Dhamaal is an Indian comedy film series directed and co-produced by Indra Kumar. The first four films featured Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, Saanand Verma, Karan Deol, Ashish Chaudhary and Sanjay Dutt in lead roles. The third installment also featured Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Johnny Lever, Boman Irani, Mahesh Manjrekar and Madhuri Dixit along with the original cast, but Dutt and Chaudhary did not appear in the third film. The fourth installment will also feature Varun Dhawan, Varun Sharma, Ashutosh Rana and Rajpal Yadav. Shraddha Kapoor will play a cameo role in the film.
The first film , Dhamaal (2007) was released on 7 September 2007. The film spawned three sequels: Double Dhamaal (2011) was released on 24 June 2011, which was a direct sequel to the first film installment; Total Dhamaal (2019) was released on 22 February 2019, and Dhamaal 4, which is scheduled to be released on the occasion of Eid 2026. [1]
| Film | Release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Story | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhamaal | 7 September 2007 | Indra Kumar | Balwinder Singh Suri | Paritosh Painter | Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria |
| Double Dhamaal | 24 June 2011 | Tushar Hiranandani | |||
| Total Dhamaal | 22 February 2019 | Ved Prakash, Paritosh Painter, Bunty Rathore | Indra Kumar | Ajay Devgn, Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar, Markand Adhikari, Anand Pandit | |
| Dhamaal 4 | 2026 | Indra Kumar | Aakash Kaushik | Ajay Devgn, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar, Abhishek Pathak, Kumar Mangat Phatak | |
The first installment of the series centers on fictional incidents. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey while Asrani, Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Pahwa, Tiku Talsania and Prem Chopra are featured in supporting roles. [2] It is heavily inspired from the 2001 American comedy film Rat Race directed by Jerry Zucker. Dhamaal was released on 7 September 2007, and gained positive reviews. It earned ₹50.73 crore worldwide [3] The film was declared as a box-office success.
After the success of Dhamaal Indra and Sanjay re-united once again for sequel. The film was titled as Dhamaal 2: 420s, but is known as Double Dhamaal or Super Kameenas and also second installment in this series. [4] The plot focused on Four idlers make elaborate plans to earn money by investing in buildings but are conned by Kabir, who leaves them unemployed and penniless. Soon, they are on the prowl to avenge their humiliation. Dhamaal 2 was released on 24 June 2011, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon release. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 20% rotten rating. Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times rated the film with 1 out of 5 stars. [5] According to Box Office India, the film had a good opening of 60 - 70% collections. At a few multiplexes, such as, Spice Noida, E Square Pune and Wave Ludhiana, the film almost opened at a 100% response. [6] The film collected approximately ₹76.1 million net on its first day, according to Box Office India. The movie grossed ₹700 million worldwide. Box Office India finally declared it an "Average". [7] [8] The movie was remade in Tamil in 2000 as Sudhandhiram .
A sequel, Total Dhamaal, was commissioned after the release of the previous film and was also directed by Indra, with both Riteish Deshmukh and Jaaved Jaaferi reprising their roles and Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were new additions in cast playing leading roles. [9] [10] Sanjay Dutt and some other actors which were in the previous two parts were not in this third installment.
The film focused on When a plane carrying a thief's treasure crashes in Janakpur, a group of eccentric people and seasoned con artists compete against each other to find it first. Total Dhamaal was released on 22 February 2019, [11] and gained positive reviews. Himesh Mankad from Koimoi gives 3 star out of 5 says "Total Dhamaal is a fair clean entertainer that can be enjoyed with the entire family. It's definitely an improvement over previous installment Double Dhamaal". [12] In opening week the film grossed ₹150 crore (US$18 million). In 12 days of its release the film crossed ₹200 crore (US$24 million) mark in gross collection. [13] [14] On 20 April 2019, the film was released on Disney+ Hotstar. [15] The DVD was also released in August 2019 by Shemaroo.
