Dhoom 2
File:D2-poster-ver2.jpg Film poster for Dhoom 2, featuring an ensemble cast
Directed by	Sanjay Gadhvi
Produced by	Aditya Chopra Aashish Singh (executive)
Screenplay by	Vijay Krishna Acharya
Story by	Aditya Chopra
Starring	Abhishek Bachchan Uday Chopra Hrithik Roshan Aishwariya Rai Bipasha Basu
Music by	Songs: Pritam Background Score: Salim-Sulaiman
Cinematography	Nirav Shah Vikas Sivaraman
Editing by	Rameshwar S. Bhagat
Studio	Yash Raj Films
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films AMC Entertainment
Release date(s)	November 24, 2006 (2006-11-24)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	‹See Tfd› Hindi
Budget	35 crore (US$6.98 million)[1]
Box office	150 crore (US$29.93 million)[2]

Dhoom 2 ([ˈd̪ʱuːm], also abbreviated and known as D:2, D2 and Dhoom 2: Back In Action) is a 2006 Bollywood action film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and produced by Aditya Chopra at an estimated budget of 35 crore (US$6.98 million). It is the second film in the Dhoom series. Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra star in the film as buddy cops Jai Dixit and Ali, respectively. The duo attempt to capture Mr. A (Hrithik Roshan), a professional thief whose passion is to steal rare and valuable collectibles using high-technology gadgets. The film was shot primarily in India, Durban, and Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first major Hindi film to be shot in Brazil. The film's distributor, Yash Raj Films, promoted the film by forging associations with Pepe Jeans and Coca-Cola. The film premiered on 24 November 2006 in India, where it received the widest release in Indian cinema history with over 1800 prints.

Dhoom 2 was generally well received by both critics and audiences. It became the highest-grossing Indian film of 2006,^[3] and was the highest-grossing film of all time. It is the seventh highest-grossing Bollywood film in overseas markets.^[4] After grossing over 150 crore (US$29.93 million), the film was elevated to a "blockbuster" rating on Box Office India. It received an 80% approval rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised Dhoom 2 for its exotic locales and elaborate action sequences. However, there was an appeal by the Mumbai city police commissioner to censor 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.

Plot[link]

The film begins with Mr. A (Hrithik Roshan) sky-diving and landing on a train that is carrying the British Queen. He steals her crown by disguising himself as the Queen and escapes. Newly-promoted officer Ali (Uday Chopra) and Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) are introduced to Shonali Bose (Bipasha Basu), a special officer assigned to investigate Mr. A's case, who also happens to be a former classmate of Jai. After the initial investigation, Dixit's analyzes the underlying trend in Mr. A's heists. As per his analysis, a theft in one of two famous Mumbai city museums will follow.

However, Dixit realizes that the artifact in the museum he is guarding happens to be imperfect. He immediately flees to the other museum when a disguised Mr. A steals a rare diamond and escapes. In a televised challenge to the police, Mr. A announces that he will steal an ancient warrior sword. In response, Dixit, Bose and Khan enforce a strict vigil at the location housing the sword. At night, Mr. A meets his impersonator in the room that holds the sword. The police are alerted, but they manage to steal the sword and escape. The impersonator turns out to be Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai), a woman who idolizes Mr. A, and after this they form an alliance.

In Rio de Janeiro, Mr. A and Sunehri plan their next heist. As Dixit's analysis has named Rio the location of Mr. A's next heist, Jai and Ali travel to the city. Meanwhile, the relationship between Mr. A and Sunehri evolves into romance. He unveils his real identity, Aryan, to her. However, Mr. A discovers that Sunehri is a spy working for Jai after seeing them together at a theatre and then a parade. Aryan forces Sunehri to play a game of Russian roulette. Sunehri cries and refuses to shoot Aryan because she loves him, but Aryan forces her. However, after six attempted shots from the gun, neither is injured because Aryan had not inserted a bullet into the gun. Sunehri admits she betrayed Aryan and that she loves him. Elsewhere in Rio de Janeiro, Ali develops strong affections towards Monali (Bipasha Basu), Shonali's twin sister. In their final heist, Aryan and Sunehri successfully steal some early Lydian coins while disguised as performing dwarfs. Sunehri indicates that she 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 Sunehri is caught by Ali. Sunehri, despite conveying her feelings for Aryan, shoots him. Aryan falls from the waterfall, after which Jai allows Sunehri to go free. After six months, it is revealed that Aryan is still alive 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 shows him where all the stolen artifacts can be found. Jai is aware of the couple's feelings towards each other, but warns them against returning to their life of crime.

