Malamaal Weekly
Encyclopedia
Malaamal Weekly is a 2006 Bollywood
comedy film
starring Paresh Rawal
and Om Puri
and written and directed by Priyadarshan
. The storyline has similarities with Waking Ned Devine.
The film was rated poorly by most critics in India but was a surprise hit among cinema-goers.
). One of the few entertainments the villagers can afford is the lottery
, Malaamal Weekly (malaamal is Hindi for 'rich').
Lilaram (Paresh Rawal
) is the only educated man in the village. He has the job of intermediary between the lottery organisation and the village, for which he receives a commission whenever a villager wins; thus, he has a relatively good but volatile income. One day he reads the winning lottery numbers and realises that one of the tickets has won the top prize of one crore
(about $220,000, a relative fortune in rural India). He devises a plan to obtain the winning ticket and present it to the commission as his own. He hosts a dinner (mortgaging his wife's beloved pet goat to the Thakur's wife to pay for it) and invites all the villagers who play the lottery, but the man he is looking for does not turn up. By elimination he deduces that the winner is Anthony (Innocent Vincent
), the town drunk, and reasons that he didn't turn up because he knew that he had won the top prize. Hoping to at least extract his commission, he goes to Anthony's house, and finds him dead, the winning ticket clutched in his hand and a happy expression on his face.
Lilaram attempts to pry the ticket from Anthony's fingers but is thwarted by Anthony's body in rigor mortis
. Lilaram eventually succeeds in freeing it with a knife; at this point Ballu (Om Puri
), the local dairy farmer, enters the house and discovers him standing over Anthony's corpse with what appears to be the murder weapon in his hand. Lilaram tells Ballu the truth and convinces him to remain silent in exchange for sharing the lottery winnings between them.
Unfortunately for them, before dying Anthony managed to call the lottery commission and give his name and address, as well as his sister and several people to whom he owed money to tell them of his good fortune. The secret soon becomes impossible to keep, and Lilaram must figure out how to fool the lottery inspector (Arbaaz Khan), who is on his way to the village to interview Anthony.
was broadly positive about Malaamal Weekly, with two reviewers awarding it two and three stars but lauding "the sheer pleasure" of Rawal and Puri's comic performances. Most reviewers, however, were more negative. The BBC
gave the film two out of five stars, citing a "weak script" and saying that the humour of Waking Ned had been "lost in translation." Molodezhnaja.ch concurred, repeatedly complaining that the film was too long, had only one song and the rest consisting of "repetitive scenes, long, no, endless dialogue and a poor finale," giving it 2.5 stars on the basis of "a few laughs and solid casting."
It did at least give the single song credit for "breaking up the otherwise monotonous events"; rediff.com described it as "the worst Bollywood song ever" in addition to summing the film up as "simply pathetic."
Despite the poor reviews, the movie was a surprise hit at the box office. Malaamal Weekly is a film for the "aam janta" (common people) enjoyed its hilarity. Reviewers panned the movie as "bad" due to their mindset as the "reviewer" and not watching it with a "common person" mindset. As of April 2006, the film was the top grosser in Delhi and had made Rs.
120 million (about $2.6 million) overall. Priyadarshan shrugged off the poor reviews, claiming "My films have never been given good reviews in Mumbai. I'd get seriously worried about my films the day they're reviewed favourably."
; the rest of the cast are yet to be chosen. The music company is yet to be finalised; the studio will be Percept Picture Company
.
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...
and Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
and written and directed by Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...
. The storyline has similarities with Waking Ned Devine.
The film was rated poorly by most critics in India but was a surprise hit among cinema-goers.
Plot
The film takes place in the impoverished village of Laholi where, following droughts, most of the villagers' possessions are mortgaged to the local Thakurani Karamkali (Sudha ChandranSudha Chandran
Sudha Chandran is an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer, Indian film and television actress, who turned to acting following the loss of a leg in an accident in May 1981 near Trichy, Tamil Nadu.-Early life and education:...
). One of the few entertainments the villagers can afford is the lottery
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
, Malaamal Weekly (malaamal is Hindi for 'rich').
Lilaram (Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...
) is the only educated man in the village. He has the job of intermediary between the lottery organisation and the village, for which he receives a commission whenever a villager wins; thus, he has a relatively good but volatile income. One day he reads the winning lottery numbers and realises that one of the tickets has won the top prize of one crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
(about $220,000, a relative fortune in rural India). He devises a plan to obtain the winning ticket and present it to the commission as his own. He hosts a dinner (mortgaging his wife's beloved pet goat to the Thakur's wife to pay for it) and invites all the villagers who play the lottery, but the man he is looking for does not turn up. By elimination he deduces that the winner is Anthony (Innocent Vincent
Innocent Vincent
Innocent Thekkethala , popularly known as Innocent, is a Malayalam film actor and producer. He was born in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district of Kerala, India. He is one of the most successful and leading comedy actors of Malayalam cinema...
), the town drunk, and reasons that he didn't turn up because he knew that he had won the top prize. Hoping to at least extract his commission, he goes to Anthony's house, and finds him dead, the winning ticket clutched in his hand and a happy expression on his face.
Lilaram attempts to pry the ticket from Anthony's fingers but is thwarted by Anthony's body in rigor mortis
Rigor mortis
Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate...
. Lilaram eventually succeeds in freeing it with a knife; at this point Ballu (Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
), the local dairy farmer, enters the house and discovers him standing over Anthony's corpse with what appears to be the murder weapon in his hand. Lilaram tells Ballu the truth and convinces him to remain silent in exchange for sharing the lottery winnings between them.
