Dhoom Dhaam Review: Romantic Comedy Heist That Turns Convention On Its Head

On the surface, the movie is about Koyal (Yami Gautam Dhar) and Veer (Pratik Gandhi), newlyweds, who are stuck in a soup on their wedding night when two gangsters (Eijaz Khan and Pavitra Sarkar) storm into their hotel room and demand to know where Charlie is. As a shell-shocked Veer (who is far from deserving of his name, which translates to hero!) trails her out the window to escape from them, Koyal soon turns the tables on them. There are no problems during the shaadi. But armed thugs brutally interrupt the suhaag raat in an opulent hotel suite as the hell breaks loose! Dhoom Dhaam, a Netflix romantic comedy heist film, begins thus (of course, following a brief prelude to set up the tone for the rest of the movie).

 Dhoom Dhaam Review: A whirlwind of chaos depicted masterfully through its narration

Thanks to its perfect and strikingly sharp writing, Arsh Vohra and Aditya Dhar produce an engrossing crime drama about two spirits who find themselves embroiled in a situation not their own.  The mayhem that is going to erupt and destroy the married couple's honeymoon night is foreshadowed in the initial scene. Within hours of getting married, the fleeing couple, still wearing their wedding-day trappings, begin wondering if they are compatible, to begin with. The key to the drama is the two are extremely mismatched, which makes things more chaotic.

Dhoom Dhaam has no conventional musical set pieces, but there are a couple of good numbers provided by Shor Police (Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes)—on the wife, a drag-racing master, being more powerful and tougher than her man, a phobic animal doctor. To enjoy their humour quotient in all its glory, one needs to watch the gripping drama that Arsh Vohra and Rishab Seth (also the director) weave, full of mostly commonplace and otherwise sultrily amazing situations, like Veer at the bachelorette party. The goons are chasing the two down.  As the mystery surrounding Charlie grows and more men enter the fray in search of something the married couple has no clue about, the running, driving, and dodging never stops.

Throughout the night, the husband, Veer Poddar, a self-effacing man from Ahmedabad, ties himself up in knots while Koyal Chadda, a fierce Punjabi from Mumbai, gives it her all. He does not ignore traffic lights or violate the law, which the woman does so carelessly.

Celebrating The Unorthodox Depiction Of Gender Roles Through Its Outstanding Performances

The leads are like a house on fire, a couple who share nothing in common but are destined to be wedded and pushed into a grave, spiraling into crisis by events beyond their control. The movie wants us to react to what it is trying to accomplish, which is pure entertainment, but it never quite goes all out. The hero's claim to being a veggie is one of the most humorous elements in the movie. They ask him why. His deadpan reply: "Animal doctor hoon. I cannot eat my patients. At risk, Veer, who does not live up to his name, ignores the warning and holds on through a bachelorette drama in which a chorus of screaming women shout, "Strip! Strip!"He complies. He loses his clothes, but he keeps his cool.".

He laughingly dances in boxers. Gandhi, in a continuation of the mood of the scene, doesn't play coy, so this explicit but appropriate subversion of the typical male voyeuristic look that Hindi films encourage does have the desired impact. He jumps right in and appears to be enjoying himself immensely. He is a man in a Hindi movie who is willing to undergo "exposure therapy" and is not afraid to face his numerous fears—and the woman is forced to regain control. Gandhi, in a continuation of the mood of the scene, doesn't play coy, so this explicit but appropriate subversion of the typical male voyeuristic look that Hindi films encourage does have the desired impact.

In one of the most memorable scenes, Koyal launches into a rant on behalf of the falsehoods women have to live to be free in a society that doesn't afford them an inch unless taken. For the actor, this is the best part of the film, and she capitalizes on it. Amongst the fresh young faces who joined in post-2010, Yami shows that she picks sensible roles. She is as wonderful as Koyal, a lady of very strong beliefs and a completely liberal attitude who can be bold to the point of being reckless. 

The actors playing the parents flit and flutter and vanish without making an impact, but even in their very limited roles, Kavin Dave as the girl's maternal uncle and Mukul Chadda as a cop with plenty of secrets make an impact. In the finale, which takes place in a warehouse where all the characters congregate and the police are naturally the last to arrive, a pet dog hogs the limelight. Because his wife calls him a "doggie doctor" when she is angry, it is not a wonder that the dog also has a bad day.

Dhoom Dhaam is a harmless distraction from the dull and overused Bollywood romance films. The lead actors deserve most of the credit if it isn't hollow. They get all the accolades for their enthusiastic effort to inject thrill into the otherwise comical fare that gets monotonous from time to time. In contrast to big-budget Bollywood films that primarily utilize unnecessary dances, songs, and showy backgrounds, this movie serves crisp content pivoting over just one plot and not an over-stretched one.

Dhoom Dhaam is not serious though, where you can see it again and think about it from different aspects but is rather the best mode of relaxation during Valentine's Day and letting the day's stress go.

Views expressed are the author's own.