Cast[link]

• Abhishek Bachchan as Jai Dixit, an assistant commissioner trying to find Mr. A. Jai is accompanied by inspector Ali and married to Sweety Dixit.
• Uday Chopra as Ali Akbar Fateh Khan, an assistant to Jai Dixit and an inspector.
• Hrithik Roshan as Aryan / Mr. "A", a master thief living in disguise. He steals museum pieces such as the first man made coins, a queen's crown, ancient sword and more. He only steals at selected museums in order to mark "A", the first letter of his name, on the map of the world.
• Aishwarya Rai as Sunehri, another thief who was blackmailed by Jai Dixit to find out more about Mr. A, because she was a petty thief in Mumbai and was forced to help him or face jail time.
• Bipasha Basu as Shonali Bose and Monali Bose, twins with different personalities. Shonali is a tough assistant commissioner, and an old friend of Jai, while Monali is a joyful girl living in Rio de Janeiro.
• Rimi Sen in a cameo as Sweety Dixit, Jai's wife. She is pregnant and is suspicious of Jai's friendship with Shonali.

Production[link]

The Dhoom series began with the release of Dhoom in 2004.^[5] The film became a commercial box office hit and received generally positive reviews from audiences,^[6][7] but not so much from critics.^[8] As a result, producer Yash Chopra announced plans for a sequel to the film, entitled Dhoom 2: Back In Action.^[9][10] John Abraham, portrayer of Kabir Sharma, the villain of the predecessor, was in talks to appear in the film, but Chopra did not want Dhoom 2 to repeat the stories featured in its predecessor.^[11] Instead, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were introduced into the franchise as the sequel's main villains.^[11][12] Aishwarya Rai's character was summarized as Catwoman, a female fictional comic book fictional character.^[13] Rai stated, "All I can tell you is it would be nothing like anything you've seen me do before."^[12][13] Producer Aditya Chopra told Rai to lose weight after she gained it for her role in 2004's Bride & Prejudice.^[14] Yash Chopra stated, "But yes, the role does require Aishwarya 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!"^[12] Roshan also lost twelve pounds of weight at Aditya Chopra's request.^[15] With the exception of Abraham and Esha Deol, all of the other main actors in Dhoom were hired again for Dhoom 2.

Dhoom 2 was filmed in Mumbai (India), Namibia, Durban (South Africa), and Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil),^[16][17] making it the first Bollywood film to be filmed in Brazil.^[14] In total, production lasted eighteen months and cost of 35 crore (US$6.98 million).^[1] 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.^[18] Nonetheless, Roshan's role required him to perform several dangerous stunts involving activities such as roller-blading, sand boarding and snow boarding.^[19]

The film made extensive use of visual effects, which were filmed at Yash Raj Studios.^[14] While filming at Yash Raj Studios, the film suffered from a flood that destroyed the studio sets and delayed production.^[14] 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[s]", and shared with Tata Elxsi, who oversaw the previsualization of the sequences.^[20] Several scenes were filmed with the use of green screen and computer-generated imagery.^[21] For example, the stunts Roshan's 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.^[21] Other stunts in the film were performed by stuntmen whose faces were later digitally exchanged with the actors'. The bullet effects and Hrithik's gadgets and mechanical arm were also computer generated.^[21] The scene involving Abhishek Bachchan coming out of a lake using a jet ski was also created using a green screen. The stunt came out of 90 degrees, but Sanjay Gandhvi wanted a 60 degrees jump.^[21] So, it was shot with a Super 35, and hence the angle could be changed.^[21] Gandhvi discussed the use of technology in an interview;

We've done animation and pre-visualization for all the action sequences in Dhoom 2 and that is very important in terms of planning, cost effectiveness and also it's a new way of preparing for shoot and the film specially which is as set on such a large canvas such as Dhoom 2. In Dhoom 1 we had all the action sequences broken down and written. In this movie we had very big action sequences so we had all the scenes storyboarded and they would be checked, double checked and triple checked by myself, Alan Amin and Adi and we would then rectify if needed and that would be our level of planning.^[21]

