Malamaal Weekly, directed by filmmaker Priyadarshan, Kerala's most famous import to Bollywood, is a comedy that for a change, isn't ripped off from one of Priyadarshan's own Malayalam originals. It is in fact, a shameless copy of the British film Waking Ned Devine. Set in some random village in the South, Malamaal Weekly is a comedy centred around two locals who find out that another villager has won a lottery worth one crore rupees. They plan on conning the lucky winner out of some of his cash, but surprise surprise, the winner himself has died of shock on learning that he won this lottery. These two greedy men now hatch a plan to usurp his money, but unfortunately too many people get let in on the secret, and eventually the entire village becomes a partner in this plot.
The concept of Malamaal Weekly is clever and quite funny, to be honest. But like most of Priyadarshan's recent films, it becomes way too indulgent and unnecessarily complicated. Take any interesting idea and stretch it to it's full capacity, and the result is always a disaster. That's exactly what happens with Malamaal Weekly which goes on and on and on and on and just when you think they've come to an end, it goes on for still much longer.
Priyadarshan reminds me of a spoilt child who's been given a remote controlled toy car. He goes beserk playing with the car and won't stop even after he's banged the car into all the walls and even after the car is coming apart from all the damage. He just won't stop till he feels he's had enough. But the problem is, we've had enough, way before he's had enough.
The good thing about Malamaal Weekly is the acting. Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav and in a surprising career resurrection, Asrani. It is for these actors alone that this film is even marginally entertaining. Watching actors like Paresh Rawal and Om Puri on screen shows you immediately the difference between playing a character and playing a role. These actors become the characters they're playing and they pretty much stay those characters throughout the film.
Ritesh Deshmukh meanwhile, who's showed such a flair for comedy recently in Masti, Kya Kool Hain Hum and Bluffmaster should be really upset with the director for saddling him with what is nothing better than a junior artiste's role.
In the end, Malamaal Weekly has its moments because the source material - the film it's stolen from - had a super script. But still, it raises only a few laughs here and there. There's nothing like too much of a good thing, and Priyadarshan needs to understand that right away. His Garam Masala may have worked at the box-office, but Malamaal Weekly is a more sincere comedy. About thirty minutes shorter and more cleverly edited, Malamaal Weekly might have been a fantastic weekend watch, but in its current form, it's too long and too tiresome.
That's two out of five, comci-comca, for director Priyadarshan's Malamaal Weekly, which is very much like uncooked biryani. The smell's there, the taste's there, but something vital is missing.
Rating: 2/5
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