Yashraj Films’ Dhoom, directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, was the surprise hit of 2004. The success of this formulaic rendering of the cop versus criminal action thriller led the film makers to take the same lead characters, add more glitz and glamour situate it in some breathtaking landscapes and make a much flashier sequel. The result is the eagerly awaited Dhoom 2, starring Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan and Bipasha Basu along with Abhishekh Bachchan and Uday Copra who were in the original.
The plot is full of twists and turns as thrillers go. The police are in the pursuit of a slick and officially described as ‘cool’ criminal known as Mr. A who no one can identify or catch. A carries out ingenious robberies in a vast array of disguises and daring stunts simultaneously trying to leave his mark on the world literally, following a path across the world in the shape of a gigantic A. No-nonsense ACP Jai Dixit, wisecracking simpleton Ali and sharp-shooter Shonali Bose are cops trying to track A. In between the cat and mouse chase sequences, a mysterious beauty, Sunehri turns up professing to be A’s fan and eager to work with him. Sunehri is actually a spy set up by Jai to hunt down A. A, whose real name is Aryan, soon falls for Sunehri, and allows her into his life. Soon the entire party -- cops and robbers -- move to Rio de Janeiro, the stage for Aryan’s next heist, his plan of leaving a giant A on the world map presumably shelved. At this time, Shonali Bose drops off the scene for no logical reason and is replaced by her twin sister Monali, who has no other role other than frolic around the beach á la Baywatch with Ali. Of course, to look for logic in a film of this genre is a crime at par with Aryan’s robberies. After several twists and turns, songs and dances, comic, emotional and action scenes, the film comes to a predictable conclusion, keeping an option open for the next sequel.

The vision is panoramic and the action moves from the deserts of Namibia to Mumbai streets to the majestic splendor of Rajasthan to the delirium of Rio. The film is everything an action thriller is expected to be and as grand in scope as money can buy. The wafer thin plot is packed with plenty of stunts, stylish CGI effects, lavish interiors, exotic locales, ingenious heists, high speed chase scenes, fast paced songs and seductive dances featuring gyrating semi clad forms, glamorous stars, comic sequences, dramatic suspense, emotional scenes for what seems like an interminable 3 hours. The script is patchy, the pace erratic. The music is mediocre at best. It begins well, build up a good momentum, but suddenly falls flat, the pace slackens and film drags. The director has tried to pack in everything he can in an effort to please everyone, but his efforts are at best half-baked and clumsy. He picks up a narrative thread, gives it a cursory flourish and leaves it dangling, moving on to something else, and so on and on. Gadhvi maintains that he is inspired by the Manmohan Desai style of filmmaking, but Dhoom 2 is nowhere near the complete entertainer like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) which he claims to emulate. However, the film will surely be a crowd puller because of the hype around it, the attractive packaging and the stellar star cast. 
The major draw of the film, ever since its inception, has been the star cast. The casting of Hrithik Roshan in a negative role, images of Aishwarya Rai in daringly revealing clothes and rumors of her lip lock with Hrithik have been in the news for a long time. The film is full of beautiful people, no doubt. Each member of the star cast is toned up to perfection, and is ready to reveal a buff body at the drop of a hat. The look of the stars is the most important ingredient in this potboiler. A movie of this genre doesn’t really require great histrionics, but Hrithik, who has the strongest role, is the real star here. He is good at everything he does, whether it is stunts, dances, dramatic or emotional scenes. He emanates a sensitivity that defies his brawn. His partner in crime, Aishwarya, surprisingly doesn’t look good despite her skimpy clothes. Her fake accent and teenage verbiage is unimaginably annoying. She hams her way through Sunehri’s conflicts, looking unnatural and uncomfortable, vindicating my personal belief that she simply cannot act and should stick to L’Oreal commercials. 

Abhishekh brings nothing to the film. He doesn’t really have much to do but act the rugged no-nonsense co, make a few sardonic comments and look on glumly at the proceedings, most of which go out of his control. His pregnant wife played by Rimi Sen disappears from the scene after one inconsequential appearance, after which there’s nary a whisper about what happened to her or the child. Uday Chopra reprises his role of the good-hearted, buffoon, an ineffective and irritating sidekick – he hams blatantly, but does provide some much needed humor to this dreary tale. Bipasha as Shonali starts off reasonably well, and then is suddenly replaced by her bimbo Brazilian twin! Her presence is definitely aimed at adding to the body beautiful leitmotif of the film.
Summing up, Dhoom 2 is escapist cinema at its most opulent. Dhoom was not a great movie, but was quite entertaining. This time around, the novelty factor is missing, so is most of the charm. The sequel does everything that original did in a more spectacular way, but fails to be as entertaining. It has all the ingredients for commercial success, including great visuals and special effects, a stylish look, a high glamour quotient, slick action sequences and a good performance by Hrithik, but the total effect is uneven and somewhat tedious. But that could be just me, as going by trade reports audiences have loved it! Looks like Dhoom 2 is a big hit as a paisa vasool mindless entertainer. The ending indicated that Dhoom 3 is not far behind as Jai and Ali are getting ready for their third mission, and gossip mills are speculating at Shahrukh Khan being roped in to play the bad guy next time around. Let’s see what kind of dhamaka that will bring about!