Mastiii 4 Review

Sex comedies in India are already looked down upon, and the CBFC never knows where to draw the line. But if the Board needs a benchmark for what not to approve, Mastiii 4 should be framed, garlanded and hung on the office wall. This is not only the weakest film in the Masti franchise, but easily one of the weakest adult comedies ever made in India.

Indeed, there are cheap films, then there are worse films, then films made by the clinically unhinged - and beyond all that lies Mastiii 4, which isn't just cheap but unapologetically lecherous. Whatever filth you cannot imagine, the director has already imagined and filmed the worst form of that filth.

When Masti released in 2004, it felt mildly refreshing for its time. People knew of American sex comedies even then, but the exposure was nowhere close to how familiar today's audiences are. Then came Grand Masti, then Great Grand Masti, and now Mastiii 4 - with two extra i's, perhaps to indicate the franchise's two extra steps into creative bankruptcy. The humour grew stale, then crass, then literally toilet-grade, and finally, just plain lazy. So lazy that the title song goes:

"Pehle aaya Masti, phir Grand Masti, phir Great Grand Masti, ab aaya Mastiii 4." If this isn't a lazy lyric, nothing is.

The "plot" feels like one of Manforce's commercials stretched into a two-and-a-half-hour feature. It's the same template every instalment recycles: three married men, fed up with their wives, go hunting for adventure, freedom and new company. Eventually they discover The Truth and run back home. This time, the magical plot device is a "Love Visa" - a week of total marital freedom to do whatever one wants. It sounds like satire, but the film takes it dead seriously.

The director had boldly declared before release, "Watch Mastiii 4 - you'll laugh yourself to death." To him I would have said, "Sir, please come to my theatre. Many have already died. Not a car in the parking - only ambulances bumper to bumper."

Indeed, a few minutes into the film, I had mentally exited the hall. The Dolby surround faded, and my mind wandered to serious life questions: Should I replace my ThinkPad keyboard? Should I steam idlis the normal way or dump all the batter in one container and see what happens? Every now and then, the movie threw in a canned joke or stock sound effect that rudely pulled me back.

In short: there is nothing to write about here. Not the story, not the acting, not the technicals, not the entertainment value. It is the same old Masti nonsense, only now it stinks more because the franchise has aged and rotted.

And just when you think the world cannot get more unhinged, the climax announces that Mastiii 5 is coming. The end credits even flashed the new brand materials. Maybe this truly is the end of days.