Vijay Krishna Acharya had last directed the disaster, TASHAN. He has returned with DHOOM 3, the most awaited movie of the year. After a seven year hiatus, the third instalment of the DHOOM series has arrived. Since KRRISH 3, it would not be wrong to say that the audiences have been craving for some more full-on action movies. So does Vijay Krishna Acharya create a dhoom with DHOOM 3? Let’s find out…
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The movie starts at a flashback in 1990 Chicago, where Iqbal (Jackie Shroff) puts on a special circus act for Anderson (Andrew Bicknell) in order to impress him from closing down his circus. However, Anderson stays adamant and ultimately decides to close down the circus. Unable to bear this, Iqbal shoots himself, leaving his son Sahir (Siddharth Nigam) alone in shock and turmoil. Years later, Sahir (Aamir Khan) has still not forgotten what the bank and what Anderson did to his father, and pledges to take revenge. Thus, he becomes a thief and loots the branches of Anderson’s bank. Soon enough, Super-cops Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra) from India are employed to solve the crime… And that’s when the cat and mouse chase begins!
Initially the story, written by Vijay Krishna Acharya and Aditya Chopra was intriguing. However, there were a few holes which needed to be filled in. A major question which arose in my mind was, why did America specifically choose Jai and Ali to solve the crime? Was it because the thief kept writing in hindi after the heist? Another question that I had was, how did Sahir survive all these years? Did he live in an orphanage? How did he survive in America, whilst being destitute? Unfortunately, these questions remained unanswered by the time the movie ended.
There are many strong points of the movie. The most obvious being the adrenaline rush action sequences and original stunts, which will definitely keep you on the edge of your seats! The acrobatics during the Malang song was jaw-dropping. I feel that Vaibhavi Merchant’s finesse choreography perfectly complemented the acrobatics and the other songs in the movie. Also, the soundtrack of the movie is superb! Normally, Songs from any Dhoom movie are not as great. However, Pritam’s produces some chartbuster tracks such as: the title track, Malang, and Kamli. These tracks are truly the best of the DHOOM series, (after Crazy Kiya Re of cousrse!) and will definitely stick with you in a few years time.
Let’s now move on to the performances! To begin with, Jackie Shroff as Iqbal was tremendous. Although he was not in the movie for long, he shines immensely in the parts he was in. A surprise element in the movie is that Aamir Khan plays a double role as Sahir and Samar- who is autistic. I feel that he portrayed both characters very well, thus he steals the show. In fact, you genuinely believe that these are two separate people. Ditto for Siddharth Nigam, who plays the younger version of the twins. He’s superb! Abhishek Bachchan as Jai, plays the part with ease. I feel that the continuity in his character was perfect, likewise for Uday Chopra as Ali. However, I honestly feel that Katrina Kaif playing Aliya, was totally wasted. She did not have much to do in the movie, except for dancing in a few songs, and acting in a few scenes here and there. One scene where she briefly romanced Aamir, fizzled completely. Initially, I thought that Aamir-Katrina would be the next Hrithik-Aishwarya from DHOOM 2 but unfortunately this is not the case! I wish the story and the director, Vijay Krishna Acharya gave more scope to Katrina, because we all know that a star like her deserves a better role than this and is much more capable of it!
On the whole, DHOOM 3 guarantees only one thing, which is entertainment. I did not get bored in the film at all. The music, the twists in the story, and the stunts/action sequences will intrigue you, despite all the flaws in the movie. In fact due to these flaws, I was going to give DHOOM 3 two stars. However, due to show stealer, Aamir Khan, I’m giving one star extra.
* * * (3/5 stars)
