This post first appeared on Totally Filmi on December 15, 2020.
Eyo (Arun A. Kumar) is a young man with no credentials and not much going for him – he freely admits he hasn’t finished his B. Tech degree (and is highly unlikely to do so). He’s unable to find a job – even his sketchy friend Shiva (Dharmajan Bolgatty) manages to find work. His father, Pauly (Mukesh) arranges his marriage to Annie (Nikki Galrani) – a situation that causes some concern in the family, because Annie is divorced. But Annie is from a wealthy family, and Eyo becomes smitten with her. Despite the perceived shame this could bring to his family, Eyo agrees to the match.
But Eyo’s problems begin on his wedding night, when he finds himself experiencing performance anxiety, and is unable to consummate the relationship with Annie. Fearing bringing Yet More Shame to his family, Eyo follows Shiva’s suggestion to see the appropriately named Dr. Sexena (Hareesh Kanaran) – a sexologist, of course – who promises to solve Eyo’s problems. It’s obvious that Dr. Sexena is just as sketchy as Shiva, and he recommends an expensive cure – a special “tsunami” concoction that he assures Eyo will solve everything. When Pauly accidentally drinks the glass of milk into which Eyo has put the tsunami blend, the result is something the family sees as yet another shameful event: Eyo’s mother, Annamma (Urvashi) falls pregnant. But it’s thanks to Annamma and her visit to Dr. Gopinath (Salim Kumar in a reliable cameo) that Eyo’s problems find a solution. Dr. Gopinath is kind and practical, and tells Eyo he doesn’t need what amounts to Sexena’s snake oil – instead, he needs a honeymoon with Annie, and some time and space to allow some love to grow in their quickly arranged marriage.
Dhamaka is silly and shiny, filled with movie and other pop culture references – some of which I get after many years of Malayalam film watching, others that I know are some kind of reference which I can’t grasp. And that’s okay — I fully understand that Omar Lulu’s films are not targetted at me, and Dhamaka is no exception. And although I also understand that there are sections of Malayalam society that *will* find shame in divorce, late life pregnancy, and erectile dysfunction, I still am uncomfortable with using those issues to make cheap jokes, and there are cheap jokes aplenty in Dhamaka. That said, there are some truly funny moments in the film – most particularly the running gag of whatever Eyo’s sister Pinky (Shaalin Zoya) is watching on television reflecting the state of Eyo’s problem. Yes, I laughed. Out loud, even. And there is an interesting little moment of social commentary when Shiva lands his job because of a viral video of him selling fish — clearly a reference to the Hanan Hamid, the student who was trolled online for selling fish to support her studies. In the end, it wasn’t enough to save the film for me, which was watchable for those brief moments when Urvashi was on screen, and for the message from Dr. Gopinath – that these kinds of issues aren’t shameful, and it’s always better to talk to a proper medical professional. Small mercies in an otherwise forgettable film.
Dhamaka was supposed to release in 2019, but ended up the first Malayalam release of 2020. Little did we know it would not be a year for celebrations of any kind.