‘Mastiii 4’ Review: Nostalgia Fails to Power the Tired Comedy Engine

 

Keywords: Mastiii 4 movie review, Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani, adult comedy, Bollywood franchise, Milap Zaveri, box office performance

The notorious trio of Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, and Aftab Shivdasani has returned to the big screen with ‘Mastiii 4’, the fourth installment in the long-running adult comedy series. Directed by Milap Zaveri, the film attempts to inject new life into a franchise that peaked over a decade ago. While the film delivers the exact brand of unapologetic, high-energy, and often low-brow humour expected by its core audience, its inability to evolve the comedic material leaves the overall experience feeling strained and overstretched.

Released on Friday, November 21, the movie faced a box office clash, making a slow but steady start. Its performance, while securing the second-biggest opening weekend for the franchise, suggests that the market for this specific genre of comedy may have significantly diminished.

🎭 The Plot: Reverse Masti and a ‘Love Visa’

 

The narrative template remains comfortingly familiar yet perpetually repetitive. Amar (Deshmukh), Meet (Oberoi), and Prem (Shivdasani) are once again trapped in what they perceive as suffocating marriages, now based in the UK. Seeking an escape, they hatch a plan centered around a bizarre concept called the ‘Love Visa’, essentially a free pass for a week of no-rules ‘fun.’

The plot’s only significant twist comes when the wives, Bindiya (Elnaaz Norouzi), Aanchal (Shreya Sharma), and Geeta (Ruhi Singh), turn the tables. Believing their husbands are on their own escapades, the women launch a campaign of ‘Reverse Masti,’ leading to a chaotic and farcical battle of wits and suspicion. This setup provides ample opportunity for the double-meaning dialogues and slapstick confrontations that define the series.

H3: The Core Trio’s Dynamics

 

The anchor of the franchise remains the effortless chemistry between the three leads.

• Riteish Deshmukh is the most consistent performer, using his established comedic rhythm to sell even the most poorly written gags.

• Vivek Oberoi flashes glimpses of his earlier charm but is often buried under a pile of forced punchlines and exaggerated reactions.

• Aftab Shivdasani, arguably the most underrated, is given the least to do and comes off as the most stranded by the weak script.

New additions to the cast, including Tusshar Kapoor as Don Pablo Putinwa and cameos from Arshad Warsi as Kamraj, attempt to lift the material, with Kapoor’s absurd character providing a few genuine, unexpected laughs.

💰 Box Office Performance: Franchise Lag

 

Despite the high expectations associated with a returning comedy brand, ‘Mastiii 4’ registered a subdued opening. It collected an estimated ₹8.50 crore over its first weekend (Friday to Sunday), a figure that, while respectable for the genre, places it significantly below the blockbuster numbers of Grand Masti (2013), which crossed the ₹40 crore mark in its opening weekend.

The film’s day-wise collections show a trend common to this genre: a solid Friday opening of ₹2.75 crore, flattening out on Saturday, and a minor jump on Sunday to around ₹3 crore. Crucially, the weekday collections saw a noticeable drop to ₹1.50 crore on Monday, indicating that the film is relying almost entirely on a dedicated fan base and not generating positive word-of-mouth necessary for sustained success.

Film Title	Opening Weekend (Approx.)	Box Office Trend
Grand Masti	₹40.18 crore	Super Hit
‘Mastiii 4’	₹8.50 crore	Underperforming
Great Grand Masti	₹8.30 crore	Failed to Connect

📢 Critical Consensus: Too Crude, Too Late

 

The critical consensus is largely negative. Reviews suggest that while the film unashamedly caters to its target audience, it struggles to deliver anything fresh. Many critics have labelled the humour as recycled, excessively crude, and reliant on low-effort gags that confuse sheer volume for actual comedy.

The film’s major failure is its writing, which squanders opportunities for genuine comedic tension by resorting to repetitive antics and loud delivery. The jokes, often focused on the perennial themes of marital frustration and sexual innuendo, feel distinctly dated in the current cinematic landscape.

In conclusion, ‘Mastiii 4’ offers the same raunchy, chaotic ride that fans of the series may have been longing for. However, for a broader audience, the film is a tiresome exercise in nostalgia that confirms the simple truth: some comedic franchises are better left to memory. This installment feels like a franchise running on fumes, sustained by the sheer energy of its lead trio but fundamentally let down by a stale script.