Soundtrack[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
IndiaFM	[22]
Planet Bollywood	[23]

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.^[24] Although most of the song's lyrics are primarily written in Hindi with some English, "Dhoom Again" is almost entirely in English.^[22] The soundtrack ending up pulling average reviews from critics but higher praise from the public.^[23] It became the best selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year.^[25]

Release[link]

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, and some locations raised ticket prices for the film.^[1]

The film was promoted with several tie-ins. Coca-Cola promoted the film as "Coke Uthale, Dhoom Machale".^[1] India's video game producing company FXLabs developed a game based on the film.^[26] Pepe Jeans sold Dhoom 2-related garments, including shirts, jeans, bandanas, caps, and metal accessories.^[27] 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 starcast of Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra and the exciting and explosive content of the movie encapsulates everything that the Pepe Jeans brand stands for- young, cool, trendy, hip, fashionable and innovative.^[27]

Box-office[link]

In India, Dhoom 2 broke several box-office records, mainly those for opening day and opening weekend grosses, including a first week of 6.6 crore (US$1.32 million) in Mumbai and 17.9 crore (US$3.57 million) for all of India.^[28] In Mumbai, the film's distributors received a profit of 9.4 crore (US$1.88 million) on its first week's business.^[29] Box Office India awarded it a "blockbuster" rating after the film netted 80.3 crore (US$16.02 million) in India^[30] and grossed 150 crore (US$29.93 million) worldwide^[31][32] on a budget of 35 crore (US$6.98 million).^[1] It is currently the 13th highest-grossing film in India (unadjusted for inflation)^[33]

Dhoom 2 grossed USD $979,000 in North America in 63 theaters 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.^[34] Overall, it was the seventeenth ranked film at the American box office.^[34] Box Office Mojo reports the film earned a total of $2,643,586 inside the United States and a total of $29,752,841 in other countries, including India.^[32] In Dubai, it achieved the highest first day opening for a Bollywood film.^[29] Dhoom 2 ranked sixth among opening weekends for international films at the United Kingdom box-office with a gross (average per screen) of £8,151.^[35][36] At the Australian box office, the film had the twelfth highest opening and collected approximately AUS $176,462.^[36][37] It grossed approximately NZ $51,453 on five screens in New Zealand.^[36][38] It is estimated to have grossed USD $8,750,000 total in the overseas markets.^[4]

Reception[link]

India[link]

Professional reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama	[39]
Rediff	[40]
CNN-IBN	Good[41]
Planet Bollywood	[42]

In India, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, reporting "On the whole, Dhoom 2 is a winner all the way. For Yash Raj, who've not only produced but also distributed the film, Dhoom 2 should emerge as one of the biggest hits of their career."^[39] Rajesh Karkera of Rediff gave it three and a half stars out of five, 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."^[40] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it a three star rating, saying that Dhoom 2 is without doubt better than its predecessor, and that Hrithik Roshan is the heart and soul of the film.^[41] Vijay Venkataramanan of Planet Bollywood gave it seven out of ten stars; while complaining about flaws in the plot and Aishwarya Rai’s performance, he still called it a good adrenaline-pumping entertainer.^[42]

International[link]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported 80% of five critics were positive and gave it a "fresh" certificate.^[43] People of Variety commented, "Loaded with enough attitude, Bollywood starpower and buff bodies to stop a speeding train, Dhoom 2 has been doing humongous biz since its November 24 worldwide opening, and provides adequate proof that Yash Raj Films is good for more than just family-oriented comedy-dramas."^[44]

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 newfangled Bollywood, but old-fashioned star power is what animates and elevates it above its occasional narrative flaws and longueurs."^[45] 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 two-and-a-half hours of disposable entertainment are all you're after, you could do far worse."^[46] L.A. Weekly's David Chute stated the film, "A movie meal as satisfying as this one can make you feel that nothing else matters."^[43] Jaspreet Pandohar of the BBC gave it a two-star rating, writing "By roping in acclaimed action director Alan Amin to take care of the thrills and spills, you'd expect Gadhvi to have spent time crafting out a sophisticated storyline instead of simply sending his cast on a cat-and-mouse chase around the globe. It's only Roshan's charismatic performance as the criminal mastermind, and the sizzling chemistry he shares with Rai's sassