Dhamaal (film series)

Dhamaal (2007)

The first installment of the series centers on fictional incidents. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey while Asrani, Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Pahwa, Tiku Talsania and Prem Chopra are featured in supporting roles.^[2] It is heavily inspired from the 2001 American comedy film Rat Race directed by Jerry Zucker. Dhamaal was released on 7 September 2007, and gained positive reviews. It earned ₹50.73 crore worldwide^[3] The film was declared as a box-office success.

Double Dhamaal (2011)

After the success of Dhamaal Indra and Sanjay re-united once again for sequel. The film was titled as Dhamaal 2: 420s, but is known as Double Dhamaal or Super Kameenas and also second installment in this series.^[4] The plot focused on Four idlers make elaborate plans to earn money by investing in buildings but are conned by Kabir, who leaves them unemployed and penniless. Soon, they are on the prowl to avenge their humiliation. Dhamaal 2 was released on 24 June 2011, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon release. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 20% rotten rating. Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times rated the film with 1 out of 5 stars.^[5] According to Box Office India, the film had a good opening of 60 - 70% collections. At a few multiplexes, such as, Spice Noida, E Square Pune and Wave Ludhiana, the film almost opened at a 100% response.^[6] The film collected approximately ₹76.1 million net on its first day, according to Box Office India. The movie grossed ₹700 million worldwide. Box Office India finally declared it an "Average".^[7][8] The movie was remade in Tamil in 2000 as Sudhandhiram.

Total Dhamaal (2019)

A sequel, Total Dhamaal, was commissioned after the release of the previous film and was also directed by Indra, with both Riteish Deshmukh and Jaaved Jaaferi reprising their roles and Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were new additions in cast playing leading roles.^[9][10] Sanjay Dutt and some other actors which were in the previous two parts were not in this third installment.

The film focused on When a plane carrying a thief's treasure crashes in Janakpur, a group of eccentric people and seasoned con artists compete against each other to find it first. Total Dhamaal was released on 22 February 2019,^[11] and gained positive reviews. Himesh Mankad from Koimoi gives 3 star out of 5 says "Total Dhamaal is a fair clean entertainer that can be enjoyed with the entire family. It's definitely an improvement over previous installment Double Dhamaal".^[12] In opening week the film grossed ₹150 crore (US$16 million). In 12 days of its release the film crossed ₹200 crore (US$21 million) mark in gross collection.^[13][14] On 20 April 2019, the film was released on Disney+ Hotstar.^[15] The DVD was also released in August 2019 by Shemaroo.

Dhamaal 4 (2026)

After the success of Total Dhamaal, director Indra Kumar announced plans for a fourth instalment in the franchise. The project was officially confirmed in 2024.^[16] The film continues the comedy adventure format of its predecessors, retaining several recurring cast members while also introducing new additions.^[17]

Pre-production for Dhamaal 4 began in mid-2024 under the direction of Indra Kumar. Principal photography was initially planned to commence in late 2024 but was shifted to early 2025 due to scheduling adjustments for the ensemble cast.^[18] In April 2025, filming was announced to take place across multiple locations in India, including Mumbai and Goa, with additional international sequences reportedly planned.^[19] Principal photography was wrapped in September the same year.^[20][21][22]