Dhoom 3 (20 Dec 2013)

Cast: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Jackie Shroff, Tabrett Bethell, Andrew Bicknell, Siddharth Nigam

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

As expected, the movie is replete with amazing bike stunts on out of the world bikes. To the point that , you feel like they belong to the genre of the machines in ‘Transformers’, as they can beautifully and seamlessly just transform into anything, to assist the protagonist in escaping from the cops. James Bond series will now look up to this flick for inspiration! Transformations are so bizarre, that one even more bizarre spectator from the audience loudly wondered that, in a particular scene, why didn’t the makers opt for the bike to convert into a helicopter (for better impact) instead of a speedboat! With my limited automobile engineering knowledge of that of a layman, I thought that this not even theoretically possible, as both these vehicles use absolutely different kinds of fuel. But you never know, what they will show in the next sequel.

Katrina has very limited screen time, even less than that of the bikes! But the lady did manage to bring in the oomph factor befitting a Dhoom sequel. She looks very fit and dances with amazing elan and poise. One wonders, why there was no marketing gimmick centered around her wearing and dance steps, as you find the case with a lot of dud movies, who manage to get a good opening just on the basis of the addition of a last minute impactful song. The makers must have been super confidant of their brand and offering, to restrain from any such marketing.

Abhishek and Uday have performed as per expectation. In fact, Uday should be applauded for bringing in much required light moments in the film. His style statement in the film is ‘bandanas’ (head gear). Abhishek looks relatively fitter.

Some stardust seems to have touched all yesteryear stars. Somehow all of them seem to be giving better performance than what they delivered during their prime years. And Jackie is no exception. He looks intense, broody and desolate as per his character’s requirement. Surprise package of the movie is the child artist Siddharth Nigam. He actually justifies being the younger Aamir Khan. Even the glint in his eyes matches that of Aamir!

Trust Aamir Khan to get into the teeth of the character, so much that, his performance gives the much required depth to the movie, which was absent in the earlier prequels. However, in the first half you do miss the tall, stylish and empowering presence of a Hrithik Roshan or a John Abraham. And you definitely do miss the genius dancing of a Hrithik. But in the second half, Aamir’s well researched performance leaves no room for any such thoughts. He manages to look cute, sad, excited and driven, all in a single scene!

To sum it up, the movie is definitely worth watching, as it is one of its kind. Major brainstorming has been done in visualizing and execution of the stunts. None of them look corny or boring. Costumes, sets and temporary tattoos are detailed as well. In fact, they are very good. You can call it pure showmanship. But one does wonder, why there was no change of costume shown in the repeated shows of the circus, as it befits the movie of such budget and stature. Music is average. Only one or two songs catch your attention. The director has done a good job. Slightly better job than this and he can join the group of esteemed filmmakers of the country.