I could ride her’) and trivializing rape by building a joke around it. But still, it’s far cleaner than his earlier comedies and can truly be watched with family and friends. The cast does exceedingly well. Ajay Devgn is the show-stealer with his goofy comic timing and a wardrobe full of cartoon T-shirts. Sanjay Dutt is in his element after a long time. Fardeen Khan is sincere. Bipasha Basu is fabulous and Mugdha Godse too leaves an impact. Ashwini Kalsekar as the housemaid is outstanding and has some of the best lines. Johnny Lever is fantastic. Asrani and Sanjay Mishra add to the fun. Songs are average save the superb Jitni Martaba picturised on the lead pairs. The film ends on a happy note with outtakes from the film like inGolmaal. The producer-director-actor combo (Golmaal, Golmaal Returns, Sunday) has given several successes in the past and maintain their formula of an unapologetically silly story, a fab cast, some seriously expensive songs, a couple of action scenes and LOL gags. ATB is one of their more palatable comedies, slightly more high-brow than the others. Now who wouldn’t want to bring in the festival season laughing? Recommended indeed!