Sanket’s Review: “Dhoom:3” is staggeringly long.

Cast: Aamir Khan, Abishekh Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Katrina Kaif

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Length: 2.50hrs approximately

One has to carry lot of braveness and strength to sit through DHOOM:3 which is staggeringly long. The problem is not particularly its length, the problem is that the film presents itself as too cool and frivolous a film where in reality its far from it. The film cheats the franchise by not investing a single scene in throwing some light on the how’s and why’s of cons that Aamir does in as prolific banks. May be they were just bankrupt to think of a screenplay that could have justified such cons. But for DHOOM fans, this is a major setback.

The film has some comic bookish action unlike previous installments which for me came like a surprise. Some bits of action is fairly enjoyable. The auto-rickshaw entry for Abhishek-Uday has got some nice comic touch. Also few of the action involving Aamir and his superbike is also fairly good. But at some places one has to be very gracious to let some mind-numbingly senseless action to be overlooked. Although the lovely look of the film, for a moment, can distract you from the stupid screenplay and passion-less direction, but that doesn’t help to frame your opinion on a film tied with expectations. The songs aren’t memorable although there is special mention for that excellently shot “Malang” which are eye-teasing.

DHOOM3 begins on a promising note to be honest, but with tap dance that intervenes out of nowhere, the film only finds all the wrong places to go. Uday Chopra does relieves at couple of places with his juvenile but acceptable humor, but such reliefs are treasured very few and far between.

Post interval, DHOOM3 seemed like an antiquated and outdated stuff. Talking too much about second half might give away the major spoiler of the film. The only thing I remember about second half is the number of times I checked my watch to see how of the film is left. Yes, it can be that painful! I wondered what was the point adding that love ballad between Aamir and Katrina which seemed forced only to give some screen space to the actress who worked more like a special 15 minutes cameo.

Aamir Khan is too serious with his expressions this time. One is taken aback to see Aamir Khan in such a fragile performance after delivering an excellent act in “Talaash”. Colossal disappointment! Abhishek Bachchan mostly does the same thing which has been doing in this series. I wondered if mouthed the same dialogues at places. Uday Chopra has literally no role to talk of.

DHOOM:3 takes too long to tell a story which is bound with countless loose ends. Even usually dependable Aamir Khan puts our hopes on toss with his erroneous acting especially post-intermission. I don’t remember the last time I was so disappointed watching a film as much as I am with this lethargic film.

Rating- 1.5/5

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45 Comments
  1. Baba 10 years ago

    1.5/5? are you serious? 😛 i think i made those points during the promos about the action and the baap-beta angle being outdated for this franchise. yes 3 hrs for a dhoom film is very long. i expect the film to be below avg from the promos but going by your review, i think there is some more issues with the film

  2. cr7 10 years ago

    Good review. 170 minute is way too long for a action thriller . Members reviews are mostly negative .Lets see how it fares on BO.Whats your thoughts on the box office potential ?

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Good to hoga hi tumhare liye ….suit jo karta hai tumhari choice ko 😀

  3. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Baba- The baap-beta angle is hardly used. It has a stupid reason as to why he must rob. No convincing justification.

    And I can talk on Aamir’s acting only after everyone sees the film as its a major spoiler. But yes, it is one of his most disappointing performance in his career.

    • Baba 10 years ago

      i dont know why there has to be a justification for a villian to rob. a thief robs because he robs. bcos he is a thief. there is no need to justify it.i think its the idea of that chuitya tashan director who is always stuck up in 80s formula where a thief is a dil ka acha aamdi and becomes a thief due to some excuse or “haalat”.

      • Author
        sanket porwal 10 years ago

        Baba, when you will see the end you will be even more shocked with the kind of screenplay it has.

        Anyways, it is one of the most disappointing fare in recent times. Had lots of expectations.

  4. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Rafsan- I dont see it clocking more than 150. I would be happy to b wrong. But yes, i see it crashing from monday.

  5. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    “I dont see it clocking more than 150”

    Lool, you mean in first 4 days? Haha

  6. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Sanket bhai,

    After a long time here I guess.. Good review as usual.
    So, you feel the story and screenplay is crap…so, just style and no substance?

    Frankly, member reviews have been negative and much worse than K3.
    It has bigger hype than K3 or any other movie plus holiday release plus no competition – so, it should still do around 200 crores with average WOM. If WOM is good, it should cross 250

  7. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Also, I can’t remember the last time when Aamir Khan received so much flak for his performance not only from Sanket but from many others as well ..he sucked in Mangal Pandey though

    • Baba 10 years ago

      i have not seen the film so cant say with certainty but aamir always looked like a miscast from the promos only with his snarling and frowning everywhere.but i am most annoyed that kat has only 15 min role. how could yrf do this to the biggest star of the film! she should have been the lead like ett 😀

      • narad_muni 10 years ago

        Agree baba… but somehow I was expecting he wont look bad in the movie context.

        Kat’s role should have been bigger. Aish had a big role in D2

        • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

          ” but somehow I was expecting he wont look bad in the movie context.”

          Bhaiyya khud ki dimag se kuch socho …sanket is not whole and sole of ur mind.

  8. anjanpur685miles 10 years ago

    Last time when aamir received flak, sanket was in craddle.

  9. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Hello Shilac 😀

    Yes, the film has good visual look to it. But there is nothing much to speak about. I can bet anything ( 😉 ) and will say that it will fall short of 185. 200 is a long shot. I expected a lot from this one. It turned out to be dampener and how!

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      Sanket,
      dont bet your ass 😉

      How is the feedback from other people who have seen this movie? your friends? Sanity forum on facebook etc?
      We can’t judge a movie’s WOM based on one’s personal opinion.

  10. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Shilac- Its very mixed on Sanity. Himesh called it average. ABhinav called it decent. Shalu gave it 2/5. Aashkaran hated it. Aryan found it below average and I didnt like it much. Lots of variety 😉 And my friends with whom I went absolutely hated it. My show was 85-90% full. It also had pretty cold response.

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      So, nobody really liked it? hmmm

      • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

        Sanket + Muni = rab ne bana di jodi.

        Let me check this out at Fan and Raees time 😀

    • Baba 10 years ago

      aashkaran had to dislike it. he has no option

  11. Baba 10 years ago

    with the mention of jackie shroff, i was reminded of this . a big fan of this song

    • sputnik 10 years ago

      Love that song. Had watched the movie in theater and liked it back then. Had liked Jackie a lot too in a negative role. Paresh Rawal and Deepa Saahi were good too. Kamal Siddhu, the MTV VJ in the song was horrible at acting.

      • Baba 10 years ago

        i dont remember the movie much, saw it long ago. its songs are memorable. kamal siddhu is superhot in the song. it doesnt matter if she can act or not 😀

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Bunked college to check this movie 🙂

  12. Manish Kumar 10 years ago

    :-O however the craze is unparallel … lets see where it goes from here

  13. yakuza 10 years ago

    Absolutely love the first half, I was totally glued and charged till interval. Post interval was Drag for most parts till climax which again was fantastic. This is Aamir show all the way and this installment of Dhoom has taken the series to totally different level all together. I don’t see Dhoom4 coming till 2024 now. This will be high level of tough job to match the standards of this latest one .. leave alone surpassing it. After Milkha Singh, this performance from Aamir is best of year .. in fact best performance since Lagaan.

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      hmm.. u say most of the 2nd half dragged and then u conclude the movie to be kind of a masterpiece! Contradictory I must say

  14. Bored 10 years ago

    First half is scene to scene copy of D2. Second half drags like hell, takes out all fun quotient (whatever fun u can get out of slo-mo nonsensical stunts).

    Aamir here tries the retarded autistic child-like act as the twin – acts as bad as SRK in MNIK, Ranbir in Barfi or Hrithik in KMG. I am really sad at how bad all these stars are in these retarded acts!

    Aamir is good in cheeky comic roles (dch, rdb, 3I) – apart from that, his acting really needs work. As for script sense – just watch D3.

