Dhoom 3 Review: One of the best entertainers of 2013

The third instalment in the super-popular ‘Dhoom’ franchise, released in theatres today. After two stellar performances by John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan in the first two films, its Aamir Khan’s turn to play super villain in Dhoom 3. Vijay Krishna Acharya, who last directed Tashan, replaces Sanjay Gadhvi, the director of the first two films. Does Dhoom 3 live up to the humongous expectations? Let’s find out.

The film starts with the ‘The Great Indian Circus’, which is mortgaged at the West Chicago Bank in Chicago. The circus is owned by Iqbal (Jackie Shroff) who has taught his son Sahir (Aamir Khan) all the tricks of the trade. Due to budget constraints, Iqbal kills himself as he is unable to continue running the show.

Dhoom 3 Movie Review

Dhoom 3 Movie Review

A few years later, West Chicago Bank is robbed by a thief who only leaves behind a Joker’s mask. He doesn’t leave any clue behind, because of which the police is unable to nab him. The Mumbai police, headed by India’s best cop ACP Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra) travel to Chicago to investigate the case and nail the criminal, as the thief leaves behind a message written in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Sahir reopens his father’s dream, ‘The Great Indian Circus’ and hires Aaliya (Katrina Kaif) to assist him.

The rest of the film is a revenge tale. Sahir is determined to destroy the West Chicago Bank, while Jai and Ali take it upon themselves to catch him red-handed. Who wins the battle? Watch the movie to find out.

Dhoom 3 Movie Review

Screenplay and Direction: Dhoom 3 delivers everything that it promises and more – high-octane action sequences that sometimes does tend to test the limits of your logic, a super-hot leading lady, a super cool villain who is always one step ahead of rest, a super-cop hell-bent on nabbing the thief and amidst all the emotion and action Uday Chopra provides the much-needed comic relief. But what makes Dhoom 3 the most gripping of the three films is the highly emotional storyline – without revealing much, you feel for Aamir’s character in the film especially in the second half.

Scenes to look forward to:

  • The introductory scene of Jai and Ali is hilarious, what with Jai making a grand entry on a rickshaw and eventually succeeding in riding his three-wheeler on top of the slums in Mumbai.
  • Sahir’s first robbery is high on action and extremely unrealistic, but it works big time. In fact, the audience were laughing and whistling all the way through!
  • Katrina’s strip tease in her introductory song Kamli. Aamir asks her to entertain him for 5 minutes in a way that he shouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her. What follows is a subtle strip tease that the men in the audience will love!
  • The last 20 minutes which includes the highly emotional climax
  • Revealing more would kill the suspense element that the film has. So in short, every action scene is worth the price of your ticket!

Technical aspects: Dhoom 3 is high on production value, a lot of money has been spent on design, filming the action sequences and also the songs. The results are outstanding. The film’s music is a mixed bag. Dhoom Tap, Kamli and Malang stand out, not because of Pritam’s composition, but more due to the way the songs have been picturised, choreographed and performed. The only major gripe with Dhoom 3 is its length. At close to 175 minutes (2 hours 55 minutes), the film stretches way too long.

Performances: Dhoom 3 was probably the biggest test of Aamir Khan’s career, a role that many thought he couldn’t pull of with the same energy, magnetism and charisma of his predecessors (John and Hrithik). But Aamir excels, he is brilliant in Dhoom 3. (Spoiler alert: He delivers the performance of the year as Samar, award-deserving). Katrina Kaif has very little to do, except look stunning in every frame, which she does. Abhishek Bachchan plays his role well, he has more to do here compared to Dhoom 2 where he was completely out shined by Hrithik’s presence. Uday Chopra is brilliant, he will forever be remembered for playing the character of Ali.

To sum things up, if you loved the previous two films, you will love Dhoom 3. It has everything that you hoped for and a lot more in the form of a solid storyline. Go for it. You won’t be disappointed!

Box Office: The film has already opened to packed-houses all over. With no competition in the next few weeks, Dhoom 3 has all that it takes to break all previous box office records and set new ones. Winner all the way!

Rating: ★★★★☆

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66 Comments

  • don’t give away the story. i think you should delete spoiler alerts. because everybody don’t get to watch the movie on first day.

  • “Dhoom 3” has also a good chance to cross 100+ crores weekend bcoz it is running in packed houses everywhere.Now it is confirmed that this year will end with a Dhoom.

  • Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

    Dhoom 3 (Hindi) is challenging for the opening day record despite releasing on a non holiday. Only two films have got to 30 crore nett on day one and they are Ek The Tiger and Chennai express. Krissh 3 managed a 31 crore nett on its fourth day but all these figures were recorded on national holidays be it Independence Day, Eid or Diwali.

    The film can top the 30 crore nett mark or stay below a by a couple od crore depending how the evening shapes. There will be a drop at some multiplexes in cities where it is cold and the last show at single screens will be lower as is always the case in December in parts of UP, Haryana and Punjab.

    It is a bit irrelevant whether the record comes or not as just to be up there with films which broke records on holidays is outstanding. No film has yet crossed 20 crore nett on a non holiday and Dhoom 3 is on target for 30 crore nett. Factoring in the holiday factor, the growth in ticket rates and growth in screen counts it is probably the biggest opening in recent times.

  • I have posted it in another article as well. I went with huge expectations (which is rightfully unfair) and came out with mixed taste, it might be because I have watched movies like Now You See Me and The Prestige, and Dhoom 3 is inspired from those two movies, because of that, there was no surprise element for me.

    Note : Although, people those who haven’t watched the above mentioned movies should enjoy it for sure.

    Aamir’s character was completely different from John’s and Hrithik’s from its predecessors, he didn’t need to be cool, stylish, or sleek. It was dark and emotional, its better not to reveal much about it, but he played it with perfectionism. He was too good in emotional scenes. Although, couple of scenes were too dramatic. I found Abhishek Bachchan’s performance good as well, Katrina didn’t have much to offer, and apart from her looks and dancing skills, she was average acting wise which was always expected. Uday Chopra was same as before.

    Cinematography was mind blowing, beautiful sets and locations, I was blown away by the bike stunts which were never seen before in Bollywood, Aamir was involved in many breathtaking stunts. Some action sequences were over the top though, like Abhishek’s and Uday’s introductory action scene, where they beat some criminals in South Indian films’ style which was unexpected from a movie like this. Music was a letdown, apart from ‘Malang’ and ‘Kamli’ to some extent, none of them were impressive, ‘Tu Hi Junoon’ was unnecessary IMO, it just extended its runtime.

    Plot is similar to above mentioned movies, Sahir tries to avenge his father’s death, who shot himself in Sahir’s childhood because of some Bank owners who were about to shut his circus down, by robbing their banks. There’s a suspense/secret in the film which I shouldn’t spoil for others, which is basically the main part of the movie.

    There’s nothing wrong with the the performances and the entertainment value, I was mainly disappointed by lack of logic and some plot holes. The biggest one, I was waiting to get the explanation on how Sahir managed to get in the banks (while robbing them), and how did he rob them in spite of tight security arrangements. I waited during the first robbery, and then thought they would fully show the 2nd robbery at least during the halfway, but I was left disappointed, then I fully expected it to be explained in last robbery, but the director didn’t even bother to tell the audience how he got in the bank and how did he ‘actually’ rob it. Aren’t we supposed to know what was his master plan, how did he execute it etc? In previous film, it was shown how the thief managed to get in the spot, and how did he actually steal things. But in Dhoom 3, on every occasion, the bank was robbed and suddenly the chasing/escaping sequences began (which were mind blowing to be honest) without clearing the lights on doubts concerning about the masterwork behind the robberies, how was it actually done. That was laziness and lack of innovation by the director. The so called ‘never seen before trick’ was actually seen in ‘The Prestige’. The need of Indian cops to catch the thief, if Chicago police can’t do it, then they could have asked for the help from FBI, but they called Jai Dixit (who was said to be India’s top cop) because the thief used the Hindi language. Sahir meets with Jai (only to track information) and says he knows about the thief as he has worked with him in past, and Jai doesn’t find any thing mysterious about him and shares his plan with him, so much for the ‘top cop’. This isn’t a big flaw, but you don’t expect it from an Aamir film, because he has raised the bar so high for everyone including himself.

