Following on from the lukewarm success of Hadh Kar Di Apne, Govinda is back with Joru Ka Ghulam - yet another comedy. But if Govinda thought that this would be the film to give him the big hit that he wants, he will be sorely disappointed.

The film revolves around a group of small time con artists (Govinda, Johnny Lever and Ashok Saraf). During one of their scams, Govinda steals the luggage of an NRI returning to India only to be mistaken by the NRI's potential father in law (Kader Khan) as being the genuine article. So Govinda conveniently finds himself in the house of a rich businessman.

The plan is to steal from the businessman and then disappear. Things become slightly complicated when Kader Khan explains that each of his son-in-laws would receive Rs. 5 crores on getting married to his daughters - who incidentally for various reasons are completely averse to the idea of marriage. The scenario for the film is set as Govinda battles to win the love of Twinkle Khanna while also matching up her three sisters and planning to steal the money. It all sounds farcical enough for Govinda to display his range of antics but sadly the result is an awful mess.

Govinda is in danger of going the Robin Williams way. Directors have fallen into the habit of taking on Govinda, giving him any kind of script and expecting him to deliver the goods. Sadly, while Govinda may be unmatched in his comic timing, a bad film is a bad film and there is no disguising this fact in Joru Ka Ghualm. Despite the fact that Govinda is able to bring to almost every role the same infectious enthusiasm as he did some 15 years ago, Joru Ka Ghulam has almost no saving grace.

Johnny Lever as Govinda's sidekick also seems to be heading towards becoming a victim of his own success. In Joru Ka Ghulam he is given much too much screen time to be effectively funny. With Ashok Saraf also present the other problem in Joru Ka Ghulam is the overdose of comedy - which far from being funny is monotonous and repetitive.

Twinkle Khanna, despite her pedigree (Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia as parents) shows little or none of her parents talent and flair - mind you this is one of her better performances and she is less obtrusive than usual. Kader Khan clucks around like a mother-hen and as is usual, steals the punch line at the end of the film. All in all, a big disappointment and difficult even for Govinda fans to sit through. There are however a couple of racy numbers (Joru ka Ghulam and Oopar Pan ki Dukaan) and as always, Govinda delivers them with the kind of panache that the film doesn't deserve. Oh… if there is a funny point in the film it's the name …P.K. Girpare.