Sahir of Dhoom 3 is not as lethal as Rehan Khan of Fanaa. “My character in Fanaa was that of a terrorist. I’d like to call my role in Dhoom 3 as an anti-hero, not a villain; he doesn’t go about killing people. There is a reason why he does certain things and this forms the emotional core of the character,” explains Aamir Khan, while in town to promote his action-packed entertainer, along with director Vijay Krishna Acharya, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra.
Seven years after Fanaa, Aamir’s venture with Yash Raj Films has high stakes and is the first Hindi film to release in Imax format. Vijay Krishna Acharya or Victor as he is addressed by his team, is the brain behind the Dhoom series. Having written all the three films, he took on the director’s mantle with the third part, replacing Sanjay Gadhvi.
Though Aamir bills this film a ‘no-brainer’ in terms of guaranteeing a fun-filled entertainer, he asserts it was physically the most challenging part to essay. He had to learn tap dancing and gymnastics. He plays a circus joker, a gymnast, someone of the kind we haven’t seen in the Indian scenario. “This circus is not what we see in India. Though I haven’t seen Indian circus shows of late, from what I recall, animals were used in our circus shows. I’ve watched several shows abroad where people are trained to do stunts beyond our imagination. We had some of the best international circus experts training me and Katrina,” says Aamir, when we quiz him about training for the part.
No safety nets
Aamir and Katrina performed 80 per cent of the stunts, leaving only a few sequences to body doubles. “On many occasions, there was no room for safety nets and harnesses,” pitches in Katrina. “The trainer would make us rehearse until he felt confident enough that we could pull off the stunts on the straps and hoops 30-40 feet above ground level,” adds Aamir.
There was a healthy competition between Katrina and Aamir, trying to outdo each other with their stunts, while off the sets they challenged each other playing chess: “I learnt to play chess on the sets. He won each time,” smiles Katrina. The camaraderie is evident when Aamir quips, “I’m good with the board game, but she is good at playing real-life chess.”
Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra, the permanent characters of the franchise, had to face the oft-repeated question if the Dhoom series belongs to the anti-hero. “It’s a fun series and an exciting series to be part of. If each one of us were to choose our films purely for selfish reasons, giving importance only to how large our roles are, we’d be making terrible films,” says Abhishek. In fact, he feels it works to the advantage of the series that he and Uday Chopra, as Jai and Ali, haven’t changed since the first film in 2004. For Uday Chopra, who is keen on pursuing a career in film production, this might be a swan song unless there’s a part four in the offing.
Vijay Krishna Acharya and Aamir Khan also dismissed the allegation that the film seems to be inspired by Now You See Me. Dhoom 3 is also being dubbed in Telugu and Tamil.
