Dhoom 3 Review from Ibn Live!

Dhoom 3 is a sloppily scripted sandwich of hammy acting and cheesy dialogue. Which wouldn't have mattered if it was at least as much fun as the previous two films, because this franchise has never promised much more than cool men on fast bikes, and hot women in short skirts. But the new movie lacks the required adrenaline rush of a Fast and Furious-type thriller, instead falling prey to the kind of melodrama and over-plotting that doesn't belong here.

Aside from some cool moments like Aamir's getaway on a Chicago waterfront or the climax staged on a dam, Dhoom 3 doesn't offer very much.

Saahir (Aamir Khan) is a talented magician who runs an Indian circus in Chicago, also using his unique skills to routinely rob a bank that he holds responsible for his father's suicide many years ago. He must stay out of the reach of surly cop Jai Dikshit (Abhishek Bachchan) and his motor-mouth sidekick Ali (Uday Chopra), who have been dispatched to the Windy City to crack the case.
Aside from some genuinely cool moments like Aamir's getaway on a Chicago waterfront or the climax staged on a dam, Dhoom 3 doesn't offer very much by way of novelty or inventiveness. What's more, the film's middle half gets weighed down by Saahir's dreary revenge agenda which gets derailed once a woman enters the fray. Aliya (Katrina) is part of Saahir's circus act, contorting her body into Cirque Du Soliel kind of rope gymnastics. But all this mid-air flexing barely drums up excitement. The film is missing the thrills that went hand-in-hand with the outrageous heists, screeching tires, and bad guy attitude associated with Dhoom. It's hard to go into any more detail about the plot without giving away the film's big twist, which reveals itself right before interval.
Unlike John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan in the previous films, Aamir doesn't quite make for a particularly sexy villain, and his character, with its inevitable plot twists, is overwritten and overplayed. Twitches, frowning, stammering are all used as crutches, while the camera lingers unwaveringly on his pecs, abs and bare back. Abhishek Bachchan spends most of the film glowering angrily, while Katrina seems to show up strictly for the song sequences. Uday Chopra is back in tapori mode as Ali, but to give him credit, he gives the character shape.
Ultimately, the film is let down by a convenient script and its inability to deliver solid entertainment. I'm going with a generous two-and-a-half out of five for writer-director Vijay Krishna Acharya's Dhoom 3. All you expect from the Dhoom movies is a thrill ride, but this one makes you feel like you're stranded in rush hour traffic

Rating:**1/2
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dhoom-3-review-the-film-is-a-sloppily-scripted-sandwich-of-hammy-acting/440755-47-77.html 

Dhoom 3 Review by India Today!

Welcome to the flying world of YRF's Dhoom 3. I say so because here a motorbike can fly efficiently and if the need arises then it can also become a speed boat and if you push it further it can also function underwater. Well it's not just cool bikes even an auto rickshaw can fly here!

Vijay Krishna Acharya's Dhoom 3 is another visual treat where you get to see a fancy foreign city, cool bikes, police cars and good stunts but that's about it. The Dhoom series theme music when clubbed with the action stunts in the latest installment provides some entertainment because what you end up watching is not all that bad. But if you are looking for any logic, you are watching the wrong film.

Sahir (Aamir Khan) loses his father because a Chicago bank doesn't allow him to continue his circus and asks him to shut shop. Since then his mission is to shut the bank down, he wouldn't settle for anything lesser! A talented circus boy grows up and continues to run the circus and rob the same bank living in the same city, but of course he is never caught because he is no less than a magician. Robberies are well planned and executed by him. In the United States no security agency has managed to catch him and no camera has captured his face while he is on the move. Post the robbery he returns to the circus as if nothing ever happened.

Since he leaves a message in Hindi each time he robs a bank the management calls for some help from India. ACP Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali Akbar (Uday Chopra) take charge of the case in Chicago and the local police take a back seat. As one would only guess, each time Sahir is one step ahead but what's surprising is how useless the entire security system is made to look. When Sahir hears of Jai's arrival, he immediately plans to meet him and take him into confidence which will help him understand his game-plan. Although what's questionable here is the very fact that why would a cop who is just handed over an important case come to trust an unknown person in an unknown country. It is far from my understanding at least.

