“Dishoom” undoubtedly boasts an impressive stunt here and there, and shines with sporadic moments of humor, but doesn’t fully deliver in either department. In a film that relies on the tried-and-tested tropes of this genre, where it’s all but obvious how the story will end, the key lies in keeping the audience on the edge of their seats regardless-or, on the floor with laughter. By the time the real baddie - Akshaye Khanna, exceedingly talented but misguided in his choice of this comeback role after a three-year hiatus from the movies - gets his share of screen time, the chances of tightening up this lazily threaded chain of events seem unlikely. The second half completely falls apart, with Kabir and Junaid swerving into motorcycle races against an ancillary villain on dusty mountain roads before remembering that they’re supposed to be tracking down a missing cricketer and his captor. Somewhere along the way, the male duo is joined by Ishika (Jacqueline Fernandez), a leggy thief who becomes their third wheel for no apparent reason other than to crush on Kabir and frolic in an item song amidst all that testosterone-fueled energy. However, traction is lost quickly thanks to writing that doesn’t do its part to hold up the story’s already-rickety structure. There’s hardly a dull moment-the endless stream of antics is tempered only by regular slow motion captures of our two brawny heroes striding into town bazaars and pool parties. It could have been honed even further, were it not for director Dhawan’s determination to speed through every aspect of the film, from his rolodex of Bollywood personalities making rapid, unmemorable cameos to the succession of stereotypical Middle Eastern backdrops for Kabir and Junaid’s increasingly implausible capers. The partnership has a rocky start, but before long, they’re stripping down to matching neon orange briefs that reveal mirror-image sets of abs, addressing each other as K and J (the “Men in Black” reference will go unnoticed by few), and the buddy cop formula is complete. He is joined by Junaid (Varun Dhawan), a somewhat bumbling rookie who is as bubbly as Kabir is brooding, but leaves much to be desired in terms of his investigative expertise. The 41 Best Animated Movies of the 21st Century, Ranked
DISHOOM HINDI MOVIE REVIEW TV
The Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix in 2022 'The Blue Caftan' Review: 'Phantom Thread' Meets 'Before Midnight' in Stunning Three-Hander 'Hollywood Stargirl' Review: A Kind-Hearted Plea for the Way Filmmaking Could Be Brought in to spearhead the search, the no-nonsense Indian Special Task officer Kabir (John Abraham, expressionless as usual) has supposedly incomparable skills, including sniffing out his girlfriend’s secret lover, pointing a gun at anyone who doesn’t meet his every demand, and smoking in inappropriate places. On the eve of a major cricket match with Pakistan in the UAE, India’s star batsman Viraj Sharma (Saqib Saleem) is kidnapped. The premise is slightly improbable, but not without a fair share of intrigue. But the use of this word to encapsulate the film is a questionable decision - sure, blows are delivered, cars get chased by helicopters, and boats explode, but “Dishoom” sputters soon after it starts by way of a promising plot that veers maddeningly off-course. The only thing that makes much sense about Rohit Dhawan’s “Dishoom” is its title: the classic Bollywood onomatopoeia employed as the sound effect when an actor throws a punch, or a term used colloquially (“dishoom-dishoom”) to describe an action movie.