So transparent is the film’s intention that you laugh, despite yourself. You also note, as the film goes along its stupid-gag-strewn path, that there are no heroines in it. Not even in a two-bit part, or as a walk-on. Kumar, who has made big movies with big leading ladies in the past (Dil, Beta, and Raja with Madhuri Dixit, Mann with Manisha Koirala), has dumped the fairer sex to concentrate on the male of the species.< /p>

Dhamaal’s good-for-nothings — Javed Jafferi, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Ashish Chowdhary — are given able support by Sanjay Dutt, who plays a cop also after the same hidden treasure. Kumar offers nothing new in t erms of plot or treatment: it’s all the usual, including the stock character of the ‘mad Parsi Bawa’. Jafferi and gang play asinine with ease, and Asrani gets to play the Parsi who loves his car more than his only son.

In Sajid Khan’s Heyy Babby, that is running successfully all over, the heroine appears exactly at the half-way mark. Before and after, the film belongs to Akshay and his pals, Fardeen and Riteish. And there’s nothing spe ctacular about Vidya Balan’s part: all she has to do is to wear sheer chiffons and badly-styled dresses, and smile and simper. The real action is confined to the menfolk who toss a baby girl among them while learning to be good human beings.

In David Dhawan’s Partner, the other big hit this season, the leading men have all the fun: Govinda and Salman hang out, gyrate, crack jokes, shed tears. They are more of a pair than the two heroines, Katrina and Lara, who come on, look decorative, and go. Swap them for a couple of other, say, for example, Ayesha and Amrita, and you wouldn’t know the difference.

Hard-core trade wisdom has had it that it is the heroes who open movies; heroines are mere window dressing. This is certainly applicable to mega-budget movies, where the hero’s agreement to do the movie greenlights the project; heroines are signed on, typically, much later, largely on the heroes’ say so.

Who says yes to whom has always been part of Bollywood folklore, and the hottest gossip revolves around this delicious subject. For example, now that Abhishek and Aishwarya are united in marriage, will he ever let her work with other heroes, especially former heart-throbs Salman and Viveik?

Kumar’s tagline: ‘No action, no romance, pure dhamaal’ says it all. If there’s action, what’s the point of wasting screen space on the ladies? Sure, Aishwarya made a pretty competent thief in Dhoom 2, and Shilpa was a comely commando in Dus, and according to advance reports, Priyanka has done a good job with learning the martial arts in the forthcoming Drona, but parts specifically written for women in actioners are still rare.