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Review: Dhoom 2

NOT QUITE WRITE
The New Sunday Express - November 26, 2006

The stars rock. The stunts rock. The dances rock. The writing sucks.

THE censor's certificate for Dhoom 2 has the number of reels as 16, which approximates to roughly two-and-a-half hours. But I'll let you in on a little secret – the content, such as it is, barely fills up a couple of hours. So what's with the extra thirty minutes, you ask? For the slow-motion shots, of course. With Bipasha Basu and Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan, this is a star-studded film – what stars! what studs! – and their contracts clearly include a clause that says they will not begin emoting till they have locked eyes with the camera and had their moment (or moments, and more moments) of introductory slo-mo glory. So we're treated to shots such as the one with Bipasha Basu – as a policewoman so bodylicious, the rest of the force is surely imagining a game of cops 'n' rubbers – at a shooting range, with a gun in hand, with her eyes glinting with steely concentration at the outlined target, and... with her hair billowing silkily in the wind. (That's probably why she's not sweating, because of that invisible fan under her chin.) And Hrithik, I don't think I ever saw him walk normally – in normal time, that is. He gets into that slo-mo stride and keeps walking – and walking and walking – towards us. Heck, even Uday Chopra is allotted a quota of slow-motion.

And that's why Dhoom 2 is as much an action adventure as a show reel for the gorgeousness of its stars. I got my biggest laugh in the scene where Hrithik whips up a salad dinner for himself and Aishwarya. (They're both crooks. On their tail are cops Abhishek, Uday and Bipasha. End of functional story.) She takes a dainty bite, then asks if she could have some, you know, real food – so he fixes her a big, juicy, calorific burger. What a laugh, Aishwarya Rai wolfing down a burger! You should see her here, the sexiest she's been in a while. (Performance-wise, she's annoyingly affected, but hey, she was sincere in Umrao Jaan and that tanked like nobody's business, so why complain if she's back in plastic mode in search of a hit?) Aishwarya and Bipasha and Hrithik have quite a few dance numbers – each one wonderfully choreographed – and despite all the gravity-defying jumping around, there's nothing on their bodies that jiggles, nothing that wobbles. Only the fact that their mouths are lip-synching the songs reminds us that they're really actors, not androids. Oh no, burgers are definitely not what these people were having for dinner – especially while shooting a film where Hrithik is described as, "Duniya mein sabse kaabil aur cool chor," the most capable, cool thief in the world. Dhoom 2 is the kind of star vehicle where coolness becomes the USP of a chor.

Apart from the stars – a flashy Hrithik steals the film from under Abhishek's dour nose – the reason Dhoom 2 works to the extent that it does is because it keeps invoking masala Bollywood (Abhishek's unexpected nod to his father's coin-tossing in Sholay, Hrithik's elaborately silly heists reminiscent of Dharmendra's in Jugnu and Shalimar) and masala Hollywood, especially the Bond adventures. Like the latter, this too begins "somewhere in the desert of Namibia" and winds up "somewhere in the Fiji islands", making a stop at colourful Rio along the way. I thought I saw the name of Vic Armstrong in the credits, and if this is the Vic Armstrong – the man behind some of the best 007 stunts – that probably explains the Live and Let Die-style water-scooter leap. Some of the action is so preposterously entertaining, I didn't know if I was laughing with the movie or at it. But between stunts, we're at the mercy of the writers – and I didn't even mind the laziness in logic or continuity or character development so much as the out-of-nowhere reach for grand emotion, with a completely unneeded love story that reaches its own levels of preposterousness by the time someone witnesses an act of betrayal while dressed in a Pagliacci clown-suit. I think we're meant to sniffle at the operatic sadness of it all, but you may end up thinking: Why all this fuss in a film that hired Bipasha Basu for the sole reason that she could put on a Baywatch-red swimsuit and jog... in slow motion?

http://brangan.easyjournal.com/

Goodfella reviews "Dhoom 2"

You are viewer number 369 of Goodfella reviews "Dhoom 2".
Hrithik Roshan rarely impresses as a star as much as he does in Sanjay Gadhvi's sequel to the 2004 smash hit action flick, "Dhoom". In fact, in "Dhoom 2", Roshan has given perhaps the best performance of his young career, which is actually not saying very much considering some of the atrocities he's been associated with in the past, and some of the vein-popping, muscle convulsing and ultimately shudder-inducing performances he's given in those films. In "Dhoom 2", Roshan doesn't hide his pecs and biceps, (for the most part) but he doesn't let them do the acting for him, either. Instead, he utilizes his best trait - his physicality and litheness as a brilliant dancer - to create a ridiculous, fun and weirdly likeable villain.

