Dhaam Dhoom - The Review

I've always felt Jeeva was one of the very few educated film makers that Tamil cinema had. Its unfortunate that we lost him. Although none of his films were runaway hits, they were trendy and made sense much like his latest and last venture Dhaam Dhoom.
Here's the storyline. A genius young Doctor (Jeyam Ravi) visits Russia for a medical conference, gets trapped in a conspiracy where he is alleged of Murder. His struggle in Russia to get back to his homeland forms the main storyline. Ofcourse, there is the mandatory side track where he romances a village belle Kangana.

The movie starts of expected line with an intro song, which was picturised very badly btw. Its hard to digest Jeyam Ravi as the genius young doctor especially if he's going to run around Chennai streets singing rap songs with a kerchief tied to his knee. But thats how it goes. The movie doesn't have much to say till the plot moves to Russia. The drug and law and order situation in current Russia is something that not many of us would not connect to, but it has been told in a very subtle and amateurish fashion, especially the scene where the Russian girl smuggles the drugs with the help of Jeyam Ravi.

The girl Maria gets in touch with Jeyam ravi to get her stuff back, gets cozy with him and the next morning, is found murdered in Ravi's hotel room. The fact that she is the Police Commissioner's daughter makes matters worse for Jeyam Ravi. As Rajni would say, he is helpless and cornered. Enter Jeyaram, the officer from the Indian Embassy who tries to help Jeyam Ravi with the support of Lakshmi Rai, an advocate who appears on behalf of Ravi. How Lakshmi Rai and jeyam Ravi handle the situation and win over it forms the rest of the story. Explaining it any further would amount to giving away anything already left of the story.
During his most nightmarish experience, Jeyam Ravi thinks about those happy and peaceful days when he fell in love with Kangana (to who he is engaged to). Except for the idea, the romance really does not work. We have seen umpteen movies where the heroine is a village belle playing pranks on others with the help of a few over-reacting kids. So thats done and dusted.

Songs and background score are the major forces that drive this film. Though most of the songs are unnecessary and slow the pace of the movie, they are a treat to the ears nevertheless. The theme of a normal helpless person emerging winner against all odds is bound to appeal to mass audiences. Vikram rose to superstardom with this approach (specifically in Dhil and Dhool). One must wait and watch how it fares for Jeyam Ravi.

However, the movie has its own share of flaws. The climax is a big let down. One guy drives a Ford Endeavour with Dark glasses. We must accept that he is the biggest druglord in Russia. And he will be travelling alone , driving his own vehicle , to a place where his life is in danger. I guess, Jeeva had a different idea for the climax before his untimely demise. Because the climax cannot be connected to the rest of the movie. Its plain stupid.

Jeyam ravi's family listens to Sun News where they say , an indian was killed the previous night in an encounter in Russia. The family fairly assumes it is Jeyam Ravi. However we see him walking down the streets of Chennai the next morning after what is shown as a court hearing in which he is released. All in one night ?? Including the travel??? Is this some kind of joke, that I did not understand?

The plot becomes predictable after a first few scenes. Its simple to guess who the mole is, especially cause Jeeva lets out a lot of clues (Clearly for B & C). Jeyam Ravi has really done a nice job , underplaying his emotions and both make it all believable and brings in the sympathy factor. All said, this is indeed a one-time watch especially after all the trash that you has been fed in recent times.

Dhaam Dhoom - Wasted Firecracker.

Rating - 5/10.