REVIEW: Do Knot Disturb

Cheating spouses are a favourite with the humour specialists of Bollywood. Which is why Do Knot Disturb is yet another comedy about a married man (Govinda), his suspecting wife (Sushmita Sen) and his hot girlfriend (Lara Dutta). There is also the girlfriend’s other lover (Sohail Khan) and the wife’s detective friend (Ranvir Shorey).

Going by the character briefs you pretty much get an idea of what to expect from David Dhawan's latest. The only twist in the tale is Riteish Deshmukh’s character. A random guy in the background of a photograph - he lands up in the bedrooms of these other characters. How Riteish is hired by Govinda to date Lara, so that Sushmita doesn't file for a divorce is one of the funniest scenes in the movie. He successfully matches Govinda’s timing without getting overshadowed.

Riteish actually is the soul of the film and manages it all with style. Despite being a David Dhawan-Govinda film, the once Hero No 1 is sadly not in his element. Save for a few scenes (the restaurant sequence with Sush is a riot), he goes horribly over the top. Somehow his trademark reactions and facial expressions don't make the desired impact. This time around, a lot of Govinda’s humour get lost in his loud dialogue delivery.

Apart from Riteish, it's Rajpal Yadav who manages to crack you up each time he appears. As for the other members of the cast, Lara Dutta provides ample skin show to keep the masses happy. But the other beauty queen is unfortunately looking few sizes bigger. Sushmita Sen is presented in the most unflattering manner – except for a last music video where she miraculously loses all those extra kilos. Also even though she is stationed in the same location as the other characters, she is missing from many scenes. Sohail Khan as usual makes faces and noises. While Ranvir Shorey gets much more screen time than one can endure. His solo scenes in the climax only end up dragging the proceedings.

David Dhawan tries the Anees Bazmee approach of packing in lots of characters in one location and creating a chain of confusion. But Dhawan's execution never reaches the crazy heights to ensure sustained laughter. Instead it's a handful of genuinely hilarious sequences that keep the ship afloat. In the first half the dialogues are of the SMS joke variety, but delivered enthusiastically by the actors. The energy of the first half continues for a while till everything fizzles out in the last 20 minutes.

Suddenly the characters make their choices at the drop of a hat. And it's all wrapped up in the most unsatisfactory fashion. The mediocre music score works better on screen thanks to some lively dancing. Do Knot Disturb is a run-off-the-mill comedy aimed at the masses. But the laughs are not consistent.

Verdict: Govinda and David Dhawan have made us laugh a lot more in the past. And this is certainly below par for them. Watch it if you are looking for handful a of chuckles. Do not expect more.

Rating: 1.5/5