De Dana Dhan Movie Review

Akshay Kumar’s much hyped De Dana Dhan released worldwide today and the expectations quite obviously are high. For one, the film reunites the Hera Pheri team of Akshay Kumar – Paresh Rawal – Suniel Shetty and director Priyadarshan. Over the years, Priyadarshan films that I have loved in particular have been Hera Pheri, Hungama and to a certain extent Hulchul. De Dana Dhan promises more – 25 character actors along with a thrilling water-flood scene as its climax.

Story is something, we cannot expect from Priyan’s films. But is it entertaining enough to deserve the price of your tickets? Read on.. 

Nithin (Akshay Kumar) works for a rich mall-owner (played by Archana Puran Singh) in Singapore. He is in love with Anjali (Katrina Kaif) and with dreams of quitting his slave-job and marrying the love of his life, he is always on a look out for a shortcut to richness. With help from his friend Ram (Suniel Shetty), the two hatch a plan to kidnap his owner’s Dog! What follows is utter chaos filled with innumerable misunderstandings and confusions.

De Dana Dhan Review

The negatives first, for a change

  • The fact that Paresh Rawal and some of the other character actors have more screen-time than Akshay Kumar is simply unacceptable. Most parts of the second half Akki is locked in the wardrobe, which would be terribly disappointing for Akki fans and the roar when he is finally released, proves just that.
  • Katrina Kaif has nothing to do. No role, few dialogues and the sizzling Gale Lag Ja dance number has been kept away as a bonus by director Priyadarshan for the post-weekend shows. Again, unacceptable.
  • For a movie hyped as the return of the Hera Pheri team – Paresh Rawal has absolutely no interaction with neither Suniel Shetty nor Akshay Kumar. Unacceptable, disappointing and with a hint of exaggeration cruel!
  • The runtime is close to 3 hours and the director has wasted loads of time in introducing all the 20 odd characters. With each having multiple misunderstandings with two of the other characters, the movies gets too monotonous in the second half.
  • While you expect non-stop entertainment, the funny scenes are few and far in between. The whole marriage angle in the second half and the addition of several new characters, ruins what should have been a thoroughly entertaining ride had the director just stuck to the Akshay – Suniel storyline.
  • The dialogues are strictly average. Some of them work, most don’t.
  • The climax which refreshes memories of the Tsumani hit resorts, looks realistic. But what’s the whole point of the scene, to evoke laughter? Sorry it didn’t.
  • What’s with the abrupt end? None of misunderstandings were cleared. Are we expecting too much here? Wasn’t it Akshay who claimed ‘Take your brains to theaters’ — After watching the film, would love to know exactly why.. ?

Its disappointing, disturbing and not one bit funny anymore! Its hard to see an actor, who you have grown to love over the years, as a part of such flicks.

Positives

  • About two scenes involving Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty in the first half are funny.
  • When Akshay is released from the cupboard. The scene that follows is hilarious.
  • Those inhaling of chloroform scenes were funny too and performed well by all the actors involved.
  • Katrina looks stunning and so does Neha Dhupia, who deserves credit for putting up the best show amongst the females.
  • Johnny Lever is fantastic.

Other performances

  • Archana Puran Singh – Too Loud and over the top.
  • Paresh Rawal has the meatiest role. He excels in certain scenes, but average in others.
  • Suniel Shetty doesn’t have much to do in the second half, but does well in the first.
  • Asrani as Mamu is good.
  • Sameera Reddy is purely for eye candy.
  • Rajpal Yadav is very good.
  • Manoj Joshi is loud but effective.
  • Chunky Pandey is okay.
  • Aditi Govitrikar currently locked in the Bigg Boss house looks gorgeous.
  • Shakti Kapoor was irritating.

Overall, De Dana Dhan isn’t close to being as good as Priyadarshan’s ‘H Series’ (read Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul) of classics. Although this review wouldn’t make much of a difference to die hard Akshay fans, it is they who will be most disappointed.

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

Other comments – Not much to say really. It was better than the other two comedies of Akshay Kumar this year and probably deserves half a star more, if not a full one. But with Akshay missing in the second half, Katrina making short appearances every 20 mins and the lack of interaction between the Hera Pheri gang.. makes it one of the bigger disappointments of the year.

Let the bashing begin..!

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355 Comments

  • Indicine team,i m totally disagree wid ur rating.
    movie was not damm gud and i agree on dat but it is far better than APKGK and All the best,if u see the content of d movie then it is quite gud,i wud like to give it 3/5.

    only negative abt the movie was-akshya’s less presence

    Nauman,i agree with ur rating as well as ur views but still not 4/5.

  • We are just giving an opinion. What we felt after watching the movie. You read the review and decide for yourself. That’s all that a review is meant to be.

    We loved Kurbaan, including so many critics and readers here. Many of them have loved the film. If it didnt work it was due to the Adult rating, dark theme and negative publicity due to the bare back scenes. Can’t expect family audience to go to theaters after seeing a bare back Kareena all over Mumbai and other cities.

