Ek Aur Ek Gyarah   Producer: Subhash Ghai Director: David Dhawan Starring: Govinda, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Amrita Arora, Gulshan Grover, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Introducing Nandini Singh Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Lyrics: Sameer Genre: Comedy Recommended Audience: General Approximate Running Time: 2 1/2 hours Film Released on: 28 March 2003 Reviewed by: Suraj Das  - Rating: 7.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Music Review

David Dhawan has definitely reached the end of the line as far as his slapstick comedies are concerned. When compared to the smarter, better-written comedies being made these days by directors like Priyadarshan, Dhawan’s low-brow style often comes off feeling archaic, cheap, and contrived. Thankfully, Dhawan has stated in interviews that he plans to change his style of filmmaking in the future, and lay off the buffoonery. Dhawan’s favorite actor and most frequent collaborator, Govinda, has also announced that he will no longer work in comedies, and only take up meaningful and challenging roles.

So is Ek Aur Ek Gyarah an uninspired drag featuring a director-star duo that lost all conviction in the project before it was completed? Fortunately, not with Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Dhawan and Govinda have managed to go out with a bang in what is Dhawan’s most solid effort in recent times. For Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Dhawan hooked up with producer Subhash Ghai and brought in his most successful star-combination ever – the Govinda-Sanjay Dutt link up we’ve seen in past hits like Haseena Man Jayegi and Jodi No.1. Consequently, the film boasts of respectable production values and a superb comic cast. Add supporting actors like Jackie Shroff

and Gulshan Grover, the glamour of fresh heroines Amrita Arora and Nandini Singh, and an awesome soundtrack by Shankar-Eshaan-Loy, and you have an all-round entertainer missing only one key ingredient - a plot.

The plot is the greatest detractor in this enterprise. The basic sequence of events in the film greatly resembles that in Joru Ka Ghulam

and Jodi No.1. Tara (Govinda) and Sitara (Sanjay Dutt) are small-time crooks who get mixed up with big-time mobster Cobra (Ashish Vidharythi).The three end up in jail where Tara and Sitara successfully make an escape. Now on the run from the cops, they hatch a plan to cross the border to Nepal. They figure that they can achieve this end by conning a military officer on border patrol – Major Ram Singh (Jackie Shroff). They begin by lying their ways into the home and hearts of Major Ram Singh and his family. Ram Singh’s sister (debutante Nandini Singh) even falls in love with Tara, and her best friend (Amirta Arora) falls in love with Sitara. But all is not well.Ram Singh had previously arrested a dreaded cross-border terrorist Panther (Gulshan Grover), who happens to be related to Cobra. Cobra hatches a plan whereby he blackmails Tara and Sitara to manipulate Ram Singh to release Panther from prison.

The schizoid plot hasn’t a single drop of coherence. But what matters is present; the comic situations all feature rib-tickling dialogues and an endless barrage of hilarious moments. Sure, these situations make little to no sense when strung together, but they manage to keep one’s attention and evoke laughter as they unfold. In an attempt to make the film an “all-round” entertainer, the screenwriters have placed a couple of miserably underdeveloped subplots in the film. The lack of real development in any of these plotlines is understandable, however. Development in these plotlines would have made the film longer, but not better, and had it plunge into rambling depths. This is a light-hearted farce, after-all.

As a self-mocking, tongue-in-cheek comedy that shouldn’t be taken seriously, the film is excellent. All of the Hindi-movie conventions are present in all their ludicrous glory. The zippy dialogs complete with witty one-liners, quirky repeated sayings, and below-the-belt shots are continuously hilarious. The charming romantic track is sped up with Shankar-Eshaan-Loy’s wonderful songs, and the action scenes have novel stunts and comic twists that make them fun to watch.

Performances are another reason the film is so enjoyable. The stylish Jackie Shroff is very cool as the military officer. Ashish Vidhyarthi and Gulshan Grover are good as dreaded villains who turn out to be buffoons. Amrita Arora looks incredible, dances remarkably well, and shows quite a bit of comic range in some of the light romantic scenes. Cute newcomer Nandini Singh is fun to watch as well; she complements Govinda well on screen, overflows with appeal in the dance-numbers, and plays her scenes in a deliciously over the top manner that fits this comedy exceptionally well.

Sanjay Dutt is at his comic best in this film. This is his smoothest,most uninhibited funny-man performance. His dry, sarcastic style is frequently laugh out loud funny, and he pulls all of his sequences – comic, action, romantic – with a great balance of tongue-in-cheek humor and conviction.

The greatest aspect of the film is undoubtedly the genius comic performance by Govinda. This is one of the definitive Govinda tapori-style performances. Govinda’s body language, expressions, and dialog delivery are all flawless. Whether he’s delivering a one-liner with effectiveness, squealing in fear of a villain, or making funny expressions to charm his girlfriend, in almost every frame, Govinda is doing something that is downright side-splitting. His work here proves exactly why his comedies were such rip-roaring successes in the past, and he establishes once again that when he’s in his element, he is one of the greatest one-man shows in the world. His benchmark work in the film is a fitting end to the long line of comedies he’s done with director Dhawan, who has always managed to bring out the best in Govinda. One can only hope that Govinda will bounce back from his career low with as much zest, charisma, and raw talent as he shows in this film.

Ek Aur Ek Gyarah delivers on its promise to thoroughly entertain anyone looking for a light-hearted farce.The film has comedy, romance, and action in spades, and the goings-ons are further uplifted by incredible music, nice song picturizations, solid performances, and one outstanding turn by veteran-funny-man Govinda.

As long as one realizes that it is not meant to be taken seriously, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah has a great few hours of care-free, rib-tickling fun to offer. There are few comedies making the rounds at the moment that will have you laughing as hard, or as frequently. Not to be missed, highly recommended.