Arbaaz Khan Production and Kinesis Films’ Dolly Ki Doli (UA) is the story of a girl, Dolly (Sonam Kapoor), who is a fraudster. Her full-time job is to pretend to fall in love with a boy, marry him and then make away with all the jewellery from the house on the first night after mixing sleeping tablets in milk offered to all the members of the household including her husband. She has a man (Manoj Joshi) posing as her father, a lady (Zeena Bhatia) who acts like her mother, a young man, Raju (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub), who poses as her brother, and an old lady (Rajani Vaidya) who pretends to be her grandmother. The five of them have looted a number of homes in the same style – hook a boy, marry him and make away with the jewellery before the marriage can be consummated.
Two of her victims are Sonu Sehrawat (Rajkumar Rao) and Manjot Singh Chaddha (Varun Sharma). The two of them meet on the day Dolly marries Manjot, by which time Sonu has already been duped by her. Meanwhile, police inspector Robin Singh (Pulkit Samrat) is given the case of Dolly, known in police circles as Looteri Dulhan. Soon, it emerges that Dolly has known Robin Singh also.
So, does Robin Singh arrest Dolly? How does Dolly know Robin Singh? Do Sonu and Manjot get justice? Does Dolly return the valuables stolen from Sonu and Manjot’s homes? Does Dolly finally settle down with anyone? If so, with whom?
Umashankar Singh and Abhishek Dogra have penned a story which is simple but their screenplay is what makes the drama enjoyable and entertaining. The screenplay keeps the audience in splits sometimes and with a smile or grin on their faces at other times. No doubt, the film moves on one track only, but because of the various ‘husbands’ of Dolly, the singular track does not make the drama monotonous. A bit of a suspense in the post-interval portion and its revelation come as additional excitement. The climax looks hurried and a bit disappointing but there’s a bonus – an additional sequence which has such a cute twist that it brings a smile on everybody’s face. One point about the characterisation of Sonu: it is beautifully written and is so consistent throughout the drama that that itself is funny. Umashankar Singh and Abhishek Dogra’s dialogues are splendid.
Sonam Kapoor looks glamorous and acts with effortless ease. She makes her character believable without making it look cheap. Rajkumar Rao is outstanding as Sonu Sehrawat. He has worked hard on the Haryanvi language which he speaks throughout the film. His performance will be counted as one of his best to-date. Pulkit Samrat looks handsome and acts well. Varun Sharma is cute and suits the role. Archna Pooran Singh is simply splendid, evoking laughter every time she comes on the screen. Manoj Joshi is efficient, as always. Mohd. Zeeshan Ayub is pretty effective. Brijendra Kala is supremely natural and raises laughter. Rajesh Sharma leaves a fine mark. Rajani Vaidya, as Dolly’s grandmother, has her moments in the police station investigation scene. Zeena Bhatia is alright as Dolly’s mother. Gulfam Khan makes her presence felt as Sonu’s mother. Malaika Arora Khan adds plenty of oomph in a song-dance number. Saif Ali Khan is lovely in a guest appearance and he comes as a wonderful surprise in the film. Istiyak Khan (as Ashwin), Mubeen Saudagar (as Ibrahim), Kanchan Pagare (as John), Sukhwinder Chahal (as Manjot’s father), Vibha Chhibber (as the commissioner of police), Ishita Vyas (as Imarti), Kuldeep Sareen (as the police officer) and the others lend the desired support.
Abhishek Dogra’s direction is praiseworthy. He has made the film quite a laugh riot and extracted good work from out of his actors. Frankly, the film does not appear like a debut attempt of Dogra. Sajid-Wajid’s music is good but should’ve been better. A couple of chartbusting songs would’ve helped a great deal. Nevertheless, the ‘Fashion’ song is mass-appealing. The ‘Babaji ka thhullu’ song is nice while the ‘Naina’ track is melodious. The title song is fair. Irfan Kamal, Danish Sabri and Kumaar have penned lyrics which are quite good. Choreography (by Mudassar Khan, Shabina Khan and Lollypop) is fair. The songs have been directed by Remo D’Souza and Katyayan Shivpuri. Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background music is very effective. Saurabh Goswami impresses with his camerawork. Manohar Verma’s action and stunts are okay. Sapna Chandra and Tariq Umar Khan’s production designing is appropriate. Hemal Kothari’s editing is very sharp.
On the whole, Dolly Ki Doli is an enjoyable entertainer which will keep the audience smiling/laughing but business-wise, it will prove to be an average fare because of its extremely poor start. Of course, collections will pick up due to mouth publicity, and the additional national holiday on Republic Day (26th January) will prove to be beneficial for the film, but since there are other films slated for release next week, it has only its first week to do the maximum business; and the dull initial will tell on the first week’s business.