Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Shekhar Suman, Isha Koppikar, Asrani, Gulshan Grover, Shakti Kapoor, Deepak Shirke, Makhrand Deshpande.

A gardener's son Rahul [Suniel Shetty] inherits Rs. 400 crores when a wealthy millionaire passes away. But Rahul cannot inherit it simply because a clause in the will states that he must prove himself as the most dreaded don of the city.

The will has been drafted by Anand [Shekhar Suman], who soon realizes his folly and comes up with a novel idea: Rahul must actually become a don to inherit the fortune!

Rahul's neighbour happens to be a police officer, Kanchan [Raveena Tandon], who aspires to nab the biggest don in the city, thereby proving to be the worthy daughter of an illustrious father.

After their initial scuffle, Rahul and Kanchan reach an understanding: Kanchan will get Rahul an entry into the world of crime. In turn, Rahul must help her with information about the underworld. They also come to an agreement that their relationship would be strictly platonic, with no strings attached.

The lot of them are put together in a big pot and the director randomly selects characters and pits them opposite each other making for a good deal of fun. And because the film took some years to make, the characters look different in many scenes because of weight gain and weight loss, but it doesn’t really matter because most of them are disguised as something or the other most of the time. The pre climax scene in the art gallery where everyone turns up as a Sardarji is the wackiest. Also watch out for Raveena’s bimbette siren act in the Don’s den.

Kundan Shah couldn't create the magic of his debut Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron in Ek Se Badhkar Ek. Mr Shah's debut is just too good, one of my all-time favourites, a film I can see three times a day. Music is also a negative aspect. In fact, the film could've done without three/four songs.

Suniel Shetty tries hard to act. Shekhar Suman is lively, coming up with one-liners effortlessly. The gifted actor needs to do more films! Raveena Tandon is effectual in a few scenes, but mechanical otherwise. Isha Koppikar lacks the power to carry off the role. Gulshan Grover is most efficient. Sadashiv Amrapurkar does his part quite well, while Shakti Kapoor is wasted in an insignificant role.

On the whole, EK SE BADHKAR EK is no Number Ek entertainer.