‘Dishoom’ sans the Punch. Review on Dishoom

An entertaining drama surrounding the abduction of a star Indian cricketer and the quest for his release.

I could not recollect a single fighting'punch' to link it to the title of the movie. However, 'Dishoom' successfully delivers with graceful entertainment enriched with glamour, comedy and suspense.

Recollect ‘Happy New Year’ raking in crores with a nonsensical script? It was the entertainment value that the people were willing to pay for, especially the catchy number ‘India waale’ which did make an Indian feel patriotic.  It did, until the release of the movie. ‘Dishoom’ also has a patriotic touch flavored with effective comedy.

Story: Wagah(Akshaye Khanna) is a cop but also a bookie having lost over Rs.450 crores due to the inform Indian star batsman ‘Viraj’(Saqib Saleem) who delivers India to victory through hopeless and impossible situations. It is just 36 hours before the finals that Viraj is abducted. The Indian Authorities send an elite Special Task Force cop to rescue Viraj. Kabir Shergill(John Abraham) who is assigned the task reaches the Middle East and is assisted by Junaid(Varun Dhawan) who has just graduated from the local Police Academy. Ishika(Jacqueline Fernandez) is a suspect but her role is found to be of mere pickpocketing as she was in possession of Viraj’s mobile phone which had changed hands. She joins Kabir and Junaid in their mission. Ransom is demanded from the Indian Government for the release of Viraj and the drama is predictable.

Following are some of the key factors that makes'Dishoom' successful:

Cast: **John Abraham – a fine actor and suits the role of a cop though limiting his acting skills. Varun Dhawan – Another skilled actor with great physique,  dancing skills and who pulls out comedy with ease. Jacqueline Fernandes and Nargis Fakhri – Glamour dolls from ‘House Full 3’ continue to impress. Jacqueline’s role reminds you of her role in ‘Bangistan’.  Akshaye Khanna – the ‘Jason Statham’ lookalike was impressive in a negative role reminding his performance in ‘Race’.  Saqib Saleem – a brilliant actor playing an inform cricketer's role to perfection. Rest of hand-picked cast looked great and fit the bill.

Surprise element: Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra in their must watch roles.  Both of them looked great in their brief impactful cameo roles.

Dialogues: Written by Hussain Dalal, the dialogues were apt and skillfully delivered by all actors.

Songs: I cannot pick one but all songs especially the opening title song had good visuals, great lyrics, foot tapping music and superb choreography.

Cinematography: The camerawork was brilliant and the international locales added value to the cinematography.

Direction: After ‘Desi Boyz’, Rohit Dhawan delivers with a decent ‘Dishoom’.  His prudence in pick of cast with effective mix of comedy and glamour without going overboard deserves applause.

Cons: The script was weak with lot of loopholes. The action was limited to car and bike chases.The characters were carved out just for the sake of entertainment and no logic or reasoning was applied to the screenplay.The inform batsman Viraj is shown dislocating his arm and rectifying it at will and winning matches with ease. The man in the video threatening to kill Viraj turns out to be an audition candidate and yet is seen fleeing on bike resulting in car and quadbike chase for no reason. Some action scenes were inconsistent especially the helicopter stunt. It was nonsensical to see Wagah watching the match in one scene and in the next fleeing in a FJCruiser followed by the duo on the helicopter which did not add any value. The Indian Government is shown to be meek accepting the abductor’s demand for ransom. Once again Viraj is shown dislocating both his arms and yet coming out to bat.

Conclusion: In spite of the flaws, Dishoom does not disappoint nor bore you. It is a masala film providing decent drama, sensible comedy, action, thrill and romance. The run time is just above two hours. Recommended for your family and friends this week.