As always you can make out Aamir Khan has worked hard for this particular role and it shows in many parts but it doesn't match to what Hrithik Roshan did in Dhoom 2. Neither does Aamir pull off the action very well nor the dance steps. Katrina Kaif plays Aaliya, Sahir's love interest; she has a very short role in the film. She puts a great show together in her opening scene and then she has very little to do. Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra's famous chemistry from the previous films does show in some portions. Music by Pritam and Julius Packiam is below average.

Dhoom 3 is full of loop holes, over-the-top acting and an overdose of action that doesn't fit well all the time. The timing is right so the film will run to packed houses but it's surely not a film that I would recommend as your last outing for 2013!

Rating:**
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dhoom-3-movie-review-aamir-khan-katrina-kaif-abhishek-bachchan-uday-chopra/1/332052.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dhoom-3-movie-review-aamir-khan-katrina-kaif-abhishek-bachchan-uday-chopra/1/332052.html

Drishyam Review by Rediff!

Mohanlal steals the show in Drishyam says Paresh C Palicha Mohanlal was endearing in roles where he played the common man. But, as his stature grew, we saw less of the kind of roles that had brought him stardom.

As a big star, he played those ‘larger than life’ roles that had the fans clapping and whistling at the superhuman feats of their idol.

The subtlety that was the hallmark of his earlier films became increasingly rare and the sly sense of humour gave way to a louder variety.

In his new film Drishyam, director Jeethu Joseph focuses on the endearing persona of the actor by casting him as Georgekutty, an orphan who had dropped out of school after the fourth grade.

He has come up in life by tilling his land. Now he is businessman running a cable TV service in a rural area. He is married to Rani (Meena) and they have two beautiful daughters.

Georgekutty is stingy and does not like to spend money on anything beyond the basic necessities. His only interest in life apart from his family is watching films. He spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office.

He is so obsessed with movies that he takes every major decision in life by subconsciously taking an example from some film he has seen.

These details are revealed in a humorous manner in the first half of the film. There’s an obvious twist just before the interval. Georgekutty’s teenaged daughter gets photographed in the bathroom at a nature camp by a hidden cell phone.

The culprit Varun (Roshan Basheer) is the son of an inspector general of police, Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath). Varun is accidentally killed by Rani and her daughter when he comes to blackmail them. It is up to Georgekutty to protect his family from the long arm of the law.

Jeethu Joseph makes this into an ‘edge of the seat’ thriller in the second half by making Georgekutty stay two steps ahead of the investigators.

Georgekutty prepares his family to face the torturous interrogations. He also makes sure that his family does not psychologically break up in the face of coercive police tactics.

Mohanlal is spellbinding in this film. That is too simple a statement to describe the magic he has created on screen.

He plays a semi-literate man who is nevertheless intelligent. He is conversant in many languages, a skill that he acquired watching all those films on TV.

He was mischievous as a teenager, and when he flirts with his wife, but is incredibly mature when dealing with dire circumstances.

Meena as his wife Rani is a middle-class woman who aspires for a better lifestyle and social standing. She holds her own opposite Mohanlal and is one of the highlights of the film.

Kalabhavan Shajon who usually plays the comic sidekick of the hero, has made a successful transition to a villain in this project. He plays a corrupt police constable who has some animosity against Georgekutty. Drishyam can be credited for bringing Mohanlal back to form and pushing director Jeethu Joseph into the big league as he has made a cracker of a thriller.

Rating:***1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-drishyam-is-mohanlals-film/20131220.htm

Biriyani Review From Rediff!

Director Venkat Prabhu, who is known for offbeat entertainers like Chennai 28, Saroja and the mega hit Mankatha, is back with a dark comedy called Biriyani. The film stars Karthi, Hansika and Premgi Amaren, along with a host of supporting actors.

Produced by Gnanavelraja's Studio Green, the film has all the ingredients of a Venkat Prabhu film. The sheer number of characters in an offbeat story with its unpredictable twists, liberally laced with humour and flavoured with great music makes Biriyani a well-packaged treat for the viewers.

Karthi, who seems to have had a style makeover with his trendy clothes, new hairstyle and coloured eye lens, plays the role of a casanova, Sugan. Despite having a gorgeous girlfriend, a media reporter, Priyanka (Hansika), Sugan flirts with all the pretty women he meets and they too, are besotted by him.

