Bikes, babes and battering blows, machoism and hip music; that’s Dhoom (excitement) for you. But unlike Dhoom, the prelude, which had John and his team modifying their mobikes and going for the loot, the sequel lacks substantially in a convincing plot (the script had inspired a gang of real thieves in Mumbai which were apprehended by the police some time ago). The mantra of the sequel seems to be gadgets and disguise and the story banks on both to move forward (ala The Saint). Therefore we have a hunk called Aryan (Hrithik Roshan), an elusive high profile con man, skydiving on a speeding train in the middle of the Namib Desert which is carrying the Queen’s crown. A few implausible acrobats later, the mission is accomplished successfully. Incomparable with the train dacoity sequence from the movie Sholay, the best in the history of Hindi cinema. But that’s for later.
When our smooth swindler is not busy skydiving or riding bikes or showing off his abs, he’s working peacefully in his lab conceiving the most unbelievable gadgets (yes..you read that right) which will bail him out of the most improbable situations (ala the James Bond). All this is fructified without a helping hand until Sunheri (Aishwarya Rai) comes along and proves her point. By the way, here’s a twist for the I-expect-girls-to-sing-a-song-and-wear-sarees cinema goers. Sunheri’s not the typical bholi-bhali bimbo. This energetic and toned lady struts her masks and moves her arms (ala KillBill) with the same elan as she hops her feet to impress her idol. Got that? ok there are moments of adventure as well in this relationship with a few salsa steps thrown in. Ah.. and not to forget the much hyped Ash-Hrithik kiss too. It’s nothing that anyone hasn’t seen before in Hindi movies. So chill!
If you talk about music, Dhoom the had better compositions. I would pick Crazy Kiya Re as the best from the current album. Top it up with some beautiful dance moves by Ash (choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant). There are special effects everywhere from bike chases; some of them too lengthy and boring to daring escapes and one feels that it was quite overdone. The comical relationship between Ali (Uday Chopra) and Monali (Bipasha Basu) could’ve been exploited further. Amidst the guns and the girls, Ali’s character has been pitifully reduced to a goon-turned-police-officer who mouths unimpressive Mumbaiyya hindi-styled comic dialogues (Munnabhai would not be impressed), a far cry from his performance in the first installment. Unfortunately I get a feeling that the director failed to realize the potential of the original theme of Dhoom and lost his way.
