Slapstick comedy is a fine art that thrives on crisp logic, impeccable physical timing, and a sharp understanding of absurdity. The original 2007 Dhamaal succeeded because it weaponized unforgettable one-liners and an electric, organic group dynamic. Fourteen years later, the fourth installment arrives with a bigger budget, premium visual effects, and an overstuffed cast—only to prove that throwing massive amounts of noise at the screen cannot replace genuine wit.

The Plot: A Relentless Race for Shaitaan Singh’s Gold

The narrative engine kicks off with an AI-generated Jackie Shroff framing the legend of a massive, 100-year-old hidden fortune belonging to an old-world dacoit, Shaitaan Singh. In the present day, a goofy, highly eccentric sea pirate named Adhoora (Ravi Kishan) is busy torturing an associate named Prithvi (Upendra Limaye) to secure the map to the gold.

Before getting pushed off a steep cliff, Prithvi inadvertently spills the exact location to a motley crew of greedy, shortcut-seeking misfits. The characters instantly split into highly competitive factions to reach the island first:

• The Hustlers: Guddu (Ajay Devgn) and his constantly irritated sidekick Jonny (Sanjay Mishra).
• The Legacy Duo: The returning franchise favorites, Adi (Arshad Warsi) and his thick-headed brother Manav (Jaaved Jaaferi).
• The Dreamer: The loud, greedy tapori Lallan (Riteish Deshmukh) out to secure an “extra-large” life.

As all three teams charge across remote locations, modern terrains, and pirate-infested waters, they stumble through a series of increasingly bizarre, cartoonish accidents in their mad scramble to claim the payout.

What Works: Convincing Visual Production and Committed Performances

• Surprisingly Crisp CGI: In a notable departure from standard Bollywood comedies that often lean on cheap, poorly integrated green screens, Dhamaal 4 puts actual money on the screen. The visual effects are surprisingly polished, ensuring that the high-stakes action sequences, sweeping sea vistas, and an elaborate cliff-top rescue block look physically grounding and believable.
• Committed Cast Dynamics: The only saving grace keeping the film from total structural collapse is the sheer work ethic of the ensemble. Ajay Devgn looks fully awake compared to his recent dramatic runs, feeding beautifully off Sanjay Mishra’s stellar, deadpan one-liner delivery. Riteish Deshmukh throws his entire body into the loud tapori energy, while Jaaved Jaaferi’s Manav remains a nostalgic, highly watchable anchor who earns the film’s few genuine chuckles.
• Ravi Kishan’s Spark: In his limited screen time as the bumbling pirate, Ravi Kishan infuses the narrative with a fantastic, highly energetic presence. His scenes opposite a perpetually frustrated Vijay Patkar provide a couple of the only organic, laugh-out-loud moments in the theater.

Where the Comedy Derails: Lazy Formulas and Regressive Tropes

Despite the high performance effort, the final product is a textbook example of a franchise completely out of ideas, running purely on the fumes of its past success.

• Flimsy, Recycled Writing: The screenplay by Paritosh Painter, Balvinder Singh Suri, and Vedd Prakash feels like a generic collage of recycled gags. The movie is bizarrely obsessed with breaking the fourth wall to call out its own unoriginality, constantly placing characters in situations that directly copy the 2007 original just to have them point it out to the camera. This doesn’t look clever; it looks incredibly lazy.
• A Heavy Dose of Body-Shaming: Indra Kumar’s directorial choices feel remarkably dated and out of touch with modern sensibilities. The film relentlessly relies on cheap, problematic humor, transforming Lallan’s overweight wife Paaro (Anjali Anand) into the continuous butt of every mean-spirited fat-shaming and misogynistic joke imaginable. The script also aggressively treats speech impediments and tribal caricatures as instant punchlines, stripping the franchise of its classic “clean family comedy” status.
• Infantile ‘Looney Tunes’ Violence: The humor frequently drops into basic, juvenile slapstick where characters are continuously hit on the head, fake octopuses are flung at faces, and the male anatomy is subjected to repetitive, painful physical crushing. Without smart dialogue to back it up, this constant physical abuse becomes exhausting very quickly, made worse by a blaring, non-stop background score by Amar Mohile that rarely allows a scene to breathe.

The Verdict

Dhamaal 4 is a loud, chaotic, and uninspired corporate package that mistakes high decibel levels for genuine humor. While the dedicated cast and slick visual presentation keep it visually afloat, the absolute lack of fresh writing, reliance on recycled gags, and regressive, mean-spirited jokes ensure that this treasure hunt is simply not worth chasing. Save your ticket money and go rewatch the original 2007 classic at home instead.

TL;DR / Key Facts

• The Release: Directed by Indra Kumar, the massive multi-starrer slapstick comedy Dhamaal 4 officially debuted in global theaters two days ago, on Friday, July 10, 2026.
• The Blueprint: Following the signature, long-running structure of the franchise (Dhamaal, Total Dhamaal), the narrative centers around a group of greedy, completely incompetent individuals racing against each other to claim a century-old hidden pirate treasure.
• The Ensemble: Features a massive roster led by Ajay Devgn (Guddu), Sanjay Mishra (Jonny), Arshad Warsi (Adi), Jaaved Jaaferi (Manav), and Riteish Deshmukh (Lallan), alongside Ravi Kishan as a bumbling sea pirate named Adhoora, Upendra Limaye, Anjali Anand, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Esha Gupta.
• Critical Verdict: Stagnant and highly disappointing. Mainstream critics and viewers are heavily panning the film as an exhausting, unfunny slog that fails to recreate the magic of the 2007 original. While the high-budget CGI and the sheer commitment of the cast are earning decent notes, the writing is being widely slammed for relying on loud background noises, outdated regressive jokes, and lazy body-shaming.

---

Discover more empowering stories and insightful content like this on YOUxTalks, your go-to destination for inspiration and knowledge.

Follow YOUxTalks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youxtalks