Dhoom Dhaam is a medley of midnight shenanigans that oscillate between jumbled screenplay and out-of-place crusading, notes Sukanya Verma.
A story unravelling over the course of a night, a couple on the run, opposites attract, high stakes robbery caught on camera, cops and crooks hot on the trail, a mysterious codeword that stands for someone or something, a cute pooch that's somehow connected to it all -- sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Dhoom Dhaam is the sort of run-of-the-mill rollercoaster that sponges off all the cliches of the crime comedy genre for an endgame that's foreseeable from a mile even before the ball gets rolling.
Directed by Rishabh Seth for a script credited to Aarsh Vora and Aditya Dhar, the caper is essentially a rom-com of chalk and cheese personalities crammed into a breakneck adventure where an arranged marriage couple reveals its true self over a series of unfortunate events.
Forced to tie the knot within weeks of meeting each other for lack of auspicious dates till another few years, Veer (Pratik Gandhi), the timid Gujarati bloke, and Koyal (Yami Gautam Dhar), the feisty Punjaban, turn out to be exactly the opposite of their names.
She can kick butt and blast off expletives at the slightest of provocation.
He's the stereotypical sissy afflicted by all kinds of socially awkward traits and phobias.
The banter it provides is pretty much the premise of Dhoom Dhaam, which flimsily forces in some thrills in the form of two sets of policemen engaged in a cat and mouse chase.
Both parties are looking for something the newly wed duo inadvertently are in possession of and refuse to rest until found.
Only the timeline is all over the place.
Between their wedding night, Mumbai monsoon, New Year's Eve, Christmas revelry, shaadi season, bachelorette party, Dhoom Dhaam is a medley of midnight shenanigans that oscillate between jumbled screenplay and out-of-place crusading.
One moment, the couple is kidnapped and panting for breath in a car's boot, another they're hanging out in handcuffs at night clubs.
And while I am all for excitedly articulated monologues on feminism, Koyal's diatribe on society discriminating against women is what compels them to lie and enjoy their freedom would feel a little less insincere if her parents weren't such pushovers.
Or if she wasn't lashing at her bestie and ex-boyfriend like a Hulk beating the living daylights out of Loki.
For all its vigour, Dhoom Dhaam's lazily rustled characterisation and scenario -- it's time to retire some emotions like the act of an otherwise limp hero turning into a daredevil no soon his ladylove is harmed for the nth time -- is happy to let its leads do all the hard work.
Luckily for the makers, Pratik Gandhi can smoothly alternate between a hoot and heart.
His goofy ineptitude and lowkey charm exude a likeability that's key to such formulaic fare and its serviceability.
Ditto for Yami Gautam. The actor shifts between sweet and scrappy with such gusto to highlight their contrasts, you almost wish Dhoom Dhaam was a buddy cop movie.
Dhoom Dhaam streams on Netflix.
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