Movie: Dum Maaro Dum
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Prateik Babbar, Bipasha Basu
It takes more than just a seasoned director to narrate a suspense thriller (scripted by Sridhar Raghavan, remember “Johnny Gaddar”) in its most original form, with constrained cinematic thrills. That's what Rohan Sippy does with DMD. Drug and narcotic trafficking, with Goa at the helm of its affairs, forms the background. Screenplay is well-crafted, though on the lines of “Yuva” (it's the airport here, instead of Howrah Bridge).
Drug chase
Rana as Joki (the guy who had a commanding debut with the Telugu-hit “Leader”), Prateik (Lorry) and Abhishek (Kamath) find themselves in a compelling situation at the Goa Airport and from then the story travels back.
Each of them have a comman man's katha etched with the right blend of emotions. While Kamath is a loner cum police officer (losing his family for his erratic ways) back to clean-up the drug menace, Joki (a guitarist) is a good-at-heart guy who can't see a studious youngster turn into a drug peddler only to pursue his career and love elsewhere. In this triangular plot, Bipasha, an aspiring air-hostess succumbing to the misdeeds of drug mafia king pin (Aditya Pancholi) is the link for pin-ball encounters in the film.
Works
Abishek does smart policing as in “Dhoom 2” and Rana comes as a handy-help for AB's plan to nail the criminals. Rana has kept his cool and dwelled more on his attitude (promising). Prateik's portrayal as a nervously naive minor is a commendable effort (yet his initial looks at the juvenile home is uncalled for).
Music director Pritam belts his characteristic numbers reminding us of “Ajab Prem Ki...” Supporting technical departments work cohesively to get the best of every frame (editing could have been better though). Deepika Padukon's grit of attitude with her five-minute dance number comes as a surprise.
Bottomline: The film works as it leaves the audience thrilled in their own way...no qualms!!
K.J. VENKATESWARAN, working professional
