Like everyone else on the Internet, I’ve seen my share of gifs lifted from hilariously exaggerated scenes from Indian action movies and have invariably been amused. Earlier this year, I’d read an article about how Dhoom 3 was the most expensive film ever made by Bollywood and how it is chock full of ridiculous errors and loopholes. I also noticed that all arguments about artistic merit aside, the series as a whole has earned a tremendous amount of money, both domestically in India and internationally. Since I’d like to think that I give films of all countries and all genres a fair shake, I thought I’ll take a look at this franchise for myself, starting with the first one.
After watching this, I think that I should just have jumped straight to Dhoom 3. If the plot of the first one is anything to go by, it’s not like continuity matters much anyway. This film was made on a budget of just under US$2 million. The latest one had ten times the budget. This probably explains why almost every aspect of the first Dhoom looks so visually underwhelming.
The motorcycle chases are supposed to look kinetic and fast. They actually look tepid and rather sedate. There is a distinct lack of vehicular carnage, barring the heist scene that opens the film. The only person who ever fires a gun is the hero of the film Jai Dixit. Strangely, despite this gang being supposedly a huge priority for the city, Dixit is always the only cop who shows up to stop them. He doesn’t even get any redshirts to back him up. When the gang needs to pose as highrollers to infiltrate a casino, they roll into town in luxury cars, except that these look like perfectly ordinary sedans to me.
The only part of the film that seems to have decent production values are the obligatory song-and-dance numbers. At least these have decent choreography, flashy costumes and more back-up dancers than the city seems to have police officers. Still, I don’t think they are anything special and I still think they detract from the pacing. I was surprised that the actresses showed more skin than I thought they would. That’s probably just because it’s been a while since I last watched a Bollywood movie.
The rest of the film isn’t any better. The plot is pedestrian, the actors mostly rubbish, with the exception of Uday Chopra who at least has some genuine charm, and the hand-to-hand combat ridiculous without even any comedic value. At over two hours running time, the whole thing is also far too long. Both my wife and myself got bored of it long before it was over, and we only persevered on out of a sense of duty. The only time when we weren’t bored was when we were annoyed by the silly posturing the characters indulge in, such as repeated shots of the manly men taking off their sunglasses.
Usually with mindless action movies, we can at least be contented with a visual spectacle. Unfortunately Dhoom can’t even offer this as a consolation prize. It may well be that later installments in the franchise redeem themselves in this department, but with the first one being as bad as it is, I can’t see myself being eager to give them a second chance any time soon. The frightening thing is I think the filmmakers actually think they are making a good action film instead of a parody of one.