Despite all the necessary ingredients for a pot-boiler, Dum Maaro Dum ends up as a mutant of a wannabe slick thriller and a realistic portrayal of Goa’s dark underbelly where drugs are just a way of life. And that’s not a good sign. Directed by Rohan Sippy, who made Bluffmaster few years ago, Dum Maaro Dum stars Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Bipasha Basu, Aditya Pancholi in lead roles. Prateik Babbar, Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone make guest appearances. The film is about a cop who’s entrusted with the responsibility of eradicating the drugs mafia in Goa.

What’s the story : Lorry (Prateik Babbar) gets an admission in a university in USA; however after he fails to get a scholarship he falls into the trap of his friend Ricky who convinces him to smuggle cocaine. Meanwhile, Lorry’s friend DJ Joki (Rana Daggubati) senses that something is wrong and tries to warn Lorry. Despite all the warnings, Lorry proceeds to the airport with a baggage containing cocaine. At the airport, he’s intercepted by ACP Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan), who is hell bent on busting the drug mafia in Goa. How their three lives change after this incident forms the rest of the story.

If there’s anything which Dum Maro Dum gets right then it has to be the idea of narrating a story like this in Goa. There’s great energy all over the place, especially with all the parties, tourists and on the darker side there’s illegal trade, money, drugs. The film opens on an interesting note where the conflict between drug mafia and ACP Kamath is well-established. Before that there’s Lorry who’s desperate to meet his girlfriend in US and how he gets involved with drug mafia. Although his screen presence is short lived, Prateik Babbar makes an impression in terms of showcasing his fear and vulnerability. However, given his credentials from earlier films, especially Dhobi Ghat, this role will be at the bottom of the heap. On the other hand, there’s Abhishek Bachchan, in an author backed role as a cop with a tragic past. Perhaps we have seen him too many times playing such a character in his career so far. And finally, the other important character in the film Rana as DJ Joki comes across as some sort of misfit in his role. He tries hard to get the diction right and look his part in the film, but the deadpan expressions dampen his chances of making a huge impression.

The film goes haywire as it progresses especially in terms of how many cinematic liberties the director takes to narrate the story. Bipasha Basu’s characterization is clichéd and her dialogues even more clichéd. Aditya Pancholi, who plays the lead villain’s role named Lorsa Biscuta lacks the fierceness one expects from a drug kingpin. However, that doesn’t take away the fact that he’s one of the very few guys in the film who actually make an effort to act. Surprising as it may seem, some of the little known actors in the film do a better job than most of the lead actors and actresses. The third act of the film, especially the climax is messed up and dragged a tad more than necessary. Except for one major twist in the tale, every other twist is predictable and the fact that such tricks have been used too often also plays spoilsport. Deepika Padukone’s item song is unimpressive. Vidya Balan plays a small role, although there’s nothing much to be written about.

In a way, Dum Maro Dum’s story, written by Sridhar Raghavan, lacks the finesse one would have expected from its screenplay. It’s entertaining and thrilling in parts, but the emotional graph never hits a high to keep us on the edge of the seats throughout the film. Cinematography by Amit Roy is brilliant. The colour palette used throughout the film adds a lot of meaning to the mood of that particular character and the breakneck speed with which the camera is handled makes an interesting watch. The music scored by Pritam isn’t instantly addictive. Rohan Sippy could have done a much better job with the film instead of the half-cooked serving of characters who are sweet but lack soul.

Dum Maro Dum had so much potential to be an edge of the seat thriller, but ends up being a monotonous film which doesn’t evoke sympathy from the minds it’s targeted at. It wouldn’t be surprising if a bunch of innocent tourists would be lured innocent to check out the things like drugs, rave parties which the film tries to denounce. Dum Maaro Dum is a one-way ticket to boredom. Period! However, if you don’t mind some bad acting and uninspiring screenplay, you can take a shot and watch this film. Take a can of Red-Bull along with you; most probably you’ll need it.