DHOOM 3: Aamir Macha Le

 Standing bare backed, a black hat on his head, Aamir Khan’s entry in Dhoom 3 is met with complete silence in the packed theatre. Unlike the whistles and hoots that normally greet a hero in an adrenalin racing, action film. After all, Aamir is no action hero. He knows it. So do the makers. Both end up taking a giant risk, riding overconfidently on Aamir’s histrionics ranging from a peculiarly over intense expression while racing on bikes to an extremely endearing smile to rolling his neck and widening his eyes saucer sized.Yashraj Productions and writer/director, Vijay Krishna Acharya are clearly placing all bets on the wrong horse. What a pity when they had the right bike oiled twice for a sequel.

Dhoom 3 rides on a very tightrope between its own stylised, action filled, cop and thief chase sequences and a story that appeals exclusively to Aamir fans. But before one talks about Aamir who is more than centrestage here, Dhoom 3 has three very pleasant surprises.

First, there is actually a decent story to this action sequel. (There is both a plus and a minus here.)

Second, Abhishek Bachchan is actually good.

Third, Katrina has just that much screen time as one can tolerably enjoy.

 Dhoom has always been about the clever thief who plays ‘catch me if you can’ with an equally clever cop who loves challenges. And of course, kick ass stunts on buildings, trains and hot bods and bikini babes. Dhoom had John Abraham on his bikes and Abhishek Bachchan. Dhoom 2 became bigger and better with the glamorous Hrithik and Aishwarya playing ‘crazy kiya re’ with Abhishek. Now,despite the very capable director, who takes us to a brilliantly shot Chicago, Dhoom 3 unfortunately fails to meet the biggest challenge of getting a ‘thinking actor’ like Aamir Khan to rob banks and ride swanky motorbikes larger than himself.

Cleverly adapting itself to Aamir’s softer, persona, the script makes the thief a charming clown in “The Great Indian Circus” in Chicago. A backstory involves a child watching his father (Jackie Shroff, better than usual) struggling with debt against ruthless bankers. The child, Sahir (Aamir) grows up to take revenge against the bank.

The film begins well with all the anticipated moves and stunts as Aamir ,Abhishek and Udya Chopra are introduced. Uday Chopra makes his usual, goofy entry, his silly grin his only acting prowess.Abhishek Bachchan ,surprisingly, does full justice to Pritam’s catchy background score of “dhoom macha le..” with his perfect tough cop gait and expression. The delightful action moment kicks in when he packs a punch while in mid-air.

Once the regular Dhoom cop-thief scenario is established and the heroine, Katrina Kaif is introduced in a scintillating dance number as a circus artist, the story changes gears and takes you completely by surprise at interval point. The director takes a huge leap of faith that relies completely on Aamir for the rest of the film. While the actor completely outdoes himself and keeps one engaged and enthralled, Dhoom 3 starts losing its essential value as the game it has been between cop and thief. What could have been a subplot involving Aamir, becomes the main plot and the usual Dhoom chase sequences take a backseat.

The end disappoints with its double dose of Bollywood emotional drama, with the film by now forgetting its core strength of  playing clever clever with the cop.No vroom vroom, no dhoom.

So will you enjoy Dhoom 3? Aamir fans are likely to be delighted after the twist at interval point. As for strictly Dhoom fans, tighten your seatbelts. Speed breaker ahead. As a line in the film goes, it seems the makers are telling the audience.."teri aisi ki taisi.”