The funny thing about walking into a late night show is that hope sneaks in with you, even when you try to leave it outside with the popcorn wrappers. That happened to me with Mastiii 4. Maybe it was the memory of the first Masti, or maybe it was just the sight of Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani on the poster, grinning like they still had a few tricks left. Whatever it was, I settled into my seat expecting at least a spark of that old, naughty charm.
The spark did not last long.
The film jumps straight into its premise. Three husbands, domestic boredom, wives who hand out a so called love visa and chaos that promises to be messy in a fun way. Except the mess here feels tired, like it has been reheated too many times. Most of the jokes arrive pre deflated. You can almost see the punchline marching towards you long before it lands. And when it does land, it lands with that dull thump you get from a joke forwarded through ten family WhatsApp groups before it reaches you.
There were moments when I caught myself watching the trio more than the film. They still have chemistry, that brotherly mischief that made the original franchise work. But even their energy cannot hide writing that seems determined to dig up every double meaning from Bollywood’s past. The film leans on objectification as if the audience has not evolved in the last twenty years, and honestly, some scenes play like a time capsule best left unopened.
There is a plot twist, something about the wives turning the tables, and on paper it sounds fun. In reality it is just another setup for louder jokes, more exaggerated reactions, more of the same. India Today called the humour loud, lazy and lewd. Sitting there, I could not disagree. Rooms have a way of telling the truth, and this one fell into that restless shuffle mode, the kind where people adjust their seats a little too often, hoping the next scene will deliver what the last five did not.
Still, pockets of the audience laughed. They always do with this franchise. Some folks genuinely enjoy the unapologetic, pun heavy madness. Koimoi even described it as wild and pun packed, and I can see how that description works in isolated stretches. But a few moments of spark cannot carry an entire film, especially one that keeps circling the same drain of recycled innuendo.
The adult comedy space in Bollywood has always been tricky. When it works, you laugh even as you groan. When it does not, you just groan louder. Mastiii 4 belongs to the second category. It is stuck in an older version of itself, a version that might have felt daring back when low rise jeans were still in fashion. Now it plays like someone trying to revive a college reputation at a school reunion. The energy is there, but the relevance is not.
Walking out, I heard a couple of people call it entertaining. One guy even declared it full paisa vasool. That is the thing about nostalgia. It blinds in the sweetest way. If you loved the earlier films, you might find comfort in this one, familiarity disguised as fun. But if you walked in hoping the franchise had found a new pulse or at least new jokes, you will walk out feeling like you sat through a rerun of something that did not need repeating.
Outside, the air felt calmer. Maybe that is what Mastiii 4 needed. A little more calm, a little less trying so hard to be the naughty kid in class. The trilogy had its moment. It pushed boundaries for Hindi cinema back when that meant something different. Today, it needed to grow, even a little. Instead it doubled down on everything critics have been calling outdated for years.
I wanted Mastiii 4 to surprise me. Not because I expected brilliance, but because surprises are what keep cinema fun. This one played safe in the loudest way possible. And loud alone is not enough anymore.
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Zayn blends critical thinking with genuine fandom. Whether it’s decoding OTT series arcs or rating the latest Bollywood blockbuster, he writes with clarity, pop fluency, and a dash of irreverence.