Premgi Amaren is his usual quirky self as Parasu, Sugan’s childhood friend and sidekick. Both travel to Ambur, for the inaugural of their Company’s new showroom.

The chief guest at the inaugural ceremony is a business tycoon, Varatharajan (Nassar), who is also suspected of several shady dealings and is currently being investigated by the CBI. On the return journey, Sugan insists that they stop at a roadside eatery for biryani, his weakness.

It is here that they meet the sensuous Maya (Mandy Takhar), who insists that they join her in her hotel room. Unable to resist the temptation, Sugan and Parasu accompany her and after several glasses of alcohol, they are totally disoriented and before they know it, it is morning and they are being hunted by the police for the murder of Varatharajan.

What actually happened in the hotel room and how Sugan and Parasu get out of this mess, forms the rest of the story.

The number of characters in the film is sure to make your head spin. Besides Premgi, there are several other regulars of a Venkat Prabhu film, who either play a supporting role or make a cameo appearance. Sampath Raj plays Riyaz Ahmad, a CBI officer; Jayaprakash is the Commissioner of Police, Nithin Sathya and Sam Anderson play Sugan’s friends, Uma Riyaz Khan, Subbu Panchu and Ramki play important roles. Hansika is forgettable while Uma Riyaz Khan gives an excellent performance.

Venkat Prabhu also continues his association with cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja, and incidentally this is Yuvan’s 100th album as a music director. He has made Biriyani special by adding some interesting touches, there are a couple of remixes, a rap song by Gaana Bala, but the highlight is the motivational song Edhirthu Nil sung by popular contemporary music directors, D Imman, G V Prakash, S Thaman and Vijay Antony.

On the downside, the film has a slow first half, and too many flashback scenes. Premgi is also getting repetitive and boring.

Though the film takes its own sweet time to get a move on, once it gathers momentum, there is no stopping till the end, where there is an exciting climax, as well as an anticlimax, in typical Venkat Prabhu style.

Rating:**1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-this-biriyani-is-well-made/20131220.htm 

Dhoom 3 Review by Raja sen!

Dhoom 3 is a children’s film made for children who’ve never seen a film, writes Raja Sen.
Twenty minutes into Dhoom 3, reeling from the assault of cinema so amateurish it’s hard to believe it was put together by grown men, I began to ask myself precisely what this film was trying to be.

There was an annoying kid borrowed from the melodrama of Subhash Ghai movies, complete with a moist-eyed Jackie Shroff. There were the cheesiest of dialogues, Kader Khan in Dickensian mode.

There were stunts seemingly executed in slow-motion and shown to us even slower, resulting in yawnworthy chase scenes. There was Aamir Khan running down the side of a building for no apparent reason. Everything -- repeat, everything -- looked too goofy to be either thrilling or realistic or compelling or even plain fun.

And then it hit me. Dhoom 3 is a children’s film made for children who’ve never seen a film.

How else can you explain this famine of originality? How else can you possibly justify the lack of a single interesting scene right up to the intermission? And how, after that, can you account for Aamir Khan’s blatant exploitation of yet another Christopher Nolan masterpiece that the actor (by his own admission) doesn’t understand?

Look here, I liked the first and second Dhoom films. The first was brisk enough to breeze by, the second was sheer masala but presented well, an utterly preposterous but very good looking film. The reason I’ve been looking forward to this film, however, was the fact that I was one of the half-dozen people on the planet who actually liked the director’s first film, Tashan. All I wanted from Vijay Krishna Acharya’s third installment, then, was a film that made like a firecracker and went boom -- even if it didn’t make sense.

But this is a Christmas debacle.

We start with Chicago in the year 1990, though it may as well be a hundred years ago. An old magician (Shroff), his labrador-brown eyes eternally wet with tears, runs a circus housed in a massive structure the size of the New York Public Library. The bank moves in to cut off his loan and Shroff, instead of perhaps leasing out the place and moving to a humbler venue, decides to kill himself. For how dare the evil bankers remain unmoved by his clown-nose wearing son? 

