THERE’S A LONG BOLLYWOOD TRADITION OF MAKING UNOFFICIAL VERSIONS OF WESTERN HITS, AND HERE COMEDY DIRECTOR PRIYADARSHAN PROVIDES A VERY INDIAN TAKE OF 1998’S WAKING NED.
The setting is the poor village of Laholi, where life is a daily struggle to make ends meet while avoiding the snare of the local moneylender. The only literate villager among them, Lilaram (Paresh Rawal) earns a meagre income selling tickets for the ‘Malamaal Weekly’ lottery. So when the numbers come up for Anthony, the village drunkard, Lilaram anticipates a healthy commission. But, finding Anthony dead in his chair, ticket in hand, Lilaram and his fellow villagers see an opportunity to change their fortunes in a chaotic plot to claim the cash and share the spoils. Much of the film’s first half is vintage Priyadarshan, with gags aplenty delivered by comic giants old and new. Paresh Rawal and Om Puri (the latter playing a simple but hot-headed milkman) both deliver good performances, and there’s strong support
from old timers Asrani and Shakti Kapoor.