    Vivaah didn’t have a open run.. It released close to Dhoom 2 which is one of the biggest blockbusters of the decade. And it ran for close to an year, no less. Business was strong for 10 weeks. Same with Taare Zameen par which released with Welcome.

    Jodha Akbar was a historical, no other film of this genre has worked in Bollywood in the last 20 years of so. Its the combination of Hrithik’s star power and strong content that worked in week 1 despite being banned in 3 major states of India.. and continued to do good business for more than 50 days. It was in theaters for more than 100 days.

    On that 2 star thing, done with explaining it several times.. See the comment above this.. Abhi reduced 2 stars for “Akshay’s less presence” ;)

  • Someone who can give a trash movie filled with the most bizarre loopholes (Read Kurbaan) a 4.5, it hardly surprises me when they give DDD 1.5.

    DDD is not a classic in any way but it still has enough gags & is entertaining throughout. Damn, if a total snooze-fest like APKGK can be a super-hit, then DDD needs to be a blockbuster.

    Indicine reviews are just a joke.

  • Indicine team- wen u don have anythin else to say u got ur best answer-” it was our opinion”..;) ha ha

    TZP was released with welcome but it had open weeks…3wks…

    Abhi told the movie s not damn gud but its gud,, so he gave 3/5. nw dont make akshays absense as a big issue and support ur rating..;) ha ha

  • @nauman amish.dun worry abt reviews.ddd is going to be blockbuster,.me wid my 8frd had a blast..post interval is just too gud..when manoj josh4 throws tea on johny that was howalrious..as i earlier said movie ll collect 7 10 10 6 5 5 4 3 5 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 total 80cr..

  • Amish
    Akshya’s absence is major drawback for this movie,but u r right it doesn’t affect the overall rating,though it affect somewhat.but movie is gud without ny doubt.

  • U can say bla n bla about movie…But fact is it was best movie of akshay of 2009…..Only thing which dissapointed me was there was less role of akshay in 2nd half…But overall entertaining movie….Boxoffice report will shut all ur mouth!!!

  • :indicine: Vivah was a good movie. dont tell me . its like a TV serial converted into a movie . ppl had enough of it so it didnt work in metros . maybe in interiors ppl still love these kind of serials so they liked the movie .

    By the way i have heard that Vivah is considered a hit .is it true????

  • block buster all the way, if it depend on the review, what happen to Kurban and London Dreem. i watched the movie last night, i will watch it againe on sunday. super movie

  • In DDD there r so many characters..it’s Priyadarshan..who gave equall importance more or less to all those characters…for that reason..he needed to lock Akshyay..for some time..otherwise these characters did not get any chance to act..that’s nice..Akshyay kumardid his role with ease..brilliant performance..

    It’s no way 1.5…

  • I wud like to be with Indicine team for this review but i cant gv it less then 2 and half star bcoz there is some disappointment for the viewer related to Akki, Suniel and Paresh ……….. But excluding this three’s past films if we see De Dana Dhan movie with other direction and expecting nothing from this guys one will enjoy bcoz it is not to expect something like Hera Pheri and many more………

  • Rating a movie s not joke ppl…. so i would rather say a BIG THUMBS UP for this flick…..:)

    priyadarshan has done something which none of d other directors would `ve ever done… makin a movie with 2 dozen actors, and still managin to create a complete entertainer… wow…:) amazing…

    tsunami scene was in dat movie to entertain ppl.. it was really fun watchin those 25 odd characters floatin and d comic dialogue interaction between them…:)- INDICINE TEAM U GOT THE ANSWER WY TAT SCENE WAS IMP…;)

  • Akshay as usual was superb in d movie.. startin from d word go….:) but believe me being a die hard akki fan i never missed him in 2nd half like most ppl pointed out.. al d characters take this movie on their own shoulders… and every single character s as gud as akki…:)

  • The last is too gd no?it’s really a tough job to do that scene and it’s very funny aswell to see those characters floating ..what’s the rating..3.5 sure..

  • First half of the movie is too gd…mulchandji..,torn suit..Akshyay is too casual..to perform that role ..just amazing..butothers r also too gd..

  • Some funny scenes-
    1. opening scene wer akshay introduces himself…:)
    2. mulchandji scene
    3. paresh chunky and tat police in d office.
    4. kidnaping mulchandji.
    5. tat scene wer in police publish akshays chilhood snap in paper and ppl start takin banners tellin save nikhil was 2 gud..:)
    6. johny`s entry scene wer chicken soup s thrown on him and sunil asks chicken soups se muh dote ho tum..;)??
    7. in 2nd half movie s so so hilarious .. al d scenes wer gud…:)

    akki sayin bhagwan jabhi deta hai sab kuch fhaad ke deta hai n katrina corrrectin him..

    akki `s another dialogue- aadmi aadmi ko dokha deta hai per pehli bar kutthe ne aadmi ko dokha diya hai..;)

    der r many many of such funny dialogues which may seem poor jokes but wen watchin u cant stop laughin..:)

    true entertainer of this yr…:)

    response in d theater was phinomenal… :)

  • Without Akshyay DDD..was tooo gd..as others did extremely well..