Unfortunately for them, before dying Anthony managed to call the lottery commission and give his name and address, as well as his sister and several people to whom he owed money to tell them of his good fortune. The secret soon becomes impossible to keep, and Lilaram must figure out how to fool the lottery inspector (Arbaaz Khan), who is on his way to the village to interview Anthony.
Cast
- Paresh RawalParesh RawalParesh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...
as Lilaram aka Leela - Om PuriOm PuriOm Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
as Balwant aka Ballu - Riteish DeshmukhRiteish DeshmukhRitesh Deshmukh is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is the son of Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences, Government of India, and the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.Deshmukh debuted with K...
as Kanhaiya - Reema SenReema SenReema Sen is an Indian actress and model.-Early life:Reema Sen was born in Kolkata, into a middle class Kayastha family in 1981. She completed high school from Calcutta, after which her family moved to Mumbai.-Film career:...
as Sukhmani - Sudha ChandranSudha ChandranSudha Chandran is an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer, Indian film and television actress, who turned to acting following the loss of a leg in an accident in May 1981 near Trichy, Tamil Nadu.-Early life and education:...
as Karamkali - Rajpal YadavRajpal YadavRajpal Yadav is an Indian film actor, known for his comedy oriented roles.-Early life and education:Rajpal Yadav was born and brought up in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where he received his education.He did his college from Sardar Patel Hindu Inter College, Shahjahanpur.He played in Shahjahanpur...
as Bajbahadur aka baje - Shakti KapoorShakti KapoorShakti Kapoor is an Indian Bollywood actor. He is notably known for playing vulgar comic and villainous roles. He is known for acting alongside comedian Kader Khan as his sidekick along with Asrani in over 100 films.-Early life:...
as Joseph - Innocent Vincent Innocent VincentInnocent Thekkethala , popularly known as Innocent, is a Malayalam film actor and producer. He was born in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district of Kerala, India. He is one of the most successful and leading comedy actors of Malayalam cinema...
as Anthony - Arbaaz KhanArbaaz KhanArbaaz Khan is an Indian actor and film producer. Since making his debut in 1996, he has acted in many leading and supporting roles. He ventured into film production in Bollywood with Dabangg in which he also starred as the younger brother of Salman Khan...
as Jayesh Agarwal - AsraniAsraniGovardhan Asrani , popularly known simply as Asrani, is an actor in Indian films whose Bollywood career has spanned over 35 years. His wife Manju Bansal is an actress.-Early life:...
as Chokheylal - Rasika JoshiRasika JoshiRasika Joshi :रसिका जोशी) was a noted Marathi and Hindi film actress. A celebrated Marathi theatre and Indian television actress, she was known for Maharashtrian roleplays in Bollywood movies.-Personal life:...
as Mary - Rakhi SawantRakhi sawantRakhi Sawant is an Indian dancer, Hindi film and television actress, model and television talk show host.She was born as Neeru Bheda to Jaya Bheda, who married Sawant, a police constable at Worli Police Station, and gave her children her second husband's name Sawant...
, special appearance in the song "Kismat Se Chalti Hai" - Sona NairSona NairSona Nair is a film actress working mainly in Malayalam movies. She is also known for her roles in TV soaps.-Career:Thooval Kottaram was her first movie in Malayalam. In this movie, she played a character named Hema. After this, she appeared in films such as Kadhanayakan, Veendum Chila...
Reception
The Hindustan TimesHindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
was broadly positive about Malaamal Weekly, with two reviewers awarding it two and three stars but lauding "the sheer pleasure" of Rawal and Puri's comic performances. Most reviewers, however, were more negative. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
gave the film two out of five stars, citing a "weak script" and saying that the humour of Waking Ned had been "lost in translation." Molodezhnaja.ch concurred, repeatedly complaining that the film was too long, had only one song and the rest consisting of "repetitive scenes, long, no, endless dialogue and a poor finale," giving it 2.5 stars on the basis of "a few laughs and solid casting."
It did at least give the single song credit for "breaking up the otherwise monotonous events"; rediff.com described it as "the worst Bollywood song ever" in addition to summing the film up as "simply pathetic."
Despite the poor reviews, the movie was a surprise hit at the box office. Malaamal Weekly is a film for the "aam janta" (common people) enjoyed its hilarity. Reviewers panned the movie as "bad" due to their mindset as the "reviewer" and not watching it with a "common person" mindset. As of April 2006, the film was the top grosser in Delhi and had made Rs.
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
120 million (about $2.6 million) overall. Priyadarshan shrugged off the poor reviews, claiming "My films have never been given good reviews in Mumbai. I'd get seriously worried about my films the day they're reviewed favourably."
Sequel
A sequel, which will be directed by Priyadarshan, under the title of Malamaal Weekly 2. It will star aresh Rawal], Om Puri and Rajpal YadavRajpal Yadav
Rajpal Yadav is an Indian film actor, known for his comedy oriented roles.-Early life and education:Rajpal Yadav was born and brought up in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where he received his education.He did his college from Sardar Patel Hindu Inter College, Shahjahanpur.He played in Shahjahanpur...
; the rest of the cast are yet to be chosen. The music company is yet to be finalised; the studio will be Percept Picture Company
Percept Picture Company
Percept Picture Company is an Indian film production and distribution company, established in 2002 and a division of Percept Limited, an entertainment, media and communications company based in Mumbai...
.
External links
- Malaamal Weekly at Indiafm.com