MUMBAI : Madgaon Express, produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment, marks actor Kunal Kemmu's maiden venture as Director. The film, which is also written by Kemmu, stars Divyendu, Pratik Gandhi, Avinash Tiwary, Upendra Limaye, Chayya Kadam, and Nora Fatehi.

When was the last time you laughed wholeheartedly in a theater...like really, uncontrollably laughed from first frame to last? Been ages be it in a Hindi, South, English, or foreign-language film, right? Well, Kunal Kemmu decides to rectify that glaring gap of hysterical laughs in recent times with his directorial debut, Madgaon Express – one of the zanies, whackiest, and unapologetically funny comedies ever in Hindi cinema, forget recent times.

Now, Hindi cinema has had an immensely pleasing track record when it comes to buddy-comedies, with Dil Chahta Hai, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Andaz Apna Apna, Hera Pheri, Dhol, and even the Golmaal franchise immediately springing to mind. However, add a road trip to said buddy-comedies, and the choices begin dwindling alarmingly, with perhaps Dil Chahta Hai being the only memorable one. That's where Kunal Kemmu nails it in both aspects, with side-aching results.

The plot, where three childhood friends reunite to complete their long-unfulfiled dream of frolicking across Goa is pretty simple and straightforward. It's the execution that's out of this world and at times, defies ambition. For Kemmu to have pulled it off with an assortment of characters, each as funny and memorable as the next, and plot points, leading from one hilarious scenario to another sans ever letting up is nothing short of a miracle. Or did he always have it in him and was just biding his time? Direction, screenplay, dialogues, execution, the man aces it all with aplomb.

Of course, it helps when you have actors when you have actors who don't seem to be playing their parts, but built for their parts, and for this no amount of praise would be sufficient to hail casting director Abhishek Banerjee's acumen. While Divyendu's comic chops are well proven since his initial days, who would've thought that Pratik Gandhi, who scammed his way through the stock market, could be so good with both slapstick and his comic timing as could character actors like Upendra Limaye or Chhaya Kadam, both leaving a mountain of a mark eac as a divorced couple turned rival gangsters.

Or who would've thought Avinash Tiwary could look as droolworthy as Hrithik Roshan? Heck, even Nora Fatehi seems an ideal fit here. Just goes to show what the right casting couple with a Director armed with the right vision can together achieve.

It also pays huge dividends when you have producers like Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar to back your vision, whose Excel Entertainment has always been adept at making small budgets feel endowed with slick and polished production values. The camerawork, too, is so good, taking us on a jaunt through a very different Goa from the romanticized version we're used to. The only minor higgle is a slightly underwhelming background score and not a single song standing out.

After summing it up and gathering my wits post such an onslaught of a laugh riot, it can be unequivocally stated that Madgaon Express is the funniest hoot from the Hindi film industry since the mid-2000s when the likes of David Dhawan and Priyadarshan were still going strong. It has Kunal Kemmu's stamp all over from being naughty and ballsy and crazy to still being unbridled fun for the entire family. Miss this stomach-aching, jaw-paining madcap ride in a packed theater at your own peril.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5