If you're wondering why I've spent so much time discussing Hrithik here, it's simply because "Dhoom 2" is actually two films: it's "Dhoom 2", for a... ... while, and then it's a film that involves some kind of preposterous formula where "Dhoom"-meets -"Notorious"-meets-"Heat". As such, the film is successful on one level and completely a failure on another. It is successful because it does what it's supposed to do as a timepass, entertaining popcorn action flick, but the film fails as a second step in a franchise by sidelining its central character, played by Abhishek Bachchan, and relegating him to a glowering, pouting one note caricature. It takes the main cliche of the first film - the buddy rapport between a serious cop (Bachchan's Jai Dixit) and dumb cop (Uday Chopra's Ali) - and tosses it out of the window to expand the secondary cliche - that of the supercool villain ably played in the first "Dhoom" by John Abraham.

"Dhoom 2" has an unavoidable star-subtext that it tries to play off as best it can. It casts two youth icon actors, representing different kinds of iconicty, and pits them against each other as an intelligent cop and a smooth thief. In this manner, the film is almost trying to achieve what Michael Mann did in his urban noir masterpiece, "Heat". Of course, such a comparison is largely baseless because Gadhvi is hardly Michael Mann and, let's face it, these guys are certainly not Pacino and De Niro! And yet the principle is the same - take two stars who represent different schools of performance, and throw them at one another. The formula would work if Gadhvi was not so completely on Hrithik Roshan's side here. It's as if he forgot that he was making a cop movie franchise along the lines of Lethal Weapon, and decided instead to make a movie about the theif. Again, this is all well and good, but it's almost like Rajkumar Hirani making a "Munnabhai" movie and making Circuit the star.

The film does a fine job of slapping together an empty-headed entertainment, though spectacle takes precedence over storytelling here, on top of which the dialogue is just plain horrendous. The only thing funnier than some of Hrithik's getups in this, like, film is, like, Aishwarya Rai's, like, attempts at, like, dialogue delivery. But spectacle is precisely why the film is not a total waste of space. The audience is challenged here, to see how much more ridiculous things can get, and this is a masala trope of the highest (and lowest) order. There is something of a story here, mainly one involving Abhishek's cop sending Aishwarya's femme fatale (or something) to enchant and entrap Hrithik's badass theif - and that's as close to Hitchcock's "Notorious" as this film gets.

The problem is, Hrithik so easily outshines everyone onscreen that the movie becomes his show entirely, and things like character development and plot are secondary to watching this star/actor play it larger than life. He does so successfully, even as we laugh at some of the hoops he's made to jump through in this film. In any case, the real story here is Abhishek vs. Hrithik with Abhishek's real life woman playing Hrithik's screen lover. It should come as no surprise, then, that the only bit of real acting and decent writing in this entire enterprise (outside some of Uday Chopra's funny antics - he almost steals the movie) comes in a scene where Abhishek and Hrithik meet at a cafe (meant to mirror the De Niro/Pacino diner sequence in "Heat") and interact for the first time. The actors play wonderfully off of each other, and we end up wondering why the movie wasn't more about this specific conflict than some hysterical love story between a piece of plastic (Rai) and a piece of muscle (Roshan). Those two inanimate objects share some chemistry, I'll admit, but it's never as interesting as the macho battle between two committed star/actors.

naachgaana.com

Dhoom 2

Hrithik Roshan owns every frame of film he walks into in Dhoom 2

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

Rating: * * *

By Shradha Sukumaran
shradhas@mid-day.com

IT'S official. The sequel is bigger, better and thanks wholly to Hrithik Roshan, it's got Dhoomfuls of attitude. In fact, as you watch 'A'/Aryan (Hrithik) carry out each heist, you can see the pattern of the film itself — the dressing up, sheer choreography in the action, distractions and finally the chase. And yes, Dhoom 2's all about the chase, the ride and in that, this sequel has delivered.

It's the follow-up to a film that was mindless entertainment and except for upping the ante here, Dhoom 2 has stayed faithful to that credo. So of course, there are at least three opportunities for Jai (Abhishek) to actually handcuff Aryan, but he lets him go (er, somewhere along the way, this cop has obviously got addicted to the chase).

Save a boring Russian roulette scene — such a done idea — between Aryan and Sunheri (Aishwarya Rai) and some longwinded sermonising from Jai at the end, the film is a two-and-a-half hour breeze.