    Hey Anish that guy is back..asking for ur ban..on box office update page..have a look

  • Thanks a lot Indicine Team … I was just eagerly waiting to read your comments … Somehow , I feel like both of us share a common wavelength to some extent regarding the likings and dislikings of a movie … Since , it’s not possible to watch each and every movie or to go to the multiplex , I really depend on you a lot … much more than the ‘word of mouth’ or the records of box office collection … Thank you so much … B’bye … .

  • i was checking on yahoo . the user review of 65 ppl and a average rating of 4.5/5 . out of those 65 reviews only 2 are negative so far . i wd be watching it on weekday maybe tuesday , if the plan to watch it doesnt materialize tommorrow

  • punter- watch it dude.. its really gud…

    especially 2nd half der s no gap at al… every scene s funny…. 2hrs 40min full of fun..

  • Its just fantastic. Entertainment unlimited ! No need to see it critically. Just light hearted fun.
    Your review is crap !

  • guys i m back from my job so i m with u till 4 more hrs to pretend DDD n akki.
    1st of all I hv to talk with Indicine .
    Indicine u mentioned 8 negative points.ok doesn’t matter if u would have 80 negative points I ll correct u like u corrected me when I mentioned 10 negative points of Kurbaan. I will explain one by one
    1. Akshay’s Screen Timming:
    just remember Bhulbhulaiyan ( u gave 4/5) do u hv any idea when akshay came in that movie ??? just 10 min early to interval it means after 50 min . Namaste London ( u gave 4/5) when akshay entered in the movie I am 100 % sure when movie completed its 30 min .because i saw the time . ok leave Akshay talk about Aamir Khan. (TZP) he entered in the movie when movie finished its 45 min. MAMK salman went to Singapore and he was also disappeared from movie for more then 40 min he had just 2,3 phone scene like akki called one time suneil and 2nd katreena.
    Deewana : Rishi Kapoor for 30 min when shahrukh entered
    Imtehan : Sunny Deol when Saifi entered
    Race : Saifi Dead at Interval and he came back at climax when only two scene ( 1st explanation every thing 2nd race with akshay khanna)
    If I will start it wont be finish
    In those movies u didn’t mention that it is negative point but about Akshay u mentioned that he disappeared for 30 min. ok I agree but see movies running time is 2 hr 45 if he wasn’t in movie for 30 min he was still in movie for 2:15 min 1st 30 min he has all scenes then movie starts in hotel he was their as well and he has full time screen appearance. Last 30 min he has again full time screen appearance so tell me now wht do u want ????

  • indicine u r worry about 200 bucks and u want to save 200 bucks. wht about 50 cr ??? who spended 50 cr – 60 cr u dont want to give them damn ………..
    how cheep u r.
    if some one will loose his 200 Rs . its ok if some one will loose his 20 cr then wht do u think will it fair for him ???
    u and i are here in our air conditioned rooms on duel 2 core lap tops with cup of tea , coffee and pepsi and passing the comments that movie is not good movie is not good. did u relies who r making movies in 45 c Temprature without any aircon or roof . who spend their 2 yrs only for one movie and here in airconditioned hall u just spend 200 rs and sayy to others plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz dont goooooooooooooooo plzzzzzzzzzzz dont goooooooooooooo.
    aisa lagta hai jaise critics ki producers ke sath koi khandani dushmani ho jaise ………….. i dont wana say any bad thing u can understand wht i wana say.

  • negative point 2
    Katreena has nothing to do :
    just tell me one thing except Namaste London and Newyork and ajab ghazab in any movie has she more then 10 sceens ???
    Welcome, SIK , partner , sarkar, u can count on ur finger that how many sceens does she have.
    do u expect from her to take the clothes off like kareena in Kurbaan???
    in every single movie she has this kind of role so plz dont expect from her.

  • guys which show has t start 8:45 it has been sold 100 % occupency in sydney and right now 8:22
    perfect mindblowing
    Ritvika :
    today parramatta also 100 % before starting time

  • Guys box office collection in sydney
    Parramatta 100 % ( indian community area)
    Burwood 100% ( non indian community area where i watched it on thursday on that time it was 40% )
    Liverpool 75% ( indian , fiji , community area )
    Hornsbe 20 % ( non indian community area even not more than 1000 indian poeple would live there.
    castle Hills 60% ( mix community area)
    if any one wants proof then
    go to google search
    then try to fine even cinemas australia
    then de dana dan
    then cinema names which i mentioned.
    i cant put link coz indicine doesnt put my link i dont know why. i am trying to sned link of this site but they didnt put

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