Dum Maaro Dum

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Prateik Babbar, Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati, Aditya Pancholi

Director: Rohan Sippy

Dum Maaro Dum starts with a small montage of blockbusters of yesteryears including the likes of Sholay, Shaan, Saagar, to the recent Bluffmaster giving way to the logo of Ramesh Sippy Films. This boastful display itself raises your expectations from DMD sky high. Lorry (Prateik Babbar) fails to bag a scholarship at an international university while his girlfriend Tanya (Anaitha Nair) does. Distraught for having been left behind, Lorry gets convinced to become a carrier for drugs in order to get the admission fee. Despite all precautions, he gets caught at the airport, the local peddler who got him into it is dead and the Baap of all goons, Michael Barbossa isn't known to anyone.

Joki (Rana Daggubati) a local crooner is lovelorn for having lost out on his girlfriend Zoe (Bipasha Basu) to Drug Mafia Lorsa Biscuitta (Aditya Pancholi) who blackmails her to become his keep. Joki doesn't want his friend Lorry to lose himself the way his girlfriend did hence he tries saving him but comes in the bad books of Michael Barbossa. ACP Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan) is hired to steer clear Goa from all the drug dealings. He busts the crime rackets one after the other but stumbles upon a block - that of a so called Michael Barbossa who apparently hasn't been seen or heard off by anyone but has a major chunk worth 970 Crores of drugs under his wings.

All three stories are connected at one moot point Who or rather where is Micheal Barbossa? Unraveling of this suspense forms the rest of the story. Directed by Rohan Sippy, DMD tries too hard to be stylish and snazzy and in the process loses out on its grittiness. The way Abhishek Bachchan breaks into the song Thyan Thyan appears very filmy. The first half of the film has a great build up to an interesting suspense drama but it starts trudging in the second half and even the revelation of the suspense is tad disappointing.

What works for the film is the slick editing by Aarif Shaikh and great cinematography by Amit Roy. The way Goa and its rave parties are captured is commendable. The film has too much dramebaazi giving a very 90s "Bollywoodish" feel. Music by Pritam works only in parts. Deepika Padukone's item number is very average.

Abhishek Bachchan is impressive as a Cop. Prateik disappoints in his part. South Star Rana Daggubati is average while Bipasha Basu acts decent. Aditya Pancholi fails to do justice to his character. A maniacal villain in this film could've worked wonders. Over all, Dum Maaro Dum does have the ingredients for an interesting one time watch. A romantic song, suspense element, an item number, action, drama etc should be reasons enough to entice the audience. New Delhi, April 19: Director Rohan Sippy’s third directorial venutre ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, which is courting controversy for its theme and backdrop, is ready to hit the screens Friday. Set in Goa, the thriller revolves around drugs, sex and violence.

Made on a budget of about Rs.20 crore, the film is releasing released Friday in 20 countries at 350 international locations and at 1,000 theatres and multiplexes throughout India and the director is hoping to strike a chord with foreign audiences with his movie. Sippy’s last directorial venture was 2005 film ‘Bluffmaster’ and the Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra starrer was big hit. Sippy has once again teamed up with Abhishek for his first thriller, which has garnered enough publicity because of the objections by many on the ground that the film portrays Goa, one of the most sought after holiday destination among foreigners, and Goans in a bad light.

Three interesting stories are woven into the ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ script, which focuses on six people played by Abhishek, Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar, Aditya Pancholi and Telugu actor Rana Daggubati, who is making his Bollywood debut with it. The sixth is a mysterious character lurking in the background. In the film, Vishnu Kamat (Abhishek), a self-destructive police officer fleeing from his own past, has been asked to wipe out the local and international drug mafia operating in Goa. As he steps into the murky world, he is greeted with shocks and surprises.

Lorry (Prateik) is keen to accompany his girlfriend to a US University, but his life threatens to spiral out of control after his scholarship gets rejected. Then he meets a smooth talking hustler who promises to fix things up for him. And local musician DJ Joki (Rana) is a mute spectator of what is happening around him. He drifts aimlessly through his life after an encounter with drug mafia cost him everything he loved. He meets Zoe (Bipasha), an aspiring airhostess whose dreams turn into dust. And Lorsa Biscuita (Aditya) is the linked to all as a ruthless businessman who has his hands on every Goan pie, legal or illegal. He is the link between all the drug mafia operating in Goa. However, he finds himself pushed to extreme limit with Kamath’s arrival. And the ultimate drug kingpin whom no one knows. ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ was always meant to be an edgy thriller, but it has a strong emotional quotient too, which I believe will broaden the appeal of the film,’ said Rohan.

Abhishek had sung ‘Right here right now’ in ‘Bluffmaster’, which was immensely popular and in this film too he has has exercised his vocal chords for the song ‘Thayn Thayn’. Even before its release, the film has found itself embroiled in legal hassles. The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court had issued notices to the director and producers of the film, over a petition seeking a ban on the film, but the court cleared its release.

Then women organisations in Goa raised objections over a dialogue of Bipasha which said that ‘women are cheaper than liquor in Goa’, however keeping in mind the sentiments, the makers decided to change that particular line. The crass lyrics of the re-mixed version of cult song ‘Dum maaro dum’ of 1971 film ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ starring Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand also raised eyebrows. It invited flak not only from musicians and lyricists, also from the evergreen star and the glamour icon of yesteryear themselves.