The best thing about a trilogy in Bollywood is that you know you can expect the same story time and time again. This installation, Dhoom 3 (which I think is named so because it’s just a few minutes shy of 3 hours long) doesn’t fail its predecessors. Personally, I hate the concept of turning one successful movie into a franchise. The lasting impact of the initial movie is lost due to the lackluster and repetitive stories of the ones that follow.
Vijay Krishna Acharya should stick to scripting films instead of directing them. His directorial debut, Tashan didn’t fare so well and I hope Dhoom 3 doesn’t either. Dhoom was a good movie and I enjoyed watching it. Dhoom 2 became too much about showcasing Hrithik’s biceps and Dhoom 3 did the same with Aamir.
Sahir (Aamir Khan) is part of the Great Indian Circus, which was started by his father. His father sadly was not able to keep the circus moving due to defaults in his loan payments. Sahir therefore plans to rob a Chicago bank to keep his business running.
The owners of the bank decide to call the Dhoom duo, Jai Dixit and Ali (Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra) to help stop him. Why an American bank would call two Mumbai policemen to help them stop an acrobat is still beyond me. It would be like the Joker asking an Indian goonda to help him stop Robin (who was also an acrobat). After making movies like Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par, he shot to the top of my list of favorite Bollywood actors. I can’t understand why he would want to add a movie like this to his filmography.
There are positives to the movie. The action sequences and the stunts are well choreographed, although the computer graphics used could have been a bit better. The action carries the movie well but can’t carry it for the entire duration. I sincerely think the editor should look for a new line of work if he feels 172 minutes is acceptable for a movie length (unless of course it’s Lord of the Rings).
The dance sequences were scintillating, especially those involving Katrina Kaif. Katrina herself was used well to distract people from the lack of storyline. She plays the Bipasha Basu or Aishwarya Rai role in this installment. I wonder if they’re going to continue making Dhoom movies till they run out of A-list actors that they can cast as anti-heros. Only time will tell.
The Verdict: You’ll enjoy the movie if you’re an Aamir Khan fan, but don’t expect yourself to like him as much after the movie. It’s definitely worth watching once especially when you have kids nagging you take them for a movie.