Said son grows up to become Aamir Khan, a frequently shirtless man who sleeps in corduroy trousers. Oh, and robs banks, since banks = evil.
American police seem ill-equipped to handle things (The Rock must have had the month off) and thus, naturally, help is imported from back in India. Where Uday Chopra’s Ali spends several minutes talking up his boss to goons -- in “Don’t you know he’s Dirty Harry?” vein -- before the aforementioned boss shows up flying through the air in an auto-rickshaw with stickers of Salman Khan film optimistically on either side. 
Abhishek Bachchan’s Jai Dikshit seems a nice enough fellow, if somewhat surly, but he happens to be a remarkably incompetent police officer. (I mean, if not from Dad, at least take some pointers from Iftekhar Uncle’s movies, Abhishek?) Here’s a fellow who, when he traps a fleeing motorcycle on a bridge, helpfully tilts it up to offer the fugitive a convenient ramp. The rest of the time he scowls. 
Ah, and then there’s the girl. Apparently all the “hot Asian ladkiyan” in Chicago have been auditioned for Khan’s Great Indian Circus act but none has enough “liquid electricity,” whatever in innuendo’s name that means. Enter Katrina Kaif, all stuntwoman-flexible and whippety hairdo, looking like a million bucks and speaking, disconcertingly enough, like a 12-year-old. 
The rest of the film is, essentially, a dumbed-down version of Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, arguably the greatest movie ever made about magicians. Aamir Khan, who claimed Ghajini was a great story but that he didn’t understand Nolan’s groundbreaking Memento, will probably say some such about this bit of shameless pilfering as well.
Oh, and he uses a Joker sign too, to boot. (I can already picture ambitious young screenwriters lining up outside Khan’s bungalow with easy-to-understand song-filled scripts titled Sapne Mein Sapna.) 
The other thing in this film is The Face. If you’ve seen the trailer or the songs or the posters, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the perplexingly weird expression Aamir sticks onto his face throughout, and the smugness with which he wears the A-Face makes me wonder if we’re all -- inadvertently and inescapably -- seeing his vinegar strokes over and over again. If we’re eskimo brothers now, Aamir Bhai, must say you messed up. Big time. 
Not that Khan’s acted badly. Oh no. Outside of The Face, he’s pretty solid and has the charisma to power this film through, especially when he’s being all summery: i.e. all cutesy smirks and grins and chortles, a happy part of his repertoire the actor seemed to have left behind awhile ago. He also deserves credit for being a massive superstar who has agreed to look, occasionally, like an Oompah-Loompah; he’s been shot most unflatteringly. It is purely because of Khan that the (three) dramatic twists in this movie have any heft at all, but even he can’t help the vacant nothingness that engulfs the script before and after those stray moments. 
But, you might persist, having already bought into the exorbitantly priced weekend tickets, aren’t the stunts good? Or IMAX-worthy? Well, the locations aren’t bad. It’s mostly shot in Chicago, and some of the vistas used as backgrounds for the bridges look pretty awesome.
The stunts themselves, however, are both pointless and badly edited. Khan’s bike (which is a Transformer, for some reason) is flung around excitably enough but hurling action figures isn’t the same as choreographing an action set-piece. So much time is spent in slow-motion, and so long do we linger on each shot, that the chases appear sluggish. There is no sense of urgency. At one point, stationary police cars randomly start to do cartwheels, perhaps only to indulge Acharya’s inner Rohit Shetty. Like I said, if your child doesn’t know what movies are, he might be amused. For a bit. 
The trick, of course, is on us. Shroff might have called his act The Box In The Box, but producer Aditya Chopra goes one better, knowing we’ll show up to watch a Dhoom film if only to laugh at it. This time around, Aamir’s The Boy In The Box Office.

Rating:*1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/raja-sen-reviews-dhoom-3-its-dumber-than-the-first-two/20131220.htm

Dhoom 3 Review by Rediff!

Dhoom 3 continues the tradition of extravagance in adventure and expenditure by roping in the fastidious Aamir Khan as its latest star antagonist, writes Sukanya Verma.
The Dhoom brand has always been about the bad guy. It may not necessarily glorify evil but glamourizing its illegal and implausible actions takes precedence in the Yash Raj produced series.

If Dhoom worked John Abraham’s Fast and Furious energy for a renewed take on the classic thieves versus cops theme, Dhoom 2 upped the ante with its scale and a smoking chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Dhoom 3 continues the tradition of extravagance in adventure and expenditure by roping in the fastidious Aamir Khan as its latest star antagonist.