After the success of Total Dhamaal , director Indra Kumar announced plans for a fourth instalment in the franchise. The project was officially confirmed in 2024. [16] The film continues the comedy adventure format of its predecessors, retaining several recurring cast members while also introducing new additions. [17]
Pre-production for Dhamaal 4 began in mid-2024 under the direction of Indra Kumar. Principal photography was initially planned to commence in late 2024 but was shifted to early 2025 due to scheduling adjustments for the ensemble cast. [18] In April 2025, filming was announced to take place across multiple locations in India, including Mumbai and Goa, with additional international sequences reportedly planned. [19] Principal photography was wrapped in September the same year. [20] [21] [22]
| Characters Name | Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhamaal (2007) | Double Dhamaal (2011) | Total Dhamaal (2019) | Dhamaal 4 (2026) | |
| Deshbandhu Roy / Lallan | Riteish Deshmukh | |||
| Aditya "Aadi" Shrivastava | Arshad Warsi | |||
| Manav Shrivastava | Jaaved Jaaferi | |||
| Anokhe Shrivastava | Saanand Verma | |||
| Ishana / Prince Vithal [a] | Karan Deol | |||
| Boman Contractor | Ashish Chaudhary | |||
| Aman / Prince Vithal [a] | Ashish Chaudhary | |||
| Kabir Nayak | Sanjay Dutt | |||
| "Babubhai / Johnny D'Costa | Sanjay Mishra | Sanjay Mishra | ||
| Nari Contractor | Govardhan Asrani | |||
| Mohsin Bhai | Zakir Hussain | |||
| Kamini | Mallika Sherawat | |||
| Kiya Nayak | Kangana Ranaut | |||
| Baba Batanand Swami / Bata bhai | Satish Kaushik | |||
| Guddu Rastogi | Ajay Devgan | |||
| Prachi Malrotkar Rastogi | Esha Gupta | |||
| Avinash "Avi" Patel | Anil Kapoor | |||
| Bindiya "Bindu" Patel | Madhuri Dixit | |||
| Raju | Johnny Lever | |||
| Pilot Amyjot Randhawa / Pilot Pintu Choskey | Manoj Pahwa | |||
| Hotel Manager and Owner | Manoj Pahwa | |||
| Commissioner Shamsher Singh | Boman Irani | |||
| Chinnappa Swamy | Mahesh Manjrekar | |||
| Anna Bond | Varun Dhawan | |||
| Shikari Shambu | Rajpal Yadav | |||
| Agent Harry Shetty | Aashutosh Rana | |||
| Kung Fu Panda Kumar | Varun Sharma | |||
| Occupation | Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhamaal (2007) | Double Dhamaal (2011) | Total Dhamaal (2019) | Dhamaal 4 (2026) | |
| Director | Indra Kumar | |||
| Producer(s) | Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria | Ajay Devgn, Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar, Markand Adhikari, Anand Pandit | Ajay Devgn, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar, Abhishek Pathak, Kumar Mangat Phatak | |
| Writer(s) - Dialogues | Paritosh Painter, Bunty Rathore | Farhad-Sajid | Bunty Rathore | Aakash Kaushik, Farhad Samji |
| Screenplay | Paritosh Painter, Balwinder Singh Suri | Tushar Hiranandani | Ved Prakash, Paritosh Painter | Aakash Kaushik |
| Story | Paritosh Painter | Indra Kumar | Aakash Kaushik | |
| Cinematography | Vijay Arora | Aseem Bajaj | Keiko Nakahara | Sudeep Chatterjee |
| Editor | Sanjay Sankla | Dharmendra Sharma | Aarif Sheikh | |
| Music | Adnan Sami | Anand Raj Anand | Gourov-Roshin | Sachin-Jigar |
| Background Score | Sanjoy Chowdhury | Sandeep Shirodkar | Tanuj Tiku | |
| Production Companies | Maruti International | Ajay Devgn FFilms, Maruti International, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Fox Star Studios, Pen India Limited, Mangal Murti Films | T-Series Films, Ajay Devgn FFilms, Maruti International, | |
| Distributing Companies | BIG Pictures, Shemaroo Entertainment, | Reliance Entertainment | Fox Star Studios | Panorama Studios |
| Running Time | 137 minutes | 140 minutes | 127 minutes | |
Box office
| Film | Release date | Budget | Box office revenue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhamaal | 7 September 2007 | ₹10 crore (US$2.42 million) | ₹50.73 crore (US$12.27 million) | [3] |
| Double Dhamaal | 24 June 2011 | ₹29 crore (US$6.21 million) | ₹70.54 crore (US$15.11 million) | [23] |
| Total Dhamaal | 22 February 2019 | ₹90 crore (US$12.78 million)–₹100 crore (US$14.2 million) | ₹228.27 crore (US$32.42 million) | [24] [14] |
| Total | ₹129 crore (US$15 million)–₹139 crore (US$16 million) | ₹349.54 crore (US$41 million) | ||
Critical reception
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|
| Dhamaal | N/A (2 reviews) [25] |
| Double Dhamaal | 17% (4.3/10 average rating) (6 reviews) [26] |
| Total Dhamaal | 30% (3/10 average rating) (10 reviews) [27] |
