Dishoom review by Anupama Chopra: Slick, seductive, disposable entertainment

The first half of the film is gripping and entertaining, but the script gets sloppy as it progresses

DISHOOM
Direction: Rohit Dhawan
Actors: John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Akshaye Khanna, Jacqueline Fernandez, Saqib Saleem, Nargis Fakhri
Rating: 3 / 5

In this buddy-cop drama, John Abraham plays the abrasive, mercurial, sullen Kabir Shergill from India’s Special Task Force. Varun Dhawan is the over-enthusiastic, eager-to-please, hyper-energetic rookie.

Dishoom is a silly but fun reworking of the time-tested buddy cop formula. If you don’t ask too many questions – especially in the outrageously illogical second half – you can have a pretty good time. Director and co-writer Rohit Dhawan isn’t aiming for anything more. It’s slick, seductive, disposable entertainment.

The rules of the buddy cop film dictate that two absolutely different personalities are forced to partner together to solve a crime. Akira Kurosawa introduced the trope in 1949 with Stray Dog. Since then every decade has thrown up its own variation – from 48 Hrs to Lethal Weapon to Rush Hour to The Heat. Rohit and co-writer Tushar Hiranandani stay safely within the genre boundaries.

Watch the trailer here

John Abraham plays the abrasive, mercurial, sullen Kabir Shergill from India’s Special Task Force. Varun Dhawan is Junaid, the over-enthusiastic, eager-to-please, hyper-energetic rookie. They are forced to partner when India’s greatest cricket player, Viraj, is kidnapped one day before an India-Pakistan final. Junaid is so ineffective that he can’t even find a missing dog. Kabir is so brilliant that he is sent over to the Middle-East by the external affairs minister herself. Junaid likes Yo Yo Honey Singh. Kabir wants Kishore Kumar. You know exactly how this will play out.

Read: This chase sequence from Dishoom could be Bollywood’s most expensive stunt

The first half of the film is both gripping and comical. Hussain Dalal’s dialogue is cheesy but entertaining. But the writing gets inexcusably lazy in the second half. The sloppiest element in Dishoom is the script. Instead of well-crafted suspense, Rohit throws Ayananka Bose’s sexy visuals at us – beautifully lit buildings, yachts, cars, private planes, helicopters and an uncomfortably voyeuristic item song that requires Jacqueline Fernandez to dance in front of leering men who will then arm-wrestle to decide who gets to spend the night with her.

The first half of the film is gripping and comical, the dialogue cheesy but entertaining.

Rohit gets away with it because the other elements in the film work – the biggest ace being his brother Varun. Varun has an energy that is infectious and winning. John also works well as the inexpressive, brooding hulk. And the icing on the cake is a laugh-out-loud cameo by Akshay Kumar in a manbun, who gets our boys to strip to their trunks.

I was happy to see the talented Akshaye Khanna back on screen, but his character doesn’t develop into anything memorable. There’s also Saqib Saleem, Nargis Fakhri, Mohinder Amarnath, Satish Kaushik as a voice artist, and Parineeti Chopra showing off her svelte new body.

All in all, there’s more than enough to escape into. If this does turn into a franchise, I have one request for Rohit – can the Akshay Kumar character also be a lead?