Realistically, of course, Dhoom is a fun albeit dumb franchise that is unapologetically nonsensical, intellect proof and relies on the shenanigans of its smooth, superficial villains and their hot pursuit at the hands of police officers -- deadpan Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and dummy Ali (Uday Chopra).

Only this time Vijay Krishna Acharya (of Tashan fame) takes over Sanjav Gadhvi as director.

Ever since its first promo came out, know-alls drew visual comparisons to The Dark Knight, Now You See Me and The Prestige. They aren’t too off the mark.

Let’s just say, the crucial plot points/imagery of these fine films left a lasting impression on Acharya and Aditya Chopra, sharing the credits for Dhoom 3’s story, which revolves around a circus showman (Aamir Khan) and his dramatic connection to two publically executed bank heists in Chicago. 

Filmed extensively on location in the US, Windy City’s towering landscape lends Dhoom 3 a unique ambiance, which Acharya cleverly showcases through his mercurial screenplay. 

Unlike previous Dhoom devils who burgled for the thrill of it, Aamir Khan’s ambitions are driven by one of Hindi cinema’s most emotional, most enduring stereotype embodied with appealing emotionality by Jackie Shroff. 
High on crackling chases, curious get-ups, transformable bikes, somersaulting vehicles, theatrical flashbacks and Tom and Jerry sensibilities, Dhoom 3 alternates between sentimentality, scheming, spectacular ‘song and dance’ spectacle and slo-mo effects.
Even though it doesn’t dwell on subtext and there’s no background provided for any character apart that of Aamir’s (with some help from a sparkling Siddharth Nigam as his younger version), Dhoom 3 loads up enough ammo to fire through its nearly three hours long running time. 
And this is the part where the ‘mostly a dumb brand’ remark rings true. The big reveal pops up at interval point. Ten minutes later, it’s universal knowledge for pretty much everyone in the movie. Still, the makers choose to extend the (non-existent) suspense with a silly explanation and concoct a few more complications. Or perhaps I am just nit-picking in a film where the cops could have caught the thief in the first reel itself if they only bothered to note down his bike’s number plate, where US government calls upon two local Mumbai cops to nab an American robber of Indian origin (and there’s no outrage on television), where a chase begins in Chicago and ends in Switzerland and where, oh well, never mind.
There are two vivid reasons I indulge (and enjoyed) this I know-that you know-that I know (classic Abbas-Mastanism) is
a) because of the cunning and conviction in Aamir’s delivery. 
No matter how much he bares his gym-honed torso, he doesn’t have the physicality of John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan. But he has a knack for making even the trivial seem significant. His studious, serious approach works well in the role of a man orchestrating every single event of his life. It’s like getting inside his head and eavesdropping on the conversations inside. Talking too much about his role would amount to a spoiler. It also saves him his only criticism. 
b) Katrina Kaif. She’s the greatest special effect of Dhoom 3. Styled to perfection, the lady moves like silk -- smooth and effortless. Her stupefying acrobatics are highlighted in Vaibhavi Merchant’s magnificently choreographed sequences, which include one of the most graceful, yes graceful, stripteases I may have seen on big screen. 
Action and humour are the mainstays of the series. Though conspicuously low on the latter (no thanks to Uday Chopra’s tired jokes), Dhoom 3 lives up to its title with all the over-the-top daredevilry at display. 
Whether it’s a BMW bike doing a Batmobile or riding over a thin rope like you thought only Rajinikant can or a groovy jousting moment atop a two-wheeler and that striking, unforeseen (to me at least)) climax at the majestic Verzasca Dam, there’s plenty to keep the whistles blowing.
What isn’t is Dhoom regulars -- Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra’s much jaded jodi in buddy cop mode. Bachchan’s sluggish tenacity and Chopra’s doddering comedy stands out all the more in this start-to-finish Aamir Khan show. It’s absurd to think they had any chance of outwitting Aamir even in their own franchise. 
Can’t help thinking the final scene is Aamir’s idea of blowing a raspberry in their direction, in character or out of Dhoom. Mazaa Le! 

Rating:***
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/sukanya-verma-reviews-dhoom-3-mazaa-le/20131220.htm