Movie review: Dhoom 3

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Cast: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Katrina Kaif



Look what they made Aamir Khan do. They relegated him to a formula driven Hollywood inspired circus act. Ironically there’s a dialogue in Dhoom 3 that says circuses aren’t meant to be intelligent, they’re meant to be stupid and that’s what people pay money to watch.

Aamir though manages to instil some faith in even this empty vessel. Had this been any other Khan or B-town heartthrob you could accept Dhoom 3 as a run-of-the-mill entertainer. But we’re talking here about an actor, filmmaker and genius who sets the benchmark for perfection. Sadly Dhoom 3’s lack of depth is a bonafide disappointment.

The entire dramatic play is centred on a twist. It’s a development easily foreseen if you’ve seen Christopher Nolan’s 2005 classic on magic The Prestige. But if you’re the average Joe who watches movies for the Khan triumvirate you’ll love the twist. The only problem is, twists serve up a great dramatic punch in the finale. But in Dhoom 3 the twist is over by the intermission. Rest of the way you’re left contending with why Abhishek Bachchan’s character is making heavy weather about arresting a criminal whose modus operandi has been all figured out. The film walks a very thin rope of cinematic liberties. And miraculously it doesn’t end up looking all that amateur. Thank Aamir who juggles between the complexities of his role with consummate ease.

If you thought the story was light on logic you haven’t seen the levity in Dhoom 3’s scenes. Aamir rides a BMW street bike on a tight rope. Then this bike transforms into a jet boat. And then it fires harpooned cables and swings around like a trapeze artist would in a circus. Such scenes of outrageous gadgetry are amusing but they used to be the trademark in James Bond movies thirty years ago.

Director Vijay Krishna Acharya who is also responsible for the screenplay and dialogue should have done better at fleshing out the drama and emotions in his scenes. He’s made a slick looking film. The action sequences, the CGI bike transformations and the circus acts all look great. But the force driving them, the story teeters on abysmal points like the whole vengeance saga is fuelled by the fact that a bank refused to fund Aamir’s Dad’s (Jackie Shroff) circus and he committed suicide. How is that the bank’s fault? 

To give you your money’s worth there’s a star cast. There’s Katrina’s great glamour, there’s Uday Chopra’s foolhardy comedy and there’s Abhishek Bachchan’s machismo. There are songs, there’s action and there’s everything you would want to see in a big ticket movie. What’s missing is that something, which makes an Aamir Khan movie a cut above the rest.