There are two heroes in Dhoom 3 – Aamir Khan and the bikes. The whole film rests on Khan’s shoulders, and it won’t be an overestimation to say that he is strong enough to hold the three hours all by himself. Apart from him, there are jaw-dropping stunts, the much expected vrooming of superbikes (you have not seen anything close to this in Indian cinema), unbelievable twists, and for the first time – a mindblowing intermission, a climax that may let you down, just that you couldn’t have thought of it, as well as engaging magic tricks, a circus that's visually appealing, and oh yeah, there's robbery too, just that you won't get to see much of it.
The hero part settled, there is no female lead. Perhaps Yash Raj didn’t sign Katrina Kaif for the movie, albeit for 3 songs and 3 dialogues and a sort of kiss. But the fact that Miss Kaif has gradually grown from being Miss Two-Left Feet to the female Hrithik Roshan of Bollywood is worth a mention. So what if she had nothing to do in the plot, Dhoom franchise is incomplete sans a hot babe with washboard abs and looks to die for. Abhishek Bachchan can shout from the rooftop that he is the hero, but he's not. He could have sleepwalked through this role. While we attributed a standing ovation to Khan, we were kind enough to maintain a minute of silence for Uday Chopra as this film marks his Bollywood obituary. Good riddance to the duo. If there has to be a fourth hero (or a heroine for that sake) of Dhoom 3, it has to be the VFX that supported the direction, not the policewallahs, please.
The story has hardly anything pathbreakingly new – Aamir’s father (Jackie Shroff), a magician who runs ‘The Great Indian Circus’, commits suicide as he can’t repay the loan taken by a bank in Chicago and they threaten to auction his circus. The father couldn’t bear the humiliation and the son couldn’t forget his death. How the son grows up to be a perfect thief-cum-magician and avenge the bank is where and how the story begins.
There are two dialogues of Aamir in the film worth sharing -- while one holds the whole film – (The first dialogue - Bande hain hum uskey, humpe kiska zor, Ummeedoon ke suraj, nikale charo oor, Iraadey hain faulaadi, himmati har kadam, Apne haathon kismat likhne, Aaj chale hain hum), the other one can hold the film together.
The second dialogue - Aamir says to Katrina: "Tumhare paas paanch minute hain. Ek second ke liye bhi meri nazar tumse nahin hatni chahiye."
Well, Aamir – despite Abhishek’s monotonous acting, Uday’s repetitive jokes, a not-so-innovative script and not too impressive editing – we didn’t blink our eyes during the whole film. And you take the credit. Perhaps that’s the reason you’re wearing the hat in the movie, for we walked out of the theatre declaring, ‘Hat’s off, Aamir’. You ended this year with a ‘Dhoom’. The movie belongs to you, even the 3 in the title is because your acting prowess this time is three times better, if not two (We better not disclose the secret in the story, right?).
P.S. Hrithik should watch this movie closely before the idea of Krrish 4 crosses his mind, and yeah, he can salute Mr Khan too in Jaadoo style.
What will disappoint you?
- If Dhoom was about bikes and robbery, Dhoom 2 about robbery, romance and dance, Dhoom 3 is about Aamir and well, just Aamir. You will not get to see how the thief is robbing the bank. You are as clueless as Abhishek Bachchan and the Chicago police as to how it takes place.
- Don't expect multiple disguises like Hrithik had in Dhoom 2. So, don't go to watch Dhoom 3 with such expecations of a Hollywood style bank heist caper film, it's not.
- Dhoom showcased a hot-handsome thief. In Dhoom 2, the perfect thief was a hunk who dances like a dream. Now, with Dhoom 3 and the Aamir tag, one expects him to do all of it and more, taking the level of finesse further. However, Khan is so stiff in his tap dance act, looks like he was forced to sway to the song.
-There are some aspects of an Indian film that fail to leave all Bollywood scripts. For instance, the heroine has nothing to do in the movie (deja vu), the Indian diaspora miserably suffering in the foreign land, and how the firangs, endlessly and intentionally, are the villains of their otherwise perfect world. Plus, how a woman comes in and is the reason behind two brothers fighting, and how a woman is supposed to take the family’s legacy forward or to realize the dreams of the hero. And a love story – no movie is complete without the emotional family melodrama and a love angle. Grow up, Bollywood, please. We are not against experimentation at all.
Despite all the bumbling by the director, fumbling by Abhishek-Uday, some glitches in the VFX, Aamir overcomes all the insurmountable odds. And when you leave the theatre, you're not disappointed. Given that the film releases around holiday time, it is definitely going to set the Box Office ringing and break a few records in the bargain.
