Multistarrer comedies are in vogue these days and Rohit Shetty's second film "Golmaal", releasing Friday, continues the trend.

The film boasts of big names like Ajay Devgan and Paresh Rawal along with funny men Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor and Sharman Joshi.

Arshad, Tusshar and Sharman certainly have the required credentials to make a comedy successful with films like "Munnabhai M.B.B.S", "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum" and "Rang De Basanti" (which is an intense, sombre drama but with many light moments). The films display their ability to handle humour with ease.

And Paresh, of course, has mastered the art of comedy over and over again.

The movie is about four friends - Gopal (Ajay Devgan), Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor), Mahadev (Arshad Warsi) and Laxmi (Sharman Joshi) - bound together by their notoriety, aimlessness and petty business of conning people for fun and money.

Of the four, Gopal is the wisest and his motto in life is to eat, drink and be merry. Mahadev and Lucky are also of the same opinion.

But Laxmi, who is studying medicine, is a sincere and god-fearing guy and has a different set of goals in life.

All four live in a hostel, but one day the dean of their college gets fed up and throws them out. They end up being homeless.

Gopal bails them out of the difficult situation. He tells them about a bungalow inhabited by an old blind couple, whose son, daughter-in-law and grandson are in the US.

Gopal plans to enter the bungalow pretending to be Prashant, the blind couple's grandson. He is ready to take his friends there too but on the condition that everyone, except for him, would always remain silent.

This leads to much confusion throughout the film, leading to the comic moments.

Ajay, usually associated with serious and intense roles, is the only odd element in Shetty's laugh riot. It is believed an actor is not fully rounded till he masters the art of comedy and Ajay is maybe trying his hand at humour to evolve as a consummate artist.

Comedies are serious business, particularly with the success of recent laugh riots like "Phir Hera Pheri". Shetty is also trying to cash in on the trend with "Golmaal".

Shetty's first directorial venture "Zameen" was an action flick that sank without a trace. Will he hit bull's eye this time?