If you're looking for a plot beneath the glamour, the greasepaint, the gyrating, then it's in the love story between Sunheri and Aryan. She's this super burglar's undoing, so the film leans towards whether she can betray him or not. Besides that, Dhoom 2 is a string of heists and big action along with comic acts by Ali (Uday, much funnier in this instalment) and even a double role for Bipasha (playing cop Shonali and Brazilian beachcomber Monali).

Director Gadhvi and Yashraj have pulled all stops — Allan Amin engineers the action beautifully (be it a pacy train sequence, a plunging jump, roller-blading or some super para-gliding stunts), Pritam's music falls in and Anaita Shroff Adajania makes you wish she dressed Hrithik, Abhishek and Ash for a lifetime! Gadhvi keeps it racy and the camerawork is in tandem.

Abhishek returns as surly cop with more confidence and Uday forms the perfect foil. The dialogues shine through his delivery. Bipasha is okey as cop, but sizzling as Monali (her Baywatch babe take is pure oomph). Aishwarya's bronzed avatar looks a million bucks, but falls short while delivering lines. She shares undiluted chemistry with Hrithik — look out for their interplay in the basketball sequence.

Performances pale before super villain Hrithik. You're riveted the moment he's onscreen — his lean look is killer, he moves like a dream to Shiamak Davar's dazzling choreography of the title song (worth the moolah for another watch) and lights up scenes with his acting.
Dhoom 2 would have been a cipher without him — this is one big Hrithik ode.

Source: MID-DAY

Movie Review: 'DHOOM -2'

by Debtaru De

Intro: The game begins - a game of Cat & Mouse - a game of Good v/s Bad. The "COPS" - Jai, Shonali & Ali; and they are after Aryan and Sunehri - "The ROBBERS".

The entire cast and crew were shooted from the desert of Namibia to the backwaters of Goa, the mean streets of Mumbai and the ancient forts of Rajasthan, and finally to "Wild 'N' Exotic" Rio De Janeiro (Brazil).

'Dhoom 2' is a sequel to 'Dhoom' which stars Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu. The film is an action-thriller, which is Directed by Sanjay Gadhvi under the banner of Yash Raj Films.

'Dhoom Machale' was the biggest chartbuster of '04' & the track was the year's largest selling ringtone as well. 2 years back Music Director Pritam gave his first independent hit in the form of 'Dhoom' and he came back again.

Never-Seen-Before Action Sequences, Hi-Tech Heists, Breathtaking Hi-Speed Chases, Non-Stop Laughter and Excitement will lead you from the beginning to end.

Royal Crown is stolen : The world's oldest desert, the Namib… A solitary railway line… A royal family on a royal journey… From the sky, like lightning… a FLASH! The centuries old Royal Crown is stolen!

Salim-Sulaiman composed the Background score: They said, "We have done the programming and sound designing of two songs in 'Dhoom 2' along with the background score.

Pritam has done the music composition and we have nothing to do with it. The two songs we designing and programmed are 'Crazy Kiya Re' and 'My Name is Ali'. Our name in the credits appear for the same"

Jr. Roshan injured: it's a learning year for Hrithik. First, he learnt some Martial Arts, then roller balding, snow boarding and sand surfing and now he is learning horse riding and sword fighting lessons for his next movie to go on.

His riding lessons start every morning at 7.00 am at the Mahalaxmi racecourse and on one such training day, Hrithik fell down from the horse while the animal was still in motion.

Since his leg was stuck up, he was pulled for a considerable distance by the horse, which gave him some deep wounds on his body and bruises on his arms.

But a true blue super-hero that he is, Hrithik did not go back home to nurse his wounds but bounced back and continued with his horse-riding lessons. In fact, he did not even skip his sword-fighting lessons in the evening.

Bips in new 'Dhoom': Bipasha has already created waves by posing in a bikini in the 'Dhoom 2' theatrical promo and now, we have learnt that Bips has also sung a song in the film. She has sung some lines called 'My Name Is Ali'.

According to Hritik: "I have watched 'Dhoom' & the success of 'Dhoom' creates a very good platform that obviously motivates a sequel, but what really propelled me into doing the film was the inherent script of 'Dhoom-II' itself.

That really was my calling card. It was exactly what I was looking for at that time & space. Because I was actually quite bored & stuck at that one end of the spectrum where I have doing this blatant good boy-son-brother-lover kind of role.

Though, of course, they are also quite enjoyable but it was time to take the big leap towards the other end of the spectrum. And what was waiting for me there was Mr. A .. Aryan, so I am really glad that I got the opportunity.

