The start of a successful Bollywood franchise, this action packed film meshes the likes of The Fast and the Furious with motorcycles as well as a dash of Lethal Weapon with its heroes who couldn’t be more mismatched.
A gang of motorcycle riders have been wreaking havocs on the streets of Mumbai, robbing banks and evading the police. ACP Jai Dixit is in charge of the case and he’s determined to take them down. Jai knows that this will not be an easy case, especially when he lets his ego cause a case of mistaken identity after arresting Ali Khan, a motorcycle racing champion and dealer. During the interrogation, the robbers have pulled off another heist.
Kabir, a local worker at the pizza parlor, is the leader of the motorcycle gang along with three co-workers as well as stage performer Sheena. Their plan is to rob enough money so they can retire scot-free. When a shootout results in the death of one of his gang, Kabir takes on Ali as his departed partner’s replacement. On New Year’s Eve, the gang plans to pull off their biggest heist yet, but will Jai, who due to his actions has been taking off the case, get his reputation back by stopping the gang?
When many think of Bollywood, they think of musical numbers mixed in with the genre and while that does apply here, this film is the beginning of what would be one of the most successful action franchises in Bollywood. Part of the reason why this film is truly a success is because of the chemistry between the two heroes Jai and Ali, played respectively by Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra. Bachchan is the no-nonsense determined cop with Chopra as the free-spirited biker who yearns to have a wife in order to please his late mother.
John Abraham brings the slickness in lead villain Kabir. As the leader of the gang, Kabir is not exactly a complete villain, or at least it doesn’t seem like that. Compared to his cohort Rahul, played by Arav Chaudhary, Kabir is more level-headed than his cohort who proves himself to be a loose cannon who midway through, seems to have more of a thirst for revenge rather than just the money. Esha Deol’s introduction comes midway through as well and proves to be a pivotal character who may be the one Ali has been pining for while Rimi Sen makes the most of her limited screen time as Jai’s wife.
The action is quite a delight for a Bollywood film of this caliber. Mostly consisting of some exciting chase scenes and firepower, there is a bit of hand-to-hand combat that does have that wirework, but for some strange reason, it works here. The chase scenes are truly the film’s highlights and will make one think of The Fast and the Furious only replace slick cars with motorcycles.
Dhoom is truly a Bollywood action film that truly is what the title implies. It really is a blast, thanks to the chemistry between Bachchan and Chopra and Abraham’s sly villain character. The film spawned two sequels with a reboot on the way.
WFG RATING: A-
A Yash Raj Films Production. Director: Sanjay Gadhvi. Producer: Aditya Chopra. Writer: Vijay Krishna Acharya. Cinematography: Nirav Shah. Editing: Avinash Chaurasia.
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Uday Chopra, Esha Deol, Rimi Sen, Manoj Joshi, Ajay Pande, Arav Chaudhary, Farid Amiri, Rohit Chopra.
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