Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Fast paced and energetic, worth watching

The story starts with the history of Great Indian Circus in Chicago which is mortgaged at the Western Chicago Bank. Its owner Iqbal (Jackie Shroff) has found the magic trick of wooing the bankers but loses the bait unfortunately.

On an eventful night of the circus, Iqbal kills himself due to his inability to save his circus. Years later, Chicago bank is being robbed relentlessly and the thief leaves a Joker’s mask each time. Iqbal’s son Sahir(Aamir Khan) manages to start up their circus again co-incidentally. The Bombay Police is summoned and obvious links are found between Iqbal’s son Sahir’s involvement in the burglary.

Will Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali(Uday Chopra) win against Sahir who is determined to seek revenge and destroy the bank for life?

Script Analysis

It takes a while for the film’s plot to reveal completely. Luckily the writers pack in ample suspense to keep your interest latched to the film from the scene go. While Dhoom and Dhoom 2 both worked because of style and slickness, this one works for its grit. It essentially has all the fun and entertainment that comes as a package from the franchise but luckily this time the makers did not decide to give the story a miss. Aamir’s bikes and all the death defying stunts are extremely filmy to the core giving the audiences a taste of what essentially qualifies as Bollywood, but this time they infuse a highly emotional story.

Of course, one wouldn’t watch Dhoom for a story. It has always been about the ‘femme fatalles’ and ‘Fast and Furious’ stunts. But this one reveals itself as less of a wet dream than what you expect. I specifically like the realistic writing that was attempted in this one. Using one of Bollywood’s archaic props in a contemporary movie like this is astonishing and commendably used.

The reason why the writing is great in this film is not because of how the story is structured but on what it is based. Getting to India, the concept of international circus, recovering the Shakespearean idea of wittiness of a clown is praiseworthy.

The film in the second half resorts to unbelievable sloppiness and slackens a little in terms of looseness in the consistency of film’s writing but nevertheless, the use of a few extremely stellar ideas makes this film fantastic for me.

Star Performances

It is best to reveal as little as possible about Aamir’s character. To say the least, Aamir Khan is sincere in whatever he does. He plays every shade of his role with smoothness, ease and perfection.

Katrina Kaif is beautiful in every frame. She is perfect with her acts and the dance. Sadly, her role isn’t written with more meat or emotion.

Abhishek Bachchan is as good as Jai Dixit as he has always been.

And no curt words for Uday Chopra. God bless him for all the comic relief he provides. Without him, Dhoom would be a brooding and distastefully somber.

Direction, Editing and Screenplay

I have always rooted for the Dhoom villains more so for Hrithik Roshan. His cucumber cool demeanor and composed style of stealing made me go woot for him. He was just so much cooler than the policemen. But this time my heart went out for the villains. Their emotional baggage was so believable that you’ll want them to win in each of their attempts.

The Last Word

Dhoom 3 was spectacular and majestic. Keeping a strong hold on the emotional prowess of its plot, the film sews in the slick action so awe strikingly. Don’t go in expecting an Aamir Khan film because it isn’t without flaws. But it gets right everything that is a must for commercial films, especially its ability to grasp on to the interest of audiences. Even cool thieves are vulnerable people and to be able to get that correct is what makes Dhoom 3 a winner. One bang up job! I am going with 4 stars for the only hitch that good films don’t necessarily need to stretch this long