The blast that doesn’t quite sizzle:

Either Sanjay Gadhvi loves Hrithik to the point that he decided to make everyone including the plot look like wimps so that we see just how good this green eyed Greek God can look or our man took it all wrong, or the only one who managed to pull it of was Roshan. Anyway people, what he has dished out for you is Dhoom 2, the biggest hyped movie of the year – does it keep up to all the hoopla created? Not quite.

To be fair, he hadn’t promised us a brilliant plot (come one guys, after so many years into movie making and churning out run of the mill plots by truck loads, we ought to accept the sad truth – action backed by a brilliant plot is just not our forte, just as emotional melodrama isn’t theirs), yet some parts are occasionally engaging, like the first robbery that Hrithik pulls of or the part where he confronts Aishwarya with her betrayal.

The movie’s USP is supposedly its style. And if style translates to wearing awesome designer costumes adorning lithe, beautiful bodies or making the every sculpted curve of Hrithik’s body ooze sex appeal (we shall ignore Bachchan and Basu who, for some in comprehendible reason have been punished with the worst costumes – as if their inexplicably ill written roles were not enough), then the movie is brilliantly stylish. Yet, truth is, that’s not what style is. Style is making a new statement, not through what you wear, but through how you wear it. Style doesn’t demand that you wear cult costumes, dine at your home in flowing evening wear (with eye shadow to match! for heaven’s sake) or even ultra cool faces studying exotic locales. All it needs is an attitude. It requires that the actors playing the characters are not overwhelmed by their characters to the point of narcissism. And lastly is requires a sense of self assuredness, and what is betrayed is precisely the lack of it. And therein lies the movie’s fatal flaw.

Like its predecessor we have our cop (Abhishek Bachchan aka Jai Dikshit) and his faithful sidekick (Uday Chopra aka Ali – this guy is good because he is so damn honest with his role) chasing the ‘perfect thief’ notorious for his brilliantly executed robberies and their exasperatingly unpredictable pattern. All they know about the guy is that he leaves his signature at the place of robbery and what’s more, even commits them in the same trail, the symbol being the letter ‘A’. By some brilliant deduction (really their conception for arriving at the conclusion only makes you want to laugh) apna Jai concludes that the next robbery will happen in amchi Mumbai, with even the date spelled perfectly. What begins then is the wild goose chase with Jai losing A (that’s Hrithik for you) and Suneheri (Aishwarya, playing his partner in crime and when they are not busy giving cops sleepless nights, giving him half hearted plastic kisses) every time. The story shifts to Brazil where the action moves to top gear and finally concludes, albeit predictably.

When it comes to performances there is not much to say about either Abhishek Bachchan or Bipasha Basu. Their let down was the way their roles were scripted. So we have Bachchan reduced to a predictable, boring and often stupidly sighing cop and Basu completely clueless about what she is doing in the movie in the first place. That twin idea was ridiculous and the names were a throw back to the Govinda period of movie making. Aishwarya being who she is doesn’t do much besides look good. Her body looks amazing with all the flab off. But when it comes to playing that punk role demanded of her, she just doesn’t get it right. Sometimes she tries too hard, other times her movements are awkward and gawky. One word of advice for Ms. Rai: if you don’t like to kiss on screen, its fine. No one’s gonna hold that against you. Just don’t make a fine mess of what was to be a passionate, tender moment.

Finally there’s Hrithik. Truly, if the movie belongs to someone, it’s him. Every cut in him oozes perfection. No matter what he wears, where he looks, he sets hearts racing. He dances like God and what’s more, acts better. There is a heart wrenching honesty the guy gives to every cut of the film and though you know it could be better, you love the effort. He is the only one in the movie who lives his role. As Aryaan, this sleek conning hunk is a movie aficionado’s delight. Watch it if you must, for him.