Why Dhoom 2 fails to impress

Well, one of the things I did in Ahmedabad last Friday was watch Dhoom 2 the same day as its worldwide release. My cousin Philo and brother Jose whisked me off to the city's CitiPulse multiplex to watch Hrithik and Aishwarya in action. And what of Abhishek you ask - well, he and Uday 'Ali' Chopra seem to have somewhat of a guest appearance in this flick - playing second fiddle to master thief Aryan (Hrithik).

The ending does redeem Abhishek to some extent but this chor-police story leaves you wondering why you didn't leave your brains at home. Both Dhoom movies are action movies with lots of style and attitude but certainly weak on substance.

Both flicks hinge on spectacular special effects and the glamour quotient of its starcast. Pritam's compositions in Dhoom 2 are funky too (especially Crazy Kiya Re) but the bhangra mix song Dil Laga Na in the second half set me yawning. And I thought the Hrithik-Aishwarya liplock was way over-rated. Also, what finally happens to Abhishek's wife, baby and Bipasha (Shonali) Basu? Any guesses?

Trivia from imdb.com
- This is the first pairing of Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai after many close tries. They were supposed to be in a movie directed by Tanuja Chandra but it didn't materialise

- The shooting of this movie was delayed because of a flood that damaged the new Yash Raj studio

- Aishwarya Rai was told to lose weight by Aditya Chopra after gaining it for Bride & Prejudice (2004)

- It's the first Bollywood movie to be filmed in Brazil

- 1,200 prints of this movie were released in Indian cinemas, the biggest for any Bollywood movie

- Priyanka Chopra was originally offered the part played by Bipasha Basu, but she declined