  15. shan 10 years ago

    Watched Dhoom 3 last night. Movie has some gripping scenes and some utterly pathetic ones. Aamir does a good job but somehow not up to the high standards he has set for himself. Abhishek and Uday are extremely irritating and take the movie down with them. Katrina is hardly there except for songs. Direction is excellent in some dramatic scenes and amateurish in places where the script throws logic out of the window. I mean, I am willing to believe the hero is very fast and nobody can catch him but then show that in a believable way at least! Don’t show him “running away” in full view of the whole world with 100 cops training their guns on him, a couple so close to him that they can literally touch him and yet he manages to escape even though driving at what seems like 30 kmph! The choreography for the acrobatics is superb and ditto for some action scenes. The overuse of slomo shots kills most of the action scenes tho. Overall, I found it better and less irritating than dhoom 2 since there was no Aishwarya ji 😉 Even better than all event films this year like Chennai Express and Krissh 3, but that’s not saying much. Could have been much more but ends up being an overlong boring movie with some great scenes and disappointing acting.

  16. Bored 10 years ago

    Was also reminded of Ajay Devgn in Main Aisa Hi Hoon and Salman in Tere Naam. Expectations from a Dhoom movie is always a bare minimum – but seems like that is too difficult for Tashan director.

    If the attempt was to makeup for style with story and emotion – it didnt work. The back story fails to raise sympathy for the villains. Even if one turns blind to Sahir trying too hard to act, Samar’s hamming takes the cake. The retard act took away everything from the ’emotional’ bro-mance.

  17. Dhamaka 10 years ago

    Watched D3 today I must say if you can survive first half an hour then it is watchable (Amir’s entry scene and first fight scene of Abhi and Uday are cringe worthy) In-fact unlike others I quite enjoyed the second half.stunts in slow mo almost kill the the thrill and and Fight scenes are as bad as you can see in any south remake of salman,ajay and akshay. Overall movie is definitely a one time watch with better second half IMO.

  18. Dhamaka 10 years ago

    @ Sputnik
    yaar why my comments are in moderation

    • sputnik 10 years ago

      I don’t see any of your comments in moderation.

      But FS also had some comment moderation issue. Not sure if latest wordpress update is causing any issues. Will keep checking but let me know if any of your comments go into moderation again.

  19. DABANGG_NIINJA 10 years ago

    first part >aamir entry and acting achi thi //muje yakeen nhi ho raha inho abhishek ki entry pr 15min kharab kar diye 😛 .aamir yaha abhishek se pheli baar milta he wo first part ka bst scene he waha aamir ne achi acting ki he ,. uske baad chase scene bhut jyada hi bade he ,khatam hi nhi hote yr
    second part > aamir ne bhut badiya acting ki aur story bhi achi lagi 2nd half me ,
    aamir ki acting and star powar hi film ko bacha skti he
    kat ko sirf film me item song aur kiss ke liye rakha tha /abhishek bas chase hi krta raha aur uday bakwaas 🙂

  20. DABANGG_NIINJA 10 years ago

    chalo aaj mai bhi star de deta hu 😀
    1 star aamir ki acting ka aur 1 star second half ke liye ,. baki 1 star 1st half, abhi,uday,kat,songs aur sab jo film bacha kucha maal tha uske liye
    total 3 star

  21. Raj5 10 years ago

    ***MAJOR SPOILER WARNINGS!!!***

    Got back from watching Dhoom 3 about two hours ago. The expectations and hype were at an unheard level for me (and probably everyone else) even though I’m a die hard Aamir fan. The film starts off excellently with the establishing the backdrop masala story. Then Aamir comes in with his “Dhoom” entry. Him walking to the window of his apartment was awesome and I believe that he equalled HR and John Abraham in style/appeal/hottness in that one scene. His entire entry action scene was great, I can only imagine the single screen reaction back in India. It would have been great to see that action sequence in a single screen. Then comes the Dhoom tap song. This was very bad. Just flat out embarrassing. Satyam says that people shouldn’t have gone into the movie expecting Aamir to do a HR in terms of style/dancing etc but then why does Aamir try to do a HR? After this embarrassing song comes the brilliant and very masala entry sequence of Jai-Ali. This whole sequence was great. However Uday Chopra (if possible) seemed to be more over the top than usual. Abhishek Bachchan killed it in his entry scene with the auto rickshaw and subsequent punches/kicks. The scene where he jumps 20 feet into the air of the motorcycle to kick the bad guy once again reminded me that this was Dhoom I was watching and to expect the unexpected in terms of action scenes. The rest of the first half was good but it could have been more fun. Fun doesn’t mean necessarily mean that it has to be like Dhoom 2 but it needed more fun. The other 2 song were great-Kamli and Malang. Kamli is probably Katrina’s top 3 best performances ever along with Chikni Chameli and Sheila. The first half concludes with an interesting twist, something which based off of the audience reaction of those around me was very unpredictable.

