Film : DUM MARO DUM REVIEW 2011
Rating: 3/5
Banners: Ramesh Sippy Entertainment, Fox Star Studios
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Pancholi, Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati, Prateik Babbar, Gantois Gomes, Govind Namdeo, Deepika Padukone, Anaitha Nair, Mariah Pucu, Bugs Bhargava, Gulshan Devaiya, Muzammil S. Qureshi
Music: Pritam Chakraborty
Cinematography: Amit Roy
Director: Rohan Sippy
Producer: Ramesh Sippy
Release Date: April 22, 2011
Story:
The city of Goa is affected with the strong presence of drug network, drug dealers, gangs and mafia. The time comes to put an end to it and ACP Vishnu Kamath (abhishek) is called to do the job. The key persons responsible for this drug menace are Michael Mambossa whom no one has seen and Biscuit (aditya), a so-called society noble. Vishnu starts his clean up mission and in this process, he catches Lorry (prateik), a student carrying drugs. This brings in DJ Joky (rana) who is convinced of Lorry's innocence. What follows from there is the cat and mouse game between Vishnu and Biscuit while Joky takes the help of his girlfriend Zoe (bipasha) to help Lorry. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.
Presentation:
The director has come up with an interesting storyline and while the presentation was stylish, the narrative was adequate. The dialogues were riveting, the script was written without much flaws and the screenplay was neat. Background score was impressive and three songs were the highlight. Cinematography was top notch. Editing was crisp but it was needed during the second half. Costumes were natural while the art department was matching the situations and looked apt. Abhishek Bachchan carried out his role with elegance and does his job well. Daggubati Rana is a surprise package but he scores well in looks department while he should work on expressions. Bipasha fills the glamour quotient, Vidya and Deepika do decent cameos, Prateik was impact creating, Aditya Pancholi was nice, Govind Namdeo was to the point. The others did their bit as required and added value.
Conclusion:
The film runs on the backdrop of drugs and the network of this cartel. While the first half goes breezily with the right pace, it also creates good promising second half. However, the second half gets hit as focus is on dragged melodrama and unwanted scenes. The film has been made with a sincere and noble intention and the presentation was also rich but it is the content and the conviction in few critical scenes which was missing. At the box office, this could be an average grosser but word of mouth publicity is required.
Bharatstudent Verdict: One time watcher
Sonia Chopra
When was the last time you holidayed in Goa -strolled along the beaches, soaked review: up the sun, got drunk on Feni? Nope, this ain't the Goa from your last holiday.
The Goa in Dum Maaro Dum is ugly and replete with the drug mafia calling the shots.
It's a place where foreign tourists run the drug business, enlisting help from the locals. One such “recruitment” is Lorry (Prateik) desperate for a few extra bucks and a ticket out of India. His background isn't clearly established - especially his family that is represented through a few women always ready to sing and dance but who're not given a single dialogue.
The names of the characters (an important aspect of characterisation) are 'filmy', no one has a 'real name' - the good guys are called Lorry, Joki, and Zoe, the cop's name is Kamat, and the villains are Lorsa Biscuita and Michael Barbosa.
Yup Barbosa's running the whole show, but remains elusive and mysterious. Kamat is the cop gunning after Goa's drug web, and his determination is explained though a backstory. So now he has to find Barbosa. The premise is set; the action begins.
Kamat enlists the assistance of two trusted aides, and the trio starts the work of wiping out Goa's drug-fuelled underbelly. Meanwhile Kamat also finds time to sing a smartly-worded song. That's the thing with the film - here a song, there a song, everywhere a song song!
Deepika's Dum Maaro Dum, you will wait for with trepidation. The bland, tasteless remix of the iconic Dum Maaro Dum song will have you immediately uncomfortable; the (too many) close-ups of Deepika working the short skirt might comfort some. When it's finally over, the film moves into the finale.
The unearthing of Barbosa's mystery isn't going to get anyone a standing ovation. But the finale isn't half-bad either.
Director Rohan Sippy (Bluffmaster) obviously believes that the Indian audience is a sucker for emotion, and so injects a dose whenever he can (reminiscent of '80s style filmmaking). Sippy insists on visions of dead people in white making an appearance, smiling beatifically. These attempts at adding an 'emotional element' are incongruous with the vibe of the film, and are simply imposed upon the viewer.
Also strangely, while the narrative has each character introduce themselves in the beginning, there is no such continuity towards the end.
Amit Roy's cinematography and the snappy editing by Aarif Shaikh (barring the lag in the second half) are fun. However Sippy tries too hard to make each frame style- heavy and the effort shows.
Dialogue is a mixed bag-there are nice lines and some puzzling ones. For example, there are lines with a pun delivered by the character as it the pun was unintended - “Ye air-hostess ban na chahti hai, par take off nahin ho raha hai.” Then there is a spin on the popular bangla-gaadi-maa dialogue where the word 'maa' is punned upon, but it appears at the most inappropriate time (the character who writes this dialogue has his life in danger and would hardly be making jokes). If the attempt was at edgy black humour, it's lost on the viewer.
Performances remain the highlight. Abhishek Bachchan has the cool cop number down pat and reiterates his Dhoom act with the same sluggish charm and earnestness. Bipasha Basu gives a fair performance. Prateik is a treat though he overdoes the cowardly act. Govind Namdeo is superb and leaves a mark. Aditya Pancholi makes for a weak villain; dapper but not really exciting. Rana Dugabatti is alright.
Goa, as its crime rate proves, is a place that's only superficially serene. In that context, the Goa government can hardly raise an objection about an unfair portrayal of the state.
Dum Maaro Dum is worth a watch for the peek into the seamier side of Goa; but expecting anything other than Bollywood style thrills and chases will leave you disappointed.
Verdict : 2.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment