DHOOM 3 MOVIE REVIEW

Aamir Khan was perhaps the best bait in the third installment of the action thriller Dhoom. His association with the movie has also raised its prospects at the box office sky-high. While in the technical sense, for playing the good cop and all, Abhishek who plays ‘India’s finest cop’ is the hero of the movie. But in all other senses, the movie in its entirety belongs to Aamir Khan. Ditch the back-story that seems like it is taken straight out of ’bollywood script writing for dummies’, Aamir  takes over the movie from scene one in an often James-Bondesque role that lets him flaunt his brawn and machines at the same time.

Directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, who also shares the writing credentials of the movie with producer Aditya Chopra, Dhoom 3 is an exercise in extravagance to good measure. Sometimes reminiscent of the Step Up dance movies for the sheer dance numbers in it, Dhoom 3’s writing is not the best. From vengeful bank managers who claim lives of hapless circus owners to son(s) avenging father’s death, Dhoom has all the ingredients for a Bollywood potboiler. Just that it is set in Chicago and makes it all look stylish, with a narrative that is filled with chase scenes that gives such an adrenaline rush you almost believe you are playing a video game. And then there is Aamir Khan.

The movie opens in Chicago in 1990 when the owner of a circus company that is on the brink of bankruptcy, fails to convince the bankers that his company is worth running. He shoots himself in the presence of his son. The son, played by Aamir Khan, avenges his father’s death with a fair amount of heist and cop-robber chase sequences thrown in.

After setting an elaborate stage for the events to unfold, the movie takes off ground only with a minor jolt when Abhishek and Uday Chopra pop into the screen. Dialogue spewing by Uday and a Rohit Shetty type entry (flying through brick walls, driving auto rickshaws on roofs) by Abhishek later, Abhishek becomes all serious after wearing the cop’s garbs and launching himself quite staidly into the one-man hunt behind the heist.

Though most of them appear like fillers, the exquisitely done up circus sets are beautifully designed and the dance sequences are expertly choreographed. Not to mention, Katrina Kaif and the liquid electricity tagline that she associates herself with, comes quite handy for her.  The circus sets are also a riot of colors and complement the racy chase sequences.

Be it the chawl in India, where Abhishek and Uday make an entry or the city of Chicago and its breathtaking skyline, Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography brings everything alive on screen. A sense of amorphousness takes over as it becomes difficult to identify the real scenes from the CG effects. Dhoom also features few of the most stunning visual effects for a Bollywood movie. The dance and stunt choreography stand right behind in queue with set design and cinematography for the top honors.

Not all technical brilliance and effects can hide jarring holes in the movie’s plot. For instance, the top cop Abhishek trusting a stranger without running a background check on him and providing him excessive access to the bank building’s blueprint.

The movie’s supersonic pace culminates in an almost-climatic interval. The interval also sets stage for the second half and it becomes quite clear that director Vijay Krishna Acharya is setting himself up for a tiresome ropewalk to keep the narrative intact. He succeeds, to an extent and largely comes away unscathed from the second-half syndrome suffered by inconsistencies in plot structure in many such movies. The plot twists become thicker, Kat’s role becomes more prominent and the chase revs up in the second half.

With that clear intonation, sculpted muscles and piercing eyes, Aamir convincingly pulls off his role without much trouble. The spotlight shines on him from scene one and it is impossible to steal the thunder from right under his nose. Abhishek does his best as the cop who is exasperated at his failed attempts and resorts to emotional manipulation to bring the robber to his knees. Though uni-dimensional, Uday Chopra’s role provides momentary comic relief.

While Kat has bare minimum dialogues (and presence) in the first half, not to forget that introductory dance sequence in which the choreography makes her do humanely impossible moves, the second half provides her reclamation.

Dhoom 3 will no doubt be the most visually spectacular Hindi movie you will watch this year. It’s part Bollywood potboiler, part Hollywood aspirant action thriller but it’s full on entertainment all right.