Dum Maaro Dum

First things first; this movie is not your average bollywood 'boy meets girl and then they lived happily ever after' kind of films. This flick takes a look at the dark side of Goa, a side which most movies prefer not to acknowledge. The performances are amazing, be it the determined police officer played by Abhishek Bachchan, Prateik who plays a naive kid who gets seduced into playing a dangerous game, or the altruistic Rana. Bipasha looks gorgeous but proves once again that she is more than just a pretty face. The songs are also very nice. The plot is full of twists and will keep you at the edge of your seat till the very end. That being said, you may find that there are more sad moments than you bargained for. But that just makes it look more realistic. I'll dock one star for screwing up the 'dumb maaro dumb' song which is a classic and another star for stretching out the ending a little bit. A must see for thrill seekers.

Most of the movies that we see will either be captivating from the very beginning or will be a complete let down, with little or no fluctuation in the interest factor of the viewer throughout the show, Dumb Maaro Dumb does not fall in any of these categories, it is a movie that starts off with a lot of promise only not to keep most of it. As I said the movie starts of well with nicely narrated introductions, gripping screenplay and building of suspense which keep the movie graph rising on an upward trend, but then comes the interval after which the graph starts fluctuating like an after recession stock market, it falls then rises and then falls again but never reaches to the post interval high, unnecessary melodrama and songs slow down the speed of the movie and the tight script starts to loosen its grip. DMD being a suspense movie could have still scored had that part been handled well but that was not to happen , a good concept fails to deliver because of the poor way it was revealed, the scriptwriter and director should have come up with a better way of revealing the suspense.

What I liked: 1) Abhishek's performance. 2) Direction and Screenplay in the first half. 3) Some nice dialogues.

What I didn't: 1) Direction and Screenplay in the second half with infusion of unnecessary songs and melodrama. 2) The way revelation of suspense was handled.

Verdict: A one timer, that could have been an excellent movie.

What's comes to your mind when you think of Goa? Beaches, parties, hangovers.. Dumb Maaro Dumb starts with a hint of of all that and more – raves, drugs, sex and all that is associated with the mafia in the Goan region. The movie turns into a tale of bad-cop-turned-good; who is stubborn over uprooting the drugs-industry from the whole of Goa.

ACP Vishnu Kamath played by Abhishek Bachchan, lost his family in an accident; a car accident which was a result of a driver's drug abuse. This transforms his life and he sets out to transform Goa – his road to redemption. His biggest target is Lorsa Biscuta (Aditya Pancholi), who is the main connect to the foreign mafias, suppliers and the rave parties.

Meanwhile Lorry (Prateik) is a minor who is lured into carrying drugs to the US as his fees to a certain university is paid in return, gets caught by the police. This is when Joki (Rana Daggubati) takes centrestage, in order to save the innocent lad, and in turn deliver, what he couldn't to save hi ex-girlfriend Zoey (Bipasha Basu) from entering the illegal world. Thus the two men in redemption work together for the clean-up. And need I mention, truism in a suspense-thriller is not a great news!

Rohan Sippy does a fine job as a director, and sticks to his style as in Bluffmaster. But clearly the story of Dumb Maaro Dumb has nothing new to offer – owing to the mega 80s and 90s where a single cop was enough to ask for a super-hero. The difference lies in the theme, where drugs, raves and trance surface up. A bit more research in this field and proper exploitation of trance could have been something fresh; and also justified the use of the song(and title!) Dumb Maaro Dumb. Where Hare Rama Hare Krishna was a depiction of the Hippie culture of the 1970s, this movie tries to relate to the modern Trance era, but in the end is another cop story. Even Deepika Padukone's sensuous attempt falls flat in the Munni-Sheila-era. But the good direction, as it stays, was beautifully covered by the camera personnel. The colors used are perfect keeping in my mind the story and.. well, Goa! The movie does not rely on powerful duologue's alone, as has been the trend recently. Instead, intense scenes and heavy action are the dominant part.

The idea of "universal approach" given by Rohan Sippy is not totally baseless, but his claims – "Drug consumption is shown in films only when it is crucial for a script" should be hint of pure Indian-cinema-ness of the script, and the lack of naturality and adventure as much as the original is evident. But I'll accept, the movie is more about Dumb(power & action) than Dumb(drug injection)

The music used in this movie is highly ordinary not at all pertaining to the genre and theme(the expected one of course!) of this film. Having a musician(Joki) in the movie is an advantage though, and the song Ti Amo catches on a few lips as people exit the theaters. Sunidhi Chauhan's experiments and the 'potty' lyrics fail to pull off, being the worst expected in a Rave party!

Rohan Sippy, son of the well-known Sholay director Ramesh Sippy, has given us a crime thriller here. I must say the film doesn't disappoint. Very good script.

The film starts of well with Prateik Babbar. The pace is fair as the film introduces the characters in the movie and lets you develop opinions of them. Things continue at a fast pace, with plenty of unexpected events along the way, keeping you interested throughout.

The music of the film is average. The remix of the famous song 'Dumb Maaro Dumb' doesn't live up to the original from the Zeenat Aman starrer. It is an average item song, after the season of chart-buster item songs last winter. Deepika tries her best to save it, and is helped by the music, which is very good.

The performances are good. Abhishek finally impresses after Guru, this time as a cop after the second in the Dhoom series. Prateik impresses again after Dhobi Ghaat. The performance of Rana Daggubati is very good too. Bipasha Basu is OK. Aditya Pancholi does very well indeed.

Verdict: go and watch it. It is worth a trip to the cinema (theatre). If you don't, you might just regret it.

There was so much of antagonistic vibes about the movie prior to the release.People were more sort of afraid rather than reluctant to see Junior AB in the action after his utter fail "Game". Personally speaking, my mates even bullied me as a goose like die hard fan of Abhishek (Some even felt that I watched premier due to Dipeeka's number, perverts!).

Let me clarify in the beginning only that a film cant work on sheer style (eg. Tashan) or sheer story (eg. Salaam - E - Ishq / Dus Kahaniyaan). A film should be okay in all the fields of cinema and brilliant in some of them. Here the movie is brilliant in direction,script and star cast.

Jr AB as cop, Rana as DJ, Pratiek-Anaitha as teen lover all are perfect.Bipasha lacks edge.Aditya Pancholi is good.Rest are okay.

Screenplay is good. Dialogues are crisp and witty at the same time entertaining.

Cinematography by Amit Roy is brilliant. Camera angles have never been more slick.

Music by Prittam is a mixed bag.BGM by MIDIval Punditz is mind blowing. Almost Rahmanic! (They are Telefon Tel Aviv for Indians!)

A very well directed movie by Rohan Sippy. Full of style and sensibility. This is the third consecutive film of his with Jr AB (Kuch Naa Kaho and Bluffmaster) and the co ordination is clearly visible.

So take a puff darling and enjoy this stylish flick!

Goa was never so splendorous! Looked as if I was watching Rio De Janeiro. By the time when movie ends, you are smiling.