Dhoom 2

2006 Indian Hindi action thriller film

Dhoom 2 (trans. Blast 2), also known as Dhoom 2: Back in Action and stylized as Dhoom: 2, is a 2006 Indian Hindi language heist action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, based on a story by producer Aditya Chopra, who backed the film at an estimated budget of 350 under the banner Yash Raj Films. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra. Dhoom 2 was shot primarily in India, Durban and Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first major Hindi film to be shot in Brazil. It is a sequel to the 2004 film Dhoom and is the second installment in the Dhoom series. Bachchan and Chopra reprise their roles as buddy cops Jai Dixit and Ali Khan, respectively. Yash Raj Films also collaborated with Pepe Jeans and Coca Cola for the film's promotional tie ups. Dhoom 2 premiered on 24 November 2006 in India, where it received the widest release in Indian cinema history with over 1800 prints, and grossed over 1.514 billion, and was declared a "blockbuster" by Box Office India. It became the highest grossing Hindi film of 2006 and was the highest grossing Hindi film of all time as well at the time of its release. At the time of its release, the film was the seventh highest grossing Bollywood film in overseas markets. It received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its action sequences, soundtrack, cinematography and cast performances (particularly Roshan), but criticism directed towards its pacing and writing. At the 52nd Filmfare Awards, Dhoom 2 received 8 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Gadhvi) and Best Actress (Rai), and won Best Actor (Roshan). The film also marks the second collaboration between Roshan and Bachchan after Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003), and the fourth collaboration between Bachchan and Rai after; Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000), Kuch Naa Kaho (2003), and Umrao Jaan (2006). The film also proved to be controversial post release, as there was an appeal by the Mumbai city police commissioner to censor the fast paced rash driving scenes due to fears that it would inspire Indian youths to ride their motorcycles rashly, resulting in an increase in the number of road accidents. A sequel titled Dhoom 3 was released on 20 December 2013, which also went on to become the twelfth highest grossing Hindi film to date, and the highest grossing Hindi film of all time as well at the time of its release, Abhishek Bachchan has since named this entry his favorite film in the series.

In the Namib Desert. Mr. A skydives onto a train that is carrying Queen Elizabeth II, where he steals her crown by disguising himself as the Queen, beats her guards easily, and escapes. ACP Jai Dixit and the newly promoted SI Ali Akbar Khan are introduced to Shonali Bose, a special officer assigned to investigate Mr. A's case, who also happens to be Jai's former classmate. After the initial investigation, Jai analyses the underlying trend in Mr. A's heists and concludes that the theft will follow in one of two famous Mumbai city museums. When Jai realizes that the artifact in the museum he is guarding happens to be imperfect, he rushes to the other museum, where a disguised Mr. A steals a rare diamond and escapes. While he is about to catch a flight, Mr. A sees on the TV that someone else is claiming to be himself. The imposter challenges the cops by saying that they will steal an ancient warrior sword. In response, Jai, Bose, and Khan enforce a strict guard at the location of the sword. At night, Mr. A meets the thief who made the claim on TV in the room that holds the sword. The police are alerted, but they manage to steal the sword, Shonali is injured in the confrontation, and they manage to escape. The impersonator turns out to be Sunehri, a woman who idolises Mr. A; she wants to form an alliance with Mr. A, but he turns her down. After a game of basketball between the two, he finally agrees to work together. In Rio de Janeiro, Mr. A and Sunehri plan their next heist. As Jai's analysis has named Rio the location of Mr. A's next heist, he and Ali travel there. They meet Monali, Shonali's twin sister, who only speaks English, and Ali immediately falls for her. Later, Sunehri meets with Jai to discuss her partnership with Mr. A, revealing that they are working together and Jai has promised Sunehri freedom from prison in exchange. The plan is for Sunehri to get close to Mr. A and find out what his next plan is so the police can catch and arrest him, but she begins to have her doubts. Mr. A and Sunehri fall in love with each other, and he unveils his real identity, Aryan Singh, to her. However, during the Rio Carnival, disguised as one of the entertainers, Aryan sees Sunehri and Jai together and realizes that Sunehri has been working undercover for Jai. The next day, Aryan forces Sunehri to play a game of Russian roulette, though she doesn't want to shoot him. After six attempted shots, neither is killed, because Aryan never loaded the gun. Sunehri admits she betrayed Aryan and confesses her love for him. In their final heist, Aryan and Sunehri successfully steal some early Lydian coins while disguised as performing dwarfs. With the heist successfully pulled off, Jai realises that he has been betrayed, as Sunehri called him on the phone to reveal that she wants to stay with Aryan and breaks off their deal, forcing Jai and Ali to go after the pair. After the chase, all of them end up on the top of a waterfall, where Ali catches Sunehri. Sunehri, despite conveying her feelings for Aryan, shoots him. Aryan falls from the waterfall, after which Jai allows Sunehri to go free. Six months later, it is revealed that Aryan survived and has opened a restaurant in the Fiji islands with Sunehri. Jai meets Aryan and Sunehri at the restaurant and states that despite their crimes, he does not wish to imprison the couple. Aryan tells him where all the stolen artifacts can be found via a digital watch. Jai is aware of the couple's feelings towards each other and releases them with a warning against returning to their life of crime. After leaving, Jai receives a phone call, and informs Ali that they should be heading back to India for their next case.

The Dhoom franchise began with the release of Dhoom in 2004. The film became a commercial box office hit and received positive reviews from audiences, but mixed to negative reviews from critics. As a result, producer Yash Chopra announced plans for a sequel, titled Dhoom 2 – Back in Action. John Abraham, portrayer of Kabir Sharma, the villain of the predecessor, was eliminated from the sequel because Chopra did not want Dhoom 2 to repeat the stories featured in its predecessor. Instead, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were introduced into the franchise as the sequel's main villains. Rai's character was summarized as Catwoman, a female fictional comic book femme fatale or anti hero. Rai stated, "All I can tell you is it would be nothing like anything you've seen me do before." Yash Chopra stated, "But yes, the role does require Rai to convey oodles of sensuality. She has asked for a couple of months to get into shape. We (at Yash Raj Films) are very clear about every character in every script and what's required of the actors. Before Dhoom, Esha Deol was specifically briefed about the look and the attitude she needed to cultivate. She readily agreed, and look at what Dhoom did to her career!" With the exception of Abraham and Deol, all of the other main actors in Dhoom reprised their roles for Dhoom 2.

Dhoom 2 was filmed in Mumbai (India), Namibia, Durban (South Africa), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), making it the first Bollywood movie to be shot in Brazil. To ensure the sequel would be different from the original, which became famous for its brash motorcycle stunts, director Sanjay Gadhvi included very few motorcycles in Dhoom 2. Nonetheless, Roshan's role required him to perform several dangerous stunts involving activities such as roller blading, sand boarding and snow boarding. Dhoom 2 made extensive use of visual effects, which were filmed at Yash Raj Studios. Several scenes were filmed with the use of green screen and computer generated imagery. For example, the stunts Roshan performed on a train in the Namib Desert used green screen; after Roshan recorded the stunts on a set, Gadhvi traveled to the desert to film the background. Although most of the song's lyrics are primarily written in Hindi with some English, "Dhoom Again" is almost entirely in English. The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics but high praise from the audience. It became the best selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year. The film's soundtrack is the first in Indian cinema to be released in DVD Audio in addition to other audio formats. The tracks have been mixed in London in 5.1 Surround Sound.

Dhoom 2 was released on 24 November 2006 in India, where it received the widest release in Indian cinema history at the time with over 1800 prints, including 250 digital copies. Some locations raised ticket prices for the film. It was promoted with several tie ins. Coca Cola promoted the film as "Coke Uthale, Dhoom Machale". Pepe Jeans sold Dhoom 2 related garments, including shirts, jeans, bandannas, caps, and metal accessories. Chetan Shah, the country head of Pepe Jeans London, stated – "Pepe Jeans is tremendously excited to be associated with the most awaited movie of the year Dhoom:2. The incredible ensemble cast of Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra and the exciting and explosive content of the film encapsulates everything that the Pepe Jeans brand stands for young, cool, trendy, hip, fashionable and innovative.

The city of Mumbai's police commissioner called for censoring of the fast paced rash driving scenes in the film due to fears that it would inspire Indian youths to ride their motorcycles rashly, resulting in an increase in the number of road accidents. Unlike the original, the robberies depicted in Dhoom 2 were not inspired by any real life crimes. Dhoom 2, allegedly inspired the robbery of a man by his nephew, who wore clothing similar to Hrithik's in the film while committing the crime. Additionally, following the release, actress Aishwarya Rai received legal notices from several viewers and fans for a kissing scene with fellow co star Hritik Roshan.

In India, Dhoom 2 broke several box office records, mainly those for opening day and opening weekend grosses, including a first week of 66 in Mumbai and 179 for all of India. In Mumbai, distributors received a profit of 94 on the first week's business. and grossed 1.5 billion worldwide on a budget of 350. Dhoom 2 grossed US$979,000 in North America in 63 theatres over its three day opening weekend ($1.3 million over four days), becoming the third largest opening weekend for a Bollywood film in North America. Overall, it was the seventeenth ranked film at the American box office. Dhoom 2 ranked sixth among the highest grossing opening weekends for international films at the United Kingdom box office with a gross (average per screen) of £8,151. At the Australian box office, it had the twelfth highest opening and collected approximately A$176,462. It grossed approximately NZ $51,453 on five screens in New Zealand. Dhoom 2 grossed over US$8,750,000 total in the overseas markets. Rajesh Karkera of Rediff gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it "A complete roller coaster ride which left me completely enthralled and exhausted. Sure, there are faults when you stop to think rationally. But that does not stop you from being dazzled by the film." Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN gave it a 3 star rating, saying that Dhoom 2 is without doubt better than its predecessor, and that Roshan is the heart and soul of the film. Vijay Venkataramanan of Planet Bollywood gave it 7 out of 10 stars; despite having criticized the film's plot and Rai's performance, he still called it a good adrenaline pumping entertainer.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported 93% of 14 critics were positive and gave it a "fresh" certificate. Variety commented, "Loaded with enough attitude, Bollywood star power and buff bodies to stop a speeding train, Dhoom 2 has been doing humongous biz since its 24 November worldwide opening, and provides adequate proof that Yash Raj Films is good for more than just family oriented romantic comedy dramas." Rachel Saltz of The New York Times reviewed, "The pleasure principle is palpable in the giddy, slick Dhoom 2, a satisfying example of the new, thoroughly modern Bollywood. It may represent the new fangled Bollywood, but old fashioned star power is what animates and elevates it above its occasional narrative flaws and longueurs." Film Journal Internationals Ethan Alter said, "Dhoom 2 has all of the benefits of a big budget Bollywood production – big name stars, exotic locales, well produced musical numbers and elaborate (by Bollywood standards, anyway) action sequences. It makes no lasting contributions to world cinema, but if 2.5 hours of disposable entertainment are all you're after, you could do far worse." L. A. Weeklys David Chute stated the film was, "A movie meal as satisfying as this one can make you feel that nothing else matters." Manish Gajjar, Bollywood correspondent for BBC Shropshire said, "With its high powered action sequences matching Hollywood standards, Dhoom 2 is a winner all the way at the box office!"

Dhoom 2 was released in DVD format in February 2007. It was distributed by Yash Raj Films in all regions as a two disc set and for region 1 as a single disc set. It was released on Blu ray in December 2009.