Genre : Action/Thriller
Year : 2013
Running time : 2 hours 52 minutes
Director : Vijay Krishna Acharya
Cast : Amir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Katrina Kaif, Uday Chopra
Kidwise : PG-13
Many die-hard Dhoom fans have told me that they didn’t like Dhoom 3. I wasn’t too thrilled with it myself, but then I didn’t like Dhoom 1 or Dhoom 2 either. I have to admit though, that relatively brainy and exacting Amir Khan’s entry into a heretofore brawn-preserve had upped the ante; I’d been looking forward to this just on the basis of his reputation. Alas it was not to be (Big Sigh); happiness eludes me yet again; my tears pool at my feet etc. etc.
The story is as such stories will be. Wily illusionist/magician Sahir (Amir Khan) is also a skilled thief, looting big US banks with an unnerving sleight of hand. Saahir lives with a traumatic memory – that of his father’s (Jackie Shroff) death after the failure of his venture The Great Indian Circus. The cause of death as Sahir sees it, is evil, cold Chicago banker Anderson, and since Sahir is the dutiful desi beta, his life’s goal is revenge. A few greenbacks on the side wouldn’t hurt either.
Aaliya (Katrina Kaif) is the amazing circus girl who has a thing for Sahir. And Abhishek Bachchan as ACP Jai Dixit, and Uday Chopra as Ali Akbar, are the nincompoop Indian policemen hot on his trail. Really, this film treads the old comfortable path except for a very interesting twist towards the middle and the unexpected ending.
Now, I’m not one for appearances, but Aamir’s wardrobe in this film does him no favors. You’d think that they’d take care to NOT dress a short, stocky actor in skintight jeans, knee-high-boots, mock-necked shirts and a bowler, but amazingly this is what they do! Exactly! To the T! Thus, Amir loses the neck he has, and appears almost a dwarf. And really, if your hero is a dwarf who has to literally look up to every other character in the film, your film is shot. Not that the desi public bothers about minor details like this – the last I heard Dhoom3 was making its way into the 300 crore club.
Dear Katrina is in the film only sparingly. She is mostly seen and not heard, which according to my husband is a good thing. Jackie Shroff looks very zombie-like, all deathly, dark under eye shadows and sallow complexion. One had hoped to never see him grace the silver screen again, but oh well! Uday Chopra has risen from retirement for this film (one must wonder why), and I hope he will go back to where he came from. Abhishek Bachchan hasn’t retired yet although it sure feels like it – here’s hoping he’ll pursue an alternate career in 2014. I feel for the guy – I really do. He has two super huge personalities to contend with. There’s Superstar Dad Amitabh Bachchan and Wonder Woman Wifey Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and together the two cast such a glow that Abhishek Baba is having a hard time just coming out from under their shadows.
On the plus side – yes, amazingly there is one – there are some interesting chases and some good CGI. Amir does as Amir will, so some good solid acting in a weak, ill-defined role. The problem with this film, from my very informal survey, was that it attempted to infuse some story (such as it was) into a film that should have been non-stop, mindless action. D3 definitely had some drama going on, only it was a tad psychotic and banked on good old desi familial emotional blackmail and melodrama. You could seriously make a case for abuse for Amir Khan’s character; if he wasn’t in this film, he would have spent years in therapy.
Relatively speaking, this movie is the least annoying of all the Dhooms. All said and done, the verdict is : OK for a one-time watch. Keep your expectations low, and you’ll be fine.
Kidwise : Relatively clean. Nothing to scar the kids with except for one dance number, a PG-13 strip-tease disguised as a circus act. In it, Aliya auditions for the Great Indian Circus, starts off in loose-fitting dungarees and a floppy hat and ends up in a sports bra and fairly teensy bike shorts. If she’d gone any further, that circus would have done very well.
