Dhoom 3
Year: 2013
Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Cast: Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra

Lots of questions were being asked before the Dhoom 3 release. Will the film surpass the success of previous two films of this super-hit franchise? Will Vijay Krishana Acharya, the writer of previous two Dhoom- movies, do well as the writer-director for this third installment? Will Aamir Khan live up to his reputation in his back-to-potboiler-genre effort? Will he be able to wrest the box-office record long held by his Three Idiots, which was only recently taken away by SRK’s Chennai Express and Hrithik’s Kkrish 3?

Within just three days of its release the film has smashed every possible box-office record and practically answered every query in the most emphatic manner. But is it really the best Dhoom film so far?

What’s the plot?

Different branches of a Chicago-based bank are being robbed in broad daylight. The thief (Aamir Khan), a daredevil acrobat-illusionist-bike rider rolled into one, has been eluding the city police and leaving his signature taunt (written in Hindi!) at each crime scene. Of course, there are some deep, dark secrets behind these specifically targeted rants and robberies and they are rooted to the thief’s past. Enter Mumbai police’s top cop-team – the unsmiling tough guy Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and his harebrained sidekick Ali (Uday Chopra) to assist their Chicago counterparts to nab this clever Indian-origin thief! Will they be able to unravel the mystery and nab the elusive thief?

What’s hot?

·         ‘Yash Raj Films’ once again proves that their production values are simply top notch. The film is a non-stop spectacle featuring innumerable chases, stunts and song-dance sequences.

·         More than anything else, Dhoom 3 is worth seeing just to check out how Bollywood has made huge technological strides. Technically and visually Dhoom 3 is comparable to any Hollywood action-adventure.

·         As usual, a Dhoom- film is more about the baddie and here, it is about Aamir Khan! He throws himself completely into the central negative role, going back to his Ghajini- 6 pack look. From tap dancing to rope tricks to bike stunts, he carries every act with aplomb. His portrayal of the thief’s inner turmoil and conflicting complex personas is superb but unfortunately that emoting part has been given little scope amidst the all-out action!

·         The third act of Jai Dixit-Ali pair works smoothly. Both, Abhishek and Uday are old hands at these portrayals, which are likeable but always destined to remain in the villain’s shadow!

·         Katrina Kaif just has a non-descript decorative showpiece role but still manages to confidently stride through.

What’s not?

·         Vijay Krishna Acharya’s plot is as usually replete with multiple Hollywood inspirations, most notable being ‘Now You See Me’. But from the classical Action-Emotion-Comedy-Romance Bollywood formula, he focuses too much on action and gives little attention to the other flavours.

·         As a director, Acharya seems to believe little in subtlety. He wastes a lot of screen time in elaborate flashbacks and explanations. By overstretching high quality stunts, he leaves hardly any time to explore interesting human angles and develop some much needed intrigue. Even the songs-and-dances are stitched on quite patchily.

·         Aamir and Katrina’s chemistry is practically non-existent!

·         The film is too lengthy and a better editor could have made it much crisper.

·         The climax is ineffective.

Verdict

Dhoom 3 carries forward the franchise’s high octane action-adventure theme. Technically and visually this is the best of the Dhoom-trio. Aamir Khan adds his own charisma to the film but Acharya’s mediocre writing and direction robs it of its full potential.

If you ask me, Dhoom 2 with its clever entertaining plot and Hrithik- Ash’s smouldering chemistry still remains the best film from the franchise-no matter whatever the trade pundits may tell you about the third installment’s mind-boggling box-office achievements!

But then I have to say that Dhoom 3 is a much better offering when compared to 2013’s other two top box-office achievers Chennai Express and Kkrish 3. Watch it without any expectations and you won’t go wrong!