DUM MAARO DUM MOVIE REVIEW

Film: Dum Maaro Dum
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan (ACP Vishnu Kamath) , Bipasha Basu (Zoe), Rana Daggubati (Joki), Prateik Babbar (Lorry), and Deepika Padukone
Director: Rohan Sippy
Produced: Ramesh Sippy
Written By: Shridhar Raghavan
Director of Photography: Amit Roy
Editor: Aarif Sheikh
Lyrics by: Jaideep Sahni
Music by: Pritam
Theater Watched:Pvr Cinema's , Hyderabad.
Release Date: 22 April 2011
Rating: 2.75 / 5

Abhishek Bachan and Daggubati Rana New Hindi Film Dum Maaro Dum Movie Review:
Dum Maaro Dum Dum Maaro Dum starts with a small montage of blockbusters of yesteryears including the likes of Sholay, Shaan, Saagar, to the recent Bluffmaster giving way to the logo of Ramesh Sippy Films. This boastful display itself raises your expectations from DMD sky high.

Story and Movie Analysis:
Lorry (Prateik Babbar) fails to bag a scholarship at an international university while his girlfriend Tanya (Anaitha Nair) does. Distraught for having been left behind, Lorry gets convinced to become a carrier for drugs in order to get the admission fee. Despite all precautions, he gets caught at the airport, the local peddler who got him into it is dead and the Baap of all goons, Michael Barbossa isn't known to anyone. Joki (Rana Daggubati) a local crooner is lovelorn for having lost out on his girlfriend Zoe (Bipasha Basu) to Drug Mafia Lorsa Biscuitta (Aditya Pancholi) who blackmails her to become his keep. Joki doesn't want his friend Lorry to lose himself the way his girlfriend did hence he tries saving him but comes in the bad books of Michael Barbossa.
ACP Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan) is hired to steer clear Goa from all the drug dealings. He busts the crime rackets one after the other but stumbles upon a block - that of a so called Michael Barbossa who apparently hasn't been seen or heard off by anyone but has a major chunk worth 970 Crores of drugs under his wings.

All three stories are connected at one moot point - Who or rather where is Micheal Barbossa? Unraveling of this suspense forms the rest of the story. Directed by Rohan Sippy, DMD tries too hard to be stylish and snazzy and in the process loses out on its grittiness. The way Abhishek Bachchan breaks into the song Thyan Thyan appears very filmy. The first half of the film has a great build up to an interesting suspense drama but it starts trudging in the second half and even the revelation of the suspense is tad disappointing.

What works for the film is the slick editing by Aarif Shaikh and great cinematography by Amit Roy. The way Goa and its rave parties are captured is commendable. The film has too much dramebaazi giving a very 90s "Bollywoodish" feel.

Artist Performance:
Abhishek is super in the role of a tough cop whose life undergoes a U-turn when personal tragedy strikes. He projects the varied emotions such as rage, turmoil, helplessness, anxiety without going overboard. Much of the joy comes from watching Rana Daggubati infuse believability into his character. He's easy on the eyes and is a complete natural when it comes to acting. Bipasha shines in several moments of the film. Prateik [credited as special appearance in the titles] impresses a great deal. Aditya Pancholi is first-rate. Anaitha Nair does well in a brief role. Govind Namdeo is in terrific form. Muzammil [as Mercy] does a fair job. Gulshan Devaiya is tremendous. Hussain is okay. Vidya Balan [cameo] is alright. Deepika scorches the screen in the title track.

Technical and Other Departments:
Rohan Sippy has given the film his all. He has a unique style of telling a story, which is evident all through the film. But he's letdown by the screenplay writing in the second hour. The highpoints of the film include crisp dialogue and a popular soundtrack [music: Pritam]. The title track has already caught on and will prove to be a major crowdpuller, though there's a sizable section of cineastes who loathe its lyrics. 'Thayn Thayn' is catchy, but the placement of this song should've been better. Amit Roy's cinematography is top notch. In fact, the film bears a stunning look all through. Background score [Midival Punditz] is electrifying. Editing could've been sharper. Clocking in at roughly 2 hour and 05 minutes, it's much longer than it should be.

Final View:
On the whole, DUM MAARO DUM is like fast food that's high on calories, but falls short in the nutrition department. Yes, it's slick, stylish and well-crafted, but the fact remains that it lacks the power [in its second hour specifically] to create a dum-daar impression. Business-wise, DUM MAARO DUM caters more to the youth in metros than the hardcore masses in general. Its business in plexes of Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in particular will be the best. The Nizam-Andhra circuits in particular will also contribute a good chunk thanks to Rana Daggubati's presence. But the traditional circuits may not react as strongly. In a nutshell, the business is likely to be divided between metros and non-metros, between weekend and weekdays.