Masala Barbossa!

DMD is a movie that will open your eyes to a few truths of life, that go beyond the movie itself. There were a few questions right through the movie – who is Michael Barbossa? Who is this Rana Daggubatti that Bips dumped John for? Will Abhishek Bachchan do a movie, without you feeling they could have casted Amitabh instead?

By the end of the movie, DMD helped answer all my questions. I now know the origins of Michael Barbossa, why Bips should have dumped John a long time ago and I also know that Amitabh could have done this role easily.

Dum Maaro Dum offers Abhishek a chance to breathe some action into his dilapidating career with his best friend (Rohan Sippy) offering that lifeline to him. The first half moves swiftly, Abhishek enters the scene, Babbar romances and then panics, Rana croons, Bips does some inane ‘frankfinn’ training, Aditya Pancholi shoots off his hip, and suddenly sex, drugs, rock and roll in Goa is presented with Russian panache. We are led through a roller coaster of events that has twists, turns, unnecessary love sequences, brilliant action sequences, mediocre songs, tacky dialogues, some standout characters and Vidya Balan.

Even the twists and truns in the movie, cant make you ignore Abhishek’s dialogue writer for giving him the worst lines for an obsessed narcotics cop. Even Naseer had better lines in Jalwa(The Beverly Hills Cop rip off set in 80s Goa). ‘Baaki sab ke liye Google hai’, ‘Do peg leke hi gutter mein utartha hoon’, ‘mere death day par wet day manana’, ‘phone a friend’ or even the ‘Rang Barse’ sequence, come across as tacky and damp. I still feel, they could have cast Amitabh as a froggy cop and the movie would have probably been better!

Yet DMD has moments of genius. Bipasha’s death scene, the flea market shooting sequence, the dorm-shower fight sequence, are A-grade action sequences that make you wonder why Rohan Sippy would just string the rest of the movie with a pretty loose thread.

My biggest joy was to see Aditya Pancholi back in the thick of things. He has been wasted in recent times, both literally and figuratively with his alcohol issues. He delivers a Dengzongpa-esque performance that is believable. Rana Daggubatti, who sleep-walks through a Sippy movie, overshadows Bachchan and takes over Bips, makes me want to grow up to become him!

Finally Ms Padukone loses all inhibitions making Daddy proud, in a song that has the worst lyrics but works big time for a drug bust sequence...Didnt get her final luring look towards the camera before she disappears though!

Overall Dum Maaro Dum could have been Rohan’s Sholay but ends up being a weaker Bluffmaster!