Review - Dhoom2

[Subhash]

Dhoom2

Dhoom2.jpg

Language: Hindi
Year: Released on November 23, 2006 in the U.S.
Actors: Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Rimi Sen
Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Screenplay & Dialogs: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Music: Pritam
Lyrics: Sameer

With Dhoom 2, Bollywood has crossed the Rubicon in delivering entertainment that approaches Hollywood slickness.

This sequel to Dhoom (2004) breaks no new ground in the story but rather in the overall slick treatment.

Featuring a cast of big names - some familiar to viewers of the earlier version and some new - Dhoom 2 from Yash Raj Films debuted on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. to a decent reception (Desis braved bad weather in large numbers to make it to the first show at Regal Commerce in North Brunswick, NJ on Thursday morning).

Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan, Flop Queen Aishwarya Rai and Sex Bomb Bipasha Basu are new faces in the sequel while Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Rimi Sen provide continuity from Dhoom.

Canny directors like Sanjay Gadhvi know well that movies featuring a thief as an anti-hero have a seductive effect on the audience. Remember the old Cary Grant-Grace Kelly film To Catch a Thief? Of course, we all fell in love with beautiful Frances (Grace Kelly) but it's the memory of the cat burglar John Robbie (Cary Grant) that has stayed with us over so many decades. You see, we all like to be bad, real bad. It's just that most of us don't have the balls.

So, there you have it - A daring thief, a beguilingly beautiful damsel and a cop on the chase in Dhoom 2.

Police officer Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and his sidekick Ali (Uday Chopra), now a sub-inspector, head to Brazil on the trail of ace thief Mr.A (Hrithik Roshan), whose daringly executed robberies have confounded police in different continents.

Also flying into Rio is Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai), a petty thief, police informer and now passionate pupil of Mr.A.

With his changing disguises, rippling biceps and appealing dancing, Hrithik Roshan delivers a solid performance as the stealer of priceless artifacts. Although endearing as the thief, still he doesn't quite inveigle himself into our hearts like he did with his virtuoso performance as the handicapped youth in Koi Mil Gaya.

Hrithik Roshan is to some extent let down by the story. Some of his heists are executed in a manner that makes cops look like blithering idiots.

One also wishes that director Gadhvi would have spent more time better developing the Hrithik-Aishwarya love angle.

Overall, a big weakness of Dhoom 2 is that sometimes it seems like the writers did a rush job on the story. Some members of the audience may even see shades of Hollywood entertainer Entrapment (1999) in Dhoom 2.

As is her wont, the glowingly beautiful Ms.Rai's expressions are limited to a narrow range. What lingers in the mind are only the arresting images of her thighs and long legs below Ms.Rai's itsy bitsy skirts and blouses. If her skirt had gone an inch higher, there'd have been nothing left to the imagination.

Like Ms.Rai, Abhishek Bachchan is not an accomplished actor but does an acceptable job here.

Uday Chopra provides the comic angle as he continues his relentless quest of finding a life partner. In the voluptuous Indian expat Monali Bose (Bipasha Basu), Ali finds his dream girl in Dhoom 2.

Bipashu Basu's second role as the police officer is poorly fleshed out. Perhaps, director Gadhvi considered that tantalizing displays of her bountiful racks would suffice.

Rimi Sen's small role in Dhoom has gotten smaller in Dhoom 2.

Bollywood is getting better and better in delivering stunt scenes that no longer make us laugh. We thought the theft of the crown on a train gliding through the deserts of Namibia was fairly well executed.

Dhoom brought us decent music. And Dhoom 2 continues that tradition.

Our favorite song was My Name Is Ali, sung by Sonu Nigam et al. The Crazy Kiya Re dancer number of Aishwarya Rai and the Bipasha Basu-Abhishek-Uday Chopra song Touch Me were OK too as was the familiar Dhoom Machale.