    The second half was more entertaining and emotional than the first half which I thought the first half needed badly. I really enjoyed the Tu Hi Junoon song and its visuals.

    In terms of script and story this was definitely the best and strongest of the three. But it could have had more fun and been entertaining. The action sequences/special effects were/production quality were excellent. Although the action sequences were very unbelievable (even for a Hindi movie!) they worked well for me since this is after all DHOOM. Actually the film could have used 1 more action scene. Songs were good although it could have had 1 more in the second half. I don’t like having 3 songs in one half and 1 love song in the second half. The end credits with Aamir(s) was cute and Katrina killed it in the title song IMO.

    I thoroughly enjoyed Pritam’s music although I know the reaction of others has been mixed. Background music was good BUT they could have used the Dhoom Theme more! I don’t know why they didn’t use the theme enough.

    For Performances-Aamir was top class as Sahir but not good as Samar at all. In some scenes as Sahir he equals SRK in hamminess. And I have know idea what he was doing as Samar. It was at times cringeworthy. Abhishek is nails it as the angry cop, but the problem is that at times his excellent acting seemed out of place in the movie and meant for another (more serious) cop movie. Uday Chopra is Uday Chopra. He was funny and efficient. Katrina literally was only in the songs. Whatever little screen time she had, she lit up the screen. Her dancing/performance in the songs were beautiful and applause worthy. All the white people in the movie do a terrible job in this movie. The kid is good as was Jackie Shroff.

    Overall it’s a 3.5-4/5 for me. Compared to the other 2 big movies this year, I’d say it is much more entertaining that K3 but not as entertaining as CE. Story wise it’s better than both.

    The opening is huge which is because of BOTH the Dhoom Franchise and Aamir. It should make it to 200 crores because of the hype but 300 and probably even 250 is out of the question. It just isn’t entertaining enough.

  22. dwnpiyush 10 years ago

    Saw it yesterday. It is certainly not what I was expecting from a Dhoom film. It is not at all entertaining in the conventional sense. In fact the usual elements were what brought the film down, right from the cringe-worthy intros (entry sequences) of all leads, to the action sequences which were laughable and completely over the top. There was something terribly unsettling about the film though. Right from the pre-interval sequence to the very end, it became a different film altogether, slightly disturbing, and suffused with a stark sadness which completely overwhelmed the routine police-thief cat and mouse game. Aamir looked bad initially, but later his act grew on me. In fact, till more than half way into the film, I could not believe how bad Aamir was acting. But towards the later portions of the film, the same mannerisms that were looking like all hamming initially, looked quite all right.

    All in all, I won’t say it was a great film, or a bad film. But it was certainly an unique experience, and for that Aamir wins brownie points again. Certainly not a feel good entertainer, but if you ignore the badly done usual trappings of a big budget commercial film, there is a burning visceral soul in the film, that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

    Aamir was the film. As good or bad as you would end up finding the film. Abhishek had a decent role, better than what I expected. Uday was terribly irritating and spoiled the mood of the film. Katrina was superb in her extended special appearance. But it should be said that despite her limited screen time, hers’ was a crucial role indeed, and led to some of the most dramatic moments in the film.

    Do watch.

    • shan 10 years ago

      Good review Piyush. Agree with everything you said.

    • shan 10 years ago

      In fact the usual elements were what brought the film down, right from the cringe-worthy intros (entry sequences) of all leads, to the action sequences which were laughable and completely over the top.

      You nailed it!

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