Review: Dhoom 3 (PG)

Dhoom 3 earned S$21.4 million in India and US$3.3 million (S$4.1 million) in the United States to boast the highest opening-weekend total for an Indian-made film.

But in Hindi, this is called a total "pakau" (boring and irritating) movie.

The wafer-thin plot centres around a bank heist. Sahir (Aamir Khan) sees his father shoot himself after being declared a bankrupt by Chicago Western Bank and is out to settle a score with the bank. His aim is to restore his father's doomed circus to its former glory. This is an out-and-out Aamir Khan film, directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, who also wrote all three Dhoom films. Khan is certainly more attractive than the hero, Indian cop Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan).

Khan, 48, cuts a superfit figure as he dances, plots his heists and pulls off multiple motorcyle chases inspired by circus acts. After all, he had trained for the role for two years, following a strict diet and undergoing training to execute the stunts.

In one scene, he rides his motorbike on a tight rope before escaping to safety.

While such sequences are mildly interesting the first time, having them appear almost in a loop turns Dhoom 3 into a clinical exercise.

The fun is gone, the jokes fall flat and even the songs are not as entertaining as the ones in Dhoom (2004) and Dhoom 2 (2006).

Apart from Khan, none of the actors make much of a mark in the film. Bachchan mostly appears wooden throughout.

Female star Katrina Kaif, playing a circus performer, gets a barely-there role that gives her space for only two song-and-dance numbers.

If you are looking for humour, you will find it in the bumbling Chicago cops who need an elite team to catch the elusive Sahir. They almost make Indian policemen look good.

But Khan with his shirt off is an absolute treat. That was what kept me mildly awake through this drone of a movie. 

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