DUM MAARO DUM Reviews(Anupama's Pg1, Masand's Pg9) - Page 8

Box Office: Dum Maaro Dum's opening day collections

With our hearts in our mouth, we gingerly stepped into a theater on the East Coast to watch the first show of Dum Maro Dum.

Given Abhishek Bachchan's pitiful record at delivering entertainers, our caution and hesitation was understandable.

Except for us, the 106-seat theater for the opening show of Dum Maaro Dum (directed by Rohan Sippy) was empty.

With fries from Five Guys in hand, we sat and prayed for a miracle.

Alas, after sitting through a 2-hours and 10-minute ordeal we regret to say that this time too Abhishek Bachchan has delivered a dud.

The Verdict
Folks, Dum Maaro Dum is utter Garbage with little to recommend it.

Dum Maaro Dum fails on every front.

The story is disgustingly incoherent, the acting sophomoric, the music intolerable, the item number awful and the overall effect plain trashy.

Touted as a cop movie but in reality a crappy movie, Dum Maaro Dum is set against the backdrop of the drugs business in the Western Indian state of Goa with Abhishek Bachchan playing a cop taking on the kingpins of the drug trade, both Indian and foreign.

There are two other intersecting stories here. The first that of a musician whose girl-friend is trapped in the drug trade; and the second of a 17-year-old boy who's got caught while trying to be a mule (carrier of drugs).

But the overall story is so bizarrely illogical and silly that it provides no joy to the paying audience.

Most of the time, the Special Narcotics team set up by the Chief Minister to clean up Goa of the drug menace comprise of just three cops strutting around like cocks that have just laid the hens, sitting around drinking or bashing up people to ear-splitting sounds.

Hell, even the main characters in the film have weird names like Samosa oops Barbosa, Biscuit, Jokie, Lorry and Mercy.

No, Mercy is not a girl but a male cop who's forever whining 'Shit Job', each time Abhishek's character of the Assistant Commissioner of Police Vishnu Kamat assigns him a task.

Shit Job actually applies to everyone associated with the making of this junk.

Horrid Acting
Abhishek Bachchan is as bad as ever.

The bloke still thinks putting on a frown or scowl, or occasionally grinning like a retard, is the acme of acting.

In the few romantic scenes in the car, Abhishek disappoints; in the fight scenes, Abhishek is a misfit. As a cop, Abhishek acts like a havildar.

Abhishek Bachchan suffers from two serious problems: First, he lacks screen presence for the role of a hero and second, he's completely lacking in acting talent. Even God can't help with screen presence and Abhishek is too lazy to bone up on the basics of acting.

Sadly, the three other Bollywood actors who pack worse acting skills than even Abhishek are all in this film. And they are, yes, you guessed right, Rana Daggubati, Bipasha Basu and Aditya Pancholi.

Prateik Babbar is tolerable in the beginning but after he's nabbed by the cops we find him with a single expression pasted on his face.

Lousy Item Number
We didn't think much of the much ballyhooed Mit Jaaye Gham item number featuring Deepika Padukone doing a bad imitation of dancing in an itsy-bitsy skirt.

Just in case you didn't know, the song and the title of this movie are both inspired from the famous Dum Maaro Dum track in Dev Anand's 1971 hippies film Hare Rama Hare Krishna (starring Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand).

While Zeenat Aman oozed class and was at her seductive best in the old song, Deepika Padukone has none of the grace of Zeenie baby and can manage only a crass, graceless, ugly, godawful performance.

Fuggedaboutit
Guys, unless you possess a desperate craving to punish yourself stay away from Dum Maaro Dum.

Just not worth your time or money.

😆

'Dum Maaro Dum' mints Rs.6.2 crore on opening day

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Rohan Sippy's 'Dum Maaro Dum' may have been in the news for the wrong reasons, but the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer amassed Rs.6.2 crore in India on its opening day itself. The director is overjoyed with the response especially since the movie faced competition from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

'It's a very good start! We have got an exceptional response from the south, especially from Hyderabad. And of course metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore have given a positive feedback and good footfalls too. I am glad amid Sachin and Dhoni … we have been able to hit one of our own sixes!' Sippy told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Made at a budget of approximately Rs.20 crore, the film released Friday in 20 countries at 350 international locations and at 1,000 theatres and multiplexes throughout India.

Sippy is confident the movie will bring good returns over the first weekend as it has grossed Rs.11.4 crore across India, US, Britain, UAE and Australia on its opening day itself.

'It is a little early to start predicting figures, but we are sure the movie will get good word of mouth publicity and will continue getting a good audience through Saturday and Sunday. Till then, we are waiting and watching!' he said.

The multi-starrer, which also features Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar, Aditya Pancholi and Telugu actor Rana Daggubati, is a thriller which revolves around drugs, sex and violence. The movie garnered a lot of publicity prior to its release, due to objections that it portrays Goa and its people in bad light.

However, neither that, nor the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore Friday deterred the audience from sampling 'Dum Maaro Dum'.

'It was a big match! We heard people still filled in the evening shows and that's a great feeling in this cricket-crazy nation. The opening day figures are a very encouraging sign that the movie may run not just this weekend… but for two to three weeks more,' said Sippy, son of veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy.

Junior Sippy credits Bollywood debutant Rana Daggubati, a known name in Hyderabad, for drawing in audiences in the south.

'Rana has a great fan following in Hyderabad, so a lot of local crowd must have come in to watch his performance and support him. But in places like Bangalore and Chennai, people came in for the style of the film and its presentation,' he said.