Rohit Shetty’s fourth collaboration with Ajay Devgn is unstoppable at the Box Office. While critics called the series tedious, lame and mostly unfunny, the films have set the cash registers humming at the box office, every single time, ever since the franchise brought into inception.

As always, there is a stark divergence between the critics’ reviews and the audience’s predilection, and let’s not fail to remember that box office numbers, at the end of the day, show how many people went to watch the film, and not those who *enjoyed* it.

Admittedly, the first film was side-splitting, and could actually be termed a laugh riot. It wasn’t so much as the plot that clinched it for the film, but the equation between the four lead actors (Ajay Devgn, Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and Arshad Warsi). It was the first time that Ajay had taken on a comic role fully, and Arshad and Sharman established themselves as comedy specialists. Sadly, Tusshar’s comedy graph has been flat since the beginning.

However, the second Golmaal starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Celina Jaitley fell flat and was tasteless. Sharman wasn’t present in this film, which also went against the film’s favour. It wasn’t refreshing like the first, and there began the attempt of trying-too-hard with comedy, and some done-to-death jokes. The film also continued taking fresh digs at Sanjay Leela Bhansali, which were plain annoying by the end. Yet, the film worked, and did well at the box office.

Golmaal 3 returned with the same cast, except with the new addition of Kunal Kemmu, Mithun Chakraborty and Ratna Pathak Shah. The film was even more bland than the previous, and Kunal probably needed to desperately learn some acting tricks. The fourth returned after a gap of six years and has done some resounding business at the box office. While the film was slightly better than the previous two, it still falls into the trademark slapstick humour style and overacting.

So what is it about the film series that make the films work at the box office?

NEW FILM, DIFFERENT CAST MEMBERS

To be fair, the addition of a new cast member to the team always piques the interest of the audience, and that’s what acts as a crowd-puller, be it Mithun, Ratna, or Kareena. With Golmaal Again, the reunion of Ajay and Tabu , who have done several films like Vijaypath, Takshak and Drishyam together, heightened the curiosity.

It was more interesting to also watch Tabu, who is known for doing mostly serious and intense films. She didn’t try her hand at outright comedy, but her presence managed to keep the film grounded, whenever it went all over the place. There is also commendable chemistry between the actors, which makes the films more enjoyable.

CLEAN COMEDY

Before the advent of Golmaal, Bollywood had a string of painful and vulgar comedies, such as Daddy Cool, Tom Dick and Harry, and Malamaal Weekly. And let’s not even go into the Masti series. Golmaal was like a breath of fresh air. And, the series has striven to keep to it. Though the comedy falls flat several times, there are points when one can laugh wholeheartedly. It is also a series that you can enjoy with family, which you sadly can’t do with many other films. Plus, in the midst of intense and educational films like Hindi Mediumand Secret Superstar, the mindless comedy of Golmaal comes as a breather.

THE COMFORT OF FAMILIARITY

By now, the Golmaal series has established a certain level of comfort with their audience. People enjoy characters like Vasooli bhai, Pappi, and some of Tusshar’s silent gags. People remember the characters, even if they don’t remember the film. And that is enough. Instant gratification works, every time.

 CONNECT WITH THE AUDIENCE

Golmaal is a different genre and targets a different set of audience (as opposed to Secret Superstar). The masses may not understand a film like Hindi Medium or they may not connect with a movie like Secret Superstar. But the entertainment quotient (of films like Golmaal). If you bore the audience with gyan and try to educate them, there will be no audience.”

A film like PK worked because it had the right entertainment quotient and did not preach to the audience.

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