Dhoom 3 may have been the toughest role that Aamir Khan has essayed but it clearly isn't one of his best performances.
Rating : 4 out of 5
But what the heck, you do not go to watch an action-thriller like Dhoom 3 anticipating great acting chops. You expect fast bikes, great action stunts, pulsating chase sequences, fantastic music, spectacular locations and a terrific music score. The film delivers a bit of everything but not to the level you expect from the Dhoom franchise or from a banner like Yash Raj Films. Blown or 'Dhoom-ed' away, you will not be.
So here's the story: Circus boy/man Sahir (Aamir Khan) is a person with fire in his belly (or on his arms as seen in the film's posters, along with the other fired-up 'lead' characters). Of course, there is little heat that Mumbai cops Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra) bring to the plot or their characters (caricatures?). On the other hand, 'Asian Goddess who can sing and dance like water and fire' Alia (Katrina Kaif) does set the circus on fire with her introductory dance number but after that, evaporates from the plot.
The first 15 minutes or so of the film are painfully boring as the plot sets up sympathy for Aamir by showing us his emotional journey with his father (Jackie Shroff) and The Great Indian Circus. The Great Indian Circus was owned by Shroff in 1990 but was repossessed by some hamming extras posing as bankers from the Western Bank of Chicago when they failed to see merit in the 'Indian magic' (rightfully so; it's entirely lame) and close down the circus (unbelievably housed in a Greco-Roman building!). Cut to 2013, a grown-up, bare-bodied Sahir awakens on a leather upholstered bed in the middle of a glass-covered, minimalist furnished penthouse with the Chicago skyline as backdrop. Vendetta for his father's suicide caused by those very ruthless bankwalas forms the rest of the film's plot. (The glass penthouse too evaporates into thin air henceforth as Sahir is shown living in some backstage apartment of the Greco-Roman building). Why? Because there lies hidden Sahir's deep secret which only he, one more person (and now we! Help!) are aware of.
Watch: Dhoom 3 Trailer
Dhoom 3 throws logic out of the circus tent. Oops, we mean the circus mansion. Jai and Ali's character are flown into Chicago (American taxpayers' money being used to fly in Mumbai police? Tch, tch) to investigate Sahir's various robberies which are part of his elaborate plan to bring the banks down. But why the Mumbaikars? Because not only does he leave his imprint in the bank in Hindi after every heist (shouldn't the messages have been in Marathi then?), the entire Chicago Police force comprises of a bunch of incompetent fools. They know nothing about their job and are shown, for the most part, wielding guns they never shoot and shouting 'stop', 'stop'. Much like how Mumbai cops are shown in Bollywood - as decoration and arriving on the scene at the end of everything. Jai and Ali on the other hand should have been in Interpol or FBI. They are on Sahir's tail like moths to a flame and nothing, not even random hot babes will stop them. No wonder the crime rate in Mumbai has gone up - our heroes are in Chicago chasing a middle aged Indian con-tortionist!
There is more. Like the busty blonde Chicago cop Victoria who comes to pick up Jai and Ali from the airport. But while Jai gets lucky to ride pillion with her, Ali is forced to ride on a bus seated next to a Black passenger. Did someone say racist?! Stereotype?
The other good part is that the film is shot brilliantly. The three-hour long film is (ironically!) edited crisply. The stunts are mostly well-choreographed. Strangely, the circus scenes for which Aamir and Katrina reportedly trained for months are ho-hum, passable. Wonder what happened to the decent cinematography here? The first half does not give you any clues about the delicious twist at interval (we're not telling, go find out yourself). Pritam's music is not even close to what he scored in the earlier Dhoom prequels.
Acting is not the hallmark of this film. The firang actors act like how all firangs act in Bollywood films. Abhishek Bachcan and Uday Chopra should not have been in the film. Katrina Kaif by far is the best thing of Dhoom 3 because she does what she does best - dance crazy super after months of training.
Despite the fact that his face looks like someone injected Botox in it to freeze his scowl, at its heart, Dhoom 3 is Aamir Khan show. And Aamir Khan never let's you forget that you are watching Aamir Khan in this film. This was not the case, say, when he played Rancho in 3 Idiots or the character in Ghajini or Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat in Talaash. Even Aamir's effort at tap dance is far from effortless.
The earlier two Dhoom films sizzled. This one fizzles right at the beginning and keeps stalling intermittently.
Source: India Today
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