As we came out of the hall after 11 am show of Dhoom2 (or D2, if you prefer!), Aparna said with an apologetic air , "Abishek, I liked the movie." I was surprised. "So? What’s there to be worried about it?" Aparna gets a trifle worried if she senses that her opinion is completely different from others. "No, many people said, there is no story in the movie!" Well, who can deny that? But who can say they didn’t enjoy it either?
Writer, producer Aditya Chopra and director Sanjay Gadvi have followed the well known KISS principle in this movie. No, I am not talking about the liplock between Ms. Rai and Mr. Roshan (don’t worry, more on that later!) but about ’Keep It Simple, Stupid’ principle that Software Engineers are supposed to follow. You can gauge the simplicity of the script by the fact that in the entire movie there are total 6 characters, which have been played by the five lead actors. I can remember only two other characters who appear for more than 1 minute: a senior police officer and ACP Jai Dixit’s wife Sweety (Rimi Sen, looking and acting terrible!)
It’s a simple cop-and-robber story, sort of a formulaic continuation of Dhoom. But I believe that heists in Dhoom didn’t have as many loose ends as the ones here. The thefts in D2 are spectacular no doubt but there are some things or the other that are hard to digest.
But if Aparna liked the movie (and so have done many others), there is a reason. Director Gadhvi said in an interview, that he has followed Manmohan Desai’s formula of introducing some ’item’ (or highlight) every few minutes. So these ’items’ keep the movie together and don’t ever let you get bored. Every heist, every chase, every song is an item. Rather Gadhvi has ensured that every single occasion when Hrithik Roshan appears on screen becomes an item!
Action Director Allan Amin and consultant Vic Armstrong (his CV as stunt coordinator includes names like MI3, War of the Worlds, Gangs of NewYork, Die Another Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, Charlie’s Angels etc.) have been extremely well complemented by cinematography by Vikas Sivaraman & Nirav Shah. Editing by Rameshwar Bhagat is taut. Screenplay and dialogues by Vijay Krishna Acharya are good.
But I don’t have kind words for music director Preetam. It seems that only good tune he has ever been able to compose is ’Dhoom macha le’. So all he can do is to keep on recycling it. In almost all his movies (Dhoom, Chocolate, Fight Club, Gangster) there is atleast one copied song. There is none here, so apart from ’Dhoom again’ (extremely well choreograped by Shiamak Dawar) no song is impressive. Rather I felt distracted by the songs. Thumbs down.
Yeah I know, you are getting impatient to read about the actors.
Hrithik Roshan’s bad days are over and he will deliver his second super hit of the year and of his career, when he is not working with his father. His character Aryan/Mr. A is a supercool and intelligent thief, who sings and dances (bare-chested) as elegantly as he plans and executes thefts. Just a mask short of ’Krrish’ he surfs the sands and skys with equal ease and skate boarding and bungee jumping are all in a day’s works for him. Not to forget romancing with the lady.
Which brings us to the other thief of the movie ’Sunehari’. Aishwarya Rai looks ’oooooh-so-hot’! She looks million dollars and the shot where she stands like Angelina Jolie in ’Laura Craft-Tomb Raider’ is truly one of the highest points of the movie. For the first time ever, the ’Ice Maiden’ drops her clothes and inhibitions and the chemistry between Hrithik and her is sparkling, even if you don’t consider the 2-second liplock!
Jai Dixit’s character is so badly written that I am surprised! There is no consistency in his character’s acts. Still if it doesn’t become an eye sore, it is solely due to Abhishek Bachchan’s performance. He has done well, even though his character doesn’t has much to do.
Which again goes true for Ali’s character which has been pretty well defined as sidekick cum comedian. Uday Chopra has good comic timing and entertains with witty dialogues.
Bipasha Basu plays two characters: officer Shonali Bose, who is tracking Mr. A and her twin sister Monali Bose who speaks in english, talks to her home and struts around the beach in bikini.
So this is D2 for you. Yes there is no significant story, but still visuals make up for it. There are exotic locations, plenty of skin thrown in and truly great stunts. Enough to keep you engaged for Two and half hours.
Go watch it. My rating 3/5