    Second half was terrific, it was fast paced and made up for ordinary first half, had emotional attachment into it, that’s where Aamir Khan excels with all of his roles when he got to showcase his talent.

    Overall, it is thoroughly entertaining (if you haven’t seen this concept before), and have all the ingredients required for a commercial action-thriller. Action, drama, romance, it has it all. Although, it isn’t flawless like many Aamir films like 3 Idiots, Rang De Basanti, Lagaan, to name few. Some flaws can be overlooked, but some cannot.
    3.5 stars from me.

    Positives –

    – Never seen before Bike stunts in India
    – Aamir Khan’s performance
    – Cinematography
    – Aamir’s bike, which could run, float and nearly fly in the air.
    – Fast paced yet emotionally hooked second half.

    Negatives –

    – Underwhelming first half due to lack of logic, some over the top action sequences, some too melodramatic scenes.
    – Director’s serious laziness and uninspiring direction.
    – Music is minor letdown, far less appealing than previous Dhoom film. (can be overlooked but it was expected to be a big hit)
    – Lack of freshness in the script might spoil your enjoyment if you have seen ‘NYSM’ and ‘The Prestige’.

  • Indicine, That’s a great review.

    Unlike a few other sites, who just have opinions of the reviewers, rather than review of the movie, you have touched every aspect of the film.

    Though it is precise, I feel it is very good.

    Keep it up.

    I hope all those smarta$$ reviewers of big newspaper sites who think just because they write review they are some God send angels, wake up and read the above review. This is is how a movie review should be written.

    No bias, no big mind boggling words to impress and confuse, but simple, plain and to-the-point review.

    Well done Indicine.

  • This is a sort of movie you get once a year or in two years! Mindblowing and storyline is soul-touching!! Wonder what Kat was doing in the film!!

  • Director and writer, Mr. Vijay Krishna Acharya work is stylish and grand but intrigue value is missing. Story is almost simple. Screenplay is OK. Dialogue are good at places. Many things are taken as granted. Why bank was biased with the Circus, is not answered. Why should a bank official call Indian Police for investigate, just because of thief is Indian and write something in Hindi, after every crime!!!? Stunts are mostly conceived illogically. After a while, you start feeling that anything can happen. No need to think about why and how. A man can easily tie the rope between buildings and surprisingly ride bike on it. When, needed he can convert his bike in boat and even dive!!? Due to such type of scenes, it lacks the thrill of a thief Police’s cat and mouse type of chase. Sometimes they show very modern gadget but when it comes to reason behind the main suspense they choose traditional one. This time emotional quotient is good especially in climax. Love track is so so. Performance wise Aamir Khan is impressive. The boy, who played young Aamir is also very good. Surprisingly, Uday Chopda is fantastic in his character. Abhishek Bachchan is OK. Katrina has nothing to do much but she is fine. Music by Pritam is good, especially the Malang Malang and Tu hi junoon.

  • good review indicine .now where are those pathethic haters mostly hr fans abused aamir and said is not fit for role dhoom 3 they must be burning like coal now lol.

  • Funny reviews making rounds on various website. Here are samples of varying thoughts each has.

    1) The movie is fantastic in first 45 min, but falls into emotiional drama later on.

    2) The movie picks up and connect with emotional quotient of audience in the second half.