Plot: Ali's (Uday) dream of becoming a police officer has come true. He is now ACP Jai Dixit's (Abhishek) 'right hand'. They are trying to keep a tight leash on the crime in India. Little do they know what they are going to be up against.

Aryan-Mr. A (Hrithik) enters in the scene. He is a Hi-tech international thief. After pulling off a series of impossible heists all over the world, his next target is Mumbai, India. The case is given to ACP Jai and Ali.

Helping them put the pieces of the puzzle together is ACP Shonali Bose (Bipasha), Jai's college mate, now a Police Officer in her own right.

Last 2 years, Shonali has been tracking these amazing thefts & is now an expert on this thief, who no one has seen. Once in Mumbai, Mr. A finds his match in Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai), a petty yet clever thief.

She makes him an offer he finds very hard to refuse. A partnership! Aryan accepts. Does ACP Jai manage to nab Mr. A? On the other hand, does Mr. A prove to be too much for him?

Music: 'Crazy Kiya Re' marks an apt start to the album and is an instantly catchy number. Opening with an English chorus, Sunidhi Chauhan quickly takes over and is at her vivacious best.

'Remix version' does not serve anything new from the original apart from the regular disc scratching breaks, added rapping and a faster pace but Dhoom is all about pace and that essentially acts as the USP of this track.

The choice of Vishal Dadlani as the lead singer of 'Dhoom Again' comes as a surprise. Pritam makes him sing rather clear-throated. Dominique Cerejo gives him good company as the female voice.

'Dil Laga Na' is a climax song with all the five lead players coming together, this one is a complete situational track. Sukhbir, Soham Chakrabarthy, Jolly Mukherjee, Mahalaxmi Iyer and Suzanne form the voices of the five characters.

Sonu Nigam in his saccharine sweet vocals takes charge of 'My Name is Ali'. Much has been talked about Bipasha's singing debut with this track but she just chips in for two words in the song and not singing.

String instrumentation opens the final track 'Touch Me'. This peppy and racy track with a carnival feel sets you to the foot-tapping mode. Alisha gives her patented sensual fluctuations to her voice while KK adds his trademark touch.

All about: 'Dhoom –II' is definitely a cluster breaker. The identity is youth, but it became a family experience and everyone came away with an adrenaline rush and everybody has been there, done that or has aspired to be there.

Do that and have all these experiences in person. If not, cinema is the perfect dream world, the closest things to experiencing any moment in person. Therefore, it was good that 'Dhoom-II' was well embraced.

Movie: DHOOM-2, Earlier Titled: D:2, Banner: Yash Raj Films, English Translation: Bang, Genre: Thriller/ Action/Adventure, Shooting: Rio (Brazil), South Africa, Namibia, Studios: Filmcity, Yash Raj Studios, Ratings: 5/10.

http://www.indiatarget.com/cgi-bin/slide_shows.cgi?657:1

Bipasha definitely looks hotter than Aishwarya

25th Nov 2006 21.00 IST
By Nikhil Kumar

Aishwarya Rai may have a very beautiful face, but she can't beat Bipasha Basu in sex appeal.

Being sexy is not just about wearing skimpy outfits or giving 'I am wild' look to the camera. It is more about attitude and how one carries oneself in revealing clothes.

Sanjay Gadhvi's movie Dhoom 2 pits gorgeous Ash against sultry Bipasha in what is seen by many as the battle for looking sexier. Sorry to say that Ash comes nowhere near Bipasha in looking hot.

In her introductory scene in the film, Ash is shown completely dressed in black outfit (of a thief) and wearing a mask. A few minutes later, she takes off her dress in front of the hero ( Hrithik Roshan ) and stands in a tiny top and shorts.

The posture she strikes is supposed to be sexy, but is far from it. What you see is Ash standing with her arms slightly akimbo, her pelvis stiff and her bust ostentatiously protruding to the thief in front of her. Now, that is supposed to be "sex appeal" for you.

Bipasha, on the other hand, raises your hair (and perhaps more) in her very first scene when she is shooting at a target while dressed in a tight white T-shirt and jeans. The camera catches the angle of her bust from sideways, highlighting to the maximum Bipasha's anatomical assets.

That's not it. After every few reels, Bipasha is shown in one revealing outfit after another, making sure that the oomph quotient doesn't drip in the film. The temperature rises further in the second half, when Bipasha is shown as a Brazilian, mostly dressed in bikinis.

Ash, on the other hand, exudes nothing but fatigue. Ironically, she looks the most appealing in a blue, dinner dress that covers her completely from her neck to her knees. She is unable to carry herself naturally in other skimpy dresses like a black catsuit, a golden dress and a two-piece outfit in the final song.

In this battle of sex appeal, Bipasha is undoubtedly the winner.

http://apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20061125-2.html

i saw the ovie, everyone was gud omg ash's character was sooo damn annoying 😕 😕

I watched the movie yesterday and I must say I was very disappointed.

The bad:
First, Hritik. I would have preferred for him to stay solo throughout the movie instead of hooking up with Ash because he (literally) lost the plot when she joined him.

Ash was terrible. Her look, her lingo - nothing about her character was any good. Even the emotional scene with Hritik looked forced and unnatural. When she revealed herself to Aryan after they escaped I couldn't believe that such a gorgeous woman could look so bad! 🤢

Bips was ok, the ditzy Rio babe character was unnecessary. I didn't find the exchanges between her and Uday in Rio entertaining at all. Having said this, Bipasha looked a thousand times better than Ash.

Abhishek looked terrible, his role was tired and boring -maybe its time for him to retire from the force and let some young blood take over! Hritik outshone him in every frame. He could have at least had a shave! 😡

Uday should have been killed off because I found his character extremely irritating. In Dhoom 1, at least he had a purpose!

Rimi - what was her purpose. She was pregnant, but her hubby didn't seem to care as he spent 6 months in Fiji watching Hritik's and Ash's every move. She shouldn't have even been in the movie.

The soundtrack was terrible! Those non-sensical songs, Please to Thank you (I can't even remember properly)?!?

Positives

Hritik - never have been a fan of his, but he looked super hot, especially at the beginning. I loved the way he stole the diamond from the museum. He also had great chemistry with Ash, especially at the beginning.

Bips - looked really good as the cop in the first half. I don't understand why she just couldn't have continued her role, and had some serious action scenes with Hritik/Ash.

Summary:
Dhoom 2 had none of the edginess, suspense and adreline pumping action of Dhoom 1. I though John was a much better villian - he pushed the boundaries much more, his bike chases really had me sitting on the edge of my seat.

The climax scene was extremely predictable and boring. How Abhishek (an intelligent cop) could buy that Ash would shoot Hritik is beyond me. The bike chase was just so boring. The last heist fell far short of expectations.

All in all, I would give the movie a 2 out of 10.

im disapointed too...the only thing i enjoyed was hritik..he was dangerously yummy looking...but Dhoom was the best for me, as there is only one John Abraham as 'Kabir'...and one last thing...what was wrong with ahi...he was looking so chubby in the film...he looked grumpy boots.ash was 😕 she lookd pretty but her dialogues were 😕 yet again..especially after she revealed herself to hritik, "hey r u like checking me out"..omg rofl..i cudnt stop laughing.and bips was only there for skin....her chracter shudve blosoomed..so i'll give it a 3.5 cuz of hritik and for the song touch me

Originally posted by: .:Aphrodite:.

^^ that guy has to be in the minority to think that the manly actress is sexier than Ash

excuse me but r u calling bips manly...ash sure wore skimpy clothes but one thing was totally missing........ATTITUDE

Hey hey people lets keep it amicable over here.

Anyways so the general consensus I see from these reviews is
1. Hrithik was the best in the movie,

2. Most of them agree that hrithik-ash share great chemistry

3. There is a mixed response to aishwariya's acting (many being negetive actually). With some calling her 'thanda'.

4. But most of them agree that she looks hot as hell. (what I can't fathom is how can some reviewers say she looked pathetic? I mean be jealous, be envious, hate her acting, anything, but she does not look bad)

5. Most of them agree Abishek looked like nothing compared to Hrithik

6. Most of them do not like Abisheks look or him being side-lined.

7. Most of them think Bips role was not needed

8. But most of them agree Bips looked hot

9. There's a mixed response to Uday Chopra, but its mostly (60-40, with 60% being positive).

10. Almost all the reviewers think the main minus point of the movie is the
focusing on the love-story in the second half and the action plot being totally lost and the theif becoming a love-obsessed guy.

11. Also many reviewers think that atleast John Abraham as Kabir as a villain was focused. (I totally agree with this)

12. Most of them think rimi sen's role was not needed (according to me she acted really well in her small role but yeah it was totally unneeded)

13. And last but not the least, almost all of the reviewers liked the two scenes between abhi and hrithik alone

Ok so I must be really bored and jobless 😆