Dhoom 2

''Dhoom 2'' (trans. Blast 2) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language 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 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. Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra reprise their roles as buddy cops Jai Dixit and Ali Khan, respectively. Yash Raj Films also partenered 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 , 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. It also is 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, costumes, styling and performances of the cast, with particular praise for Roshan's performance; however its story, screenplay and pacing received some criticism.

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 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.

Plot

In the Namib Desert. ''Mr. A'' skydives onto a train that is carrying the 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 claiming to be himself, challenges the cops by saying that he 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 real thief, the one 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; Sunehri convinces Mr. A to form an alliance, but he turns her down. Later, 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, Jai and Ali travel to the city. 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 how things are going between her and Mr. A, revealing that they are working together, and Jai is using her by ensuring her freedom from prison.

To get close to Mr. A and find out what his next plan is, they can catch and arrest him, but Sunehri begins to have her doubts. The relationship between Mr. A and Sunehri evolves into romance, and he unveils his real identity, Aryan Singh, to her. However, during the Rio Carnival, disguised as one of the entertainers, he 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. Sunehri cries and refuses to shoot him, but Aryan forces her to play. 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, and she called him on the phone to confirm that she wants to stay with Aryan and does not wish to remain allied with Jai, forcing Jai and Ali to go after them.

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 artefacts 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.

Cast

*Hrithik Roshan Aryan Singh (Mr. "A")
*Abhishek Bachchan ACP Jai Dixit
*Aishwarya Rai Sunehri Mitra
*Bipasha Basu dual role Police officer Shonali Bose / Monali Bose
*Uday Chopra Sub-Inspector Ali Akbar Fateh Khan
* Rimi Sen Sweety Dixit (special appearance)
* Yusuf Hussain as Police Commissioner Ramakant Tripathi
* Mohit Chauhan as Chief Security
* Rashmi Kulkarni as Airport Teller

Production

Development

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." Producer Aditya Chopra told Rai to lose weight after she gained it for her role in '' Bride & Prejudice'' (2004). 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!" Roshan also lost 5 kg for his role at Aditya Chopra's request. With the exception of Abraham and Deol, all of the other main actors in ''Dhoom'' reprised their roles for ''Dhoom 2''.

Filming

''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. In total, production lasted 18 months and cost of . 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. While shooting at Yash Raj Studios, the film suffered from a flood that destroyed the studio sets and delayed production. Fight and action sequences were storyboarded before being shown to Gadhvi and Allan Amin, who would make changes. The scenes were then sketched, given "proper shot-list , and shared with Tata Elxsi, who oversaw the pre-visualization of the sequences. 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. Other stunts were performed by stuntmen whose faces were later digitally exchanged with the actors'.

The bullet effects and Roshan's gadgets and the mechanical arm were also computer-generated. The scene involving Bachchan coming out of a lake using a jet ski was created using a green screen. The stunt came out at 90 degrees, but Gadhvi wanted a 60 degrees jump. So, it was shot with a Super 35, and hence the angle could be changed. Gadhvi discussed the use of technology in an interview:

Music

The soundtrack of ''Dhoom 2'' was recorded at YRF Studios. The music was composed by Pritam with background score by Salim–Sulaiman. The lyrics were penned by Sameer except "Dhoom Again" by Asif Ali Beg and "Crazy Kiya Re — Remix" was remixed by Bunty Rajput. 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.

Release

''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 simultaneously dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu languages. Singer Vijay Prakash dubbed for Abhishek Bachchan in Tamil.

Marketing

''Dhoom 2''s teaser trailer was released with ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' which released on 11 August 2006.

It was promoted with several tie-ins. Coca-Cola promoted the film as " Coke Uthale, ''Dhoom'' Machale". India's video game producing company FXLabs developed a game based on the film. 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. While promoting ''Dhoom 2'', Roshan admitted feeling foolish over his past statements about his co-star Rai being a "pretty face with no talent" after they worked together for the first time in ''Dhoom 2''. The duo were again cast opposite each other in ''Jodhaa Akbar'' (2008) and '' Guzaarish'' (2010), and thus went on to become one of the most-loved on-screen pairs of Bollywood.

Legal issues

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.

Box office

In India, ''Dhoom 2'' broke several box-office records, mainly those for opening day and opening weekend grosses, including a first week of in Mumbai and for all of India. In Mumbai, distributors received a profit of on the first week's business. ''Box Office India'' awarded it a "blockbuster" rating after the film netted in India and grossed worldwide on a budget of . It is currently the 13th highest-grossing film in India (unadjusted for inflation).

''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. ''Box Office Mojo'' reports it earned a total of $2,643,586 inside the United States and a total of $29,752,841 in other countries, including India. In Dubai, it achieved the highest first day opening for a Bollywood film.

''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.

Reception

India

In India, the film received positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave 4.5 out of 5 stars, reporting "On the whole, ''Dhoom 2'' is a winner all the way. For Yash Raj Films, who've not only produced but also distributed the film, ''Dhoom 2'' should emerge as one of the biggest hits of their career." 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.

International

Review aggregator ''Rotten Tomatoes'' reported 92% of 13 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 International''s 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. Weekly''s David Chute stated the film was, "A movie meal as satisfying as this one can make you feel that nothing else matters." Jaspreet Pandohar of the ''BBC
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