    3) The movie is all about Aamir and no one is given importance

    4) Surprisingly Abhishek has a better role than last two installments.

    5) Katrina can’t act, so it is good that she sticks to being beautiful

    6) Katrina is cool, wish they had given her more content

    7) Kamli strip-tease dance was awesome

    8) Wonder why she had to do a strip-tease

    9) Don’t know how people can stand Uday Chopra

    10) Uday Chopra shows that he is suited for this role

    11) Dhoom 1 and 2 was only about action, but D3 scores on emotion

    12) The emotional angle is so not Dhoom

    So, if you think you are confused what not to believe and what to, stop thinking.

    This is Dhoom movie with Aamir in it. Surely you won’t be disappointed either way.

  • @indicine,
    I’ve read this review today early morning on your website which is posted before you on a diffrent article. that review exactly similar to your review’s starting! how it can be! :O
    by the way, seems like you forgot to inform us one thing indicine is that, is this movie similar to ‘NOW YOU SEE ME’ or any other movie. And I think you did not forget, you just don’t want to say anything about it like all other website. Shame on u all!

  • pathetic movie wasted 290 rs. of mine…

    there is no twist in end but just that Jackie shroff was actually not aamir’s father and it was just a mind fantasy of aamir.. he turn out to be suffering from some split personality kind of thing where he dreams being revening an imaginary father and real life is boring circus man

  • shame on you all reviewers, because you all were talking about the similarities when the trailer released, and after releasing the movie, you have tight lipped about the similarities. I think something happened between 30th october and 20th december. It seems YRF spent some rupees bribing you reviewers. shit!

  • @Indicine. good review. but to be honest loved @rohit s more than u.
    @rohit. really awesome Bro. u Havent disclosed even a part of the story but still maintained the tempo in order to read Ur review completely. really hats of to u. intriguing to say the least. would watch the movie now for sure

  • i dont understand how on earth can you give this movie a 4 star rating……the main plot of the movie is directly copied from “prestige” and “now you see me”. you find this movie entertaining. does a bike riding over a rope is entertainment for you…. a bike is converted into a boat…. excellent… there was completely no logic in several scenes. and the biggest of all. how does amir khan actually robs the bank. nothing was shown about the actual robberies. i waited till the end to know about this but nothing was shown. how does amir khan enters the bank. how was he able to plant a bomb there in the final robbery. they could have atleast shown one robbery……….. abhishek bacchan is spared by amir khan in the end where he could have easily killed him. why……in the night they both run away and suddenly in the morning they are chased down by the police over the bridge. why both of them didn’t just hide out somewhere instead of running……why the hell was this 15 minutes role offered to katrina….. but she looks pretty. amir khan acts superbly as samar. full marks to him. but as a movie dhoom 3 is a failure. dhoom 3 lacks originality and the stunts are childish…you show amir khan riding a bike at an inclination of almost 90 degrees. you think we are a bunch of fools sitting in the theatre. tickets were so high…wasted my precious money and time….

  • Dhoom-1 and Dhoom-2 were more entertaining than Dhoom-3. Disappointing that y Aamir did this movie because his caliber doesn’t allow such movies…..

  • @ace khan, srk fans abused aamir and his film, HR fans never abuse anyone, you khan fans abuse all other actors, and you expect HR fans to shut up and sit down ??

    why the hell indian police were called to investigate the case of chicago bank ??? why ????? mumbai police better than chicago police ?? lmao !! ultimate stupidity !! atleast first two films were set in india and believable.

  • Myself seldom comments here…bt aftr readng rohit’s review it made me… I m an srk fan…here his attempt s genuine..nt biased
    wanna apprecite nd patt at his bck..hello r u listeng..hats off dude..keep it up..:)

  • @Indicine : Please change movie runtime to 2 hours 55 minutes. You have posted as 3 hours 55 minutes. For a minute, I was shocked and thought D3 is lengthier than Sholay !!!!!!! :)

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