Dum Maaro Dum
DUM MAARO DUM (CINEMA)
20th Century Fox
Release date: April 22nd 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 130 mins
Original language: Hindi with English subtitles
Director: Rohan Sippy
Producer: Ramesh Sippy
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Prateik Babbar, Bipasha Basu, Aditya Pancholi
In 1975, Ramesh Sippy and Amitabh Bachchan brought moviegoers the box office record breaker, Sholay, now, just over 35 years later, Ramesh’s son, Rohan directs this Bollywood thriller starring Amitabh’s son Abhishek, proving the old saying true; the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
Dum Maaro Dum is the story of several lives whose paths all cross at Goa Airport.
Lorry (Prateik Babbar) wants to follow his girlfriend to the US but after getting accepted into a university there, he finds out his scholarship application has been rejected and is devastated.
Unable to come up with the money, he is about to accept failure but a hustler takes advantage of the situation and talks him into being a drug carrier. Not realising what he’s getting himself into, Lorry makes a deal with the Devil.
Of course, the poor boy gets held at Goa Airport with bags of cocaine sealed inside his luggage, but refuses to confess, fearing his family will be harmed.
His arresting officer is Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan), a cop haunted by the death of his wife and child some ears earlier in a drug related car accident. Kamath is now on a ruthless campaign to bring down an international drug mafia operating in Goa and sees Lorry as his way in, if he can only get the boy to talk. Also standing in his way is corrupt businessman, Lorsa Biscuta (Aditya Pancholi), who has his finger in every dirty pie in Goa.
Zoe (Bipasha Basu), a child of the hippy generation, is the once innocent aspiring air hostess who, like Lorry, made a deal with the Devil and is still paying the price for it. She holds the key to both Kamath’s and Lorry’s salvation, as well as her musician boyfriend’s, Joki (Rana Daggubati).
As Dum Maaro Dum weaves these stories together, it becomes an intoxicating mix of exhilarating action, exotic locations and infectious songs. “Thayn Thayn”, sung by Abhishek Bachchan has an almost Timbaland feel to it, with its scattered beats, percussion and melody, while “Te Amo” has all the hallmarks of a summer hit. The film’s signature songs are of course “Mit Jaaye Gam (Dum Maaro Dum)” and “Jiyein Kaun”. Together with the score, the music evokes a strong contemporary feel of Bollywood and Goa.
Performance-wise, Prateik Babbar is perhaps least memorable as Lorry. His character is somewhat cowardly and at times, a little annoying, in stark contrast to Abhishek Bachchan who seems to have inherited his father’s knack for playing the “angry young man” but takes it a few steps further.
Bipasha Basu is strikingly beautiful throughout the film and there is an air of poignancy to her character, Zoe. She conveys both innocence and the loss of it with much passion and restraint and yet doesn’t let it seep into melodrama as Dum Maaro Dum becomes too fast-paced a film to allow for it.
As the twists and turns advance toward to unpredictable end, Dum Maaro Dum, despite its few snakes – a shaky start and Scott Pilgrim-like character introductions – manages to tell an exciting and interesting story with multpile plots using a group of complex characters.
While its line on cheap liquor and women might have caused a stir during its initial promotion, it remains important to the storyline and character it’s spoken by and as you’ll see, by the end, Dum Maaro Dum does nothing to harm the image of Goa as a paradise, but actually enforces it.
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