Crazy Kiya Re! - A Review of Dhoom-2

Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu, Uday Chopra

Yes, this is exactly was I was thinking (no not the song from the movie!) as I walked out of a half-empty theatre on Monday evening after watching the much-hyped sequel to Dhoom!

This was one eagerly awaited movie with stars such as Hrithik, Aishwarya and Bipasha joining Abhishek and Uday on a speed trip. It held a lot of promise especially since the first one was a runaway success. However, as is the case with most sequels, it turned out to be a damp squib. Read on for more details on one of the most wasted movies of 2006!

The opening sequence shows a sleek four coach train rumbling through the deserts of Namibia. In a brilliant scene, Hrithik sky-dives from a helicopter and intercepts the train with the intent of stealing a precious crown (!) which is being carried on board. What follows is absolute mayhem with gravity defying stunts, which would put even Mithun & Rajni to shame! This sets the tone for the rest of the movie as the characters pull off one unbelievable stunt after another; stunts which would have made Newton redefine the principle of gravity!! And bikes! One gets to see bikes only towards the end of the movie, whereas they were the main theme in the first episode. The locales used are quite spectacular, especially Rio and I would have liked a stunt or two at the Cristo Redentor!

Uday Chopra does what he is good at! Play stupid. Period. And that silly hairband is an ingenious way he's devised to conceal his receding hairline :-) Abhishek has acted decently, however he has taken that serious, grumpy look in the film a bit too far. Aishwarya looks genuinely good; till she keeps her mouth shut. Once she starts speaking, however, her giggly, girlish voice comes through quite clearly. Bipasha Basu, I feel has been wasted in this movie. She is a fine actress, and looks quite hot as well, but the story and the plot just do not do justice to her. I mean - what the hell was her part as the Brazilian chick all about?? Was the director trying to get even with her for a past dispute? I would have personally loved to see Bipasha play Ash's character. Hrithik shines out as the best of the lot. He has done perfect justice to his character as a master of disguise, stealing artifacts from supposedly impenetrable fortresses, and leaving behind his insignia at the scene of the crime.

A special mention must be made about the gadgets in the movie, which I thought were absolutely laughable. Bipasha and Abhishek roam around with Bluetooth mobile headsets passing off as radio transceivers. The height is Bipasha pulling out her cellphone to talk to Uday Chopra while still wearing the Bluetooth headset!! C'mon now, how difficult is it to find realistic (if not real) gadgets in this age? And the scene with the undetectable (atleast to the security personnel posted at the museum) remote controlled vehicle stealing the diamond from its well guarded mount is only surpassed in sheer preposterousness by the scene in which Hrithik replaces it with a holographic image!!!

The music is a real let down too. If the first part had some catchy and well placed numbers, this one had some rank bad numbers, which looked as if they were crudely inserted into the storyline. Some innovation should have been shown here as there is not a single song in the entire soundtrack, which is noteworthy. Hrithik too needs to learn some new dance moves as he is seen grooving to the six year old dance moves from Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai!

To be fair to the movie, it is a one time watch! Go see it only if you want to see Bipasha in a bikini or Hrithik changing appearances a la The Jackal. Forget it if you expect anything close to the original Dhoom...

Rating: 2

(1: Trash, 2: Bearable, 3: Average, 4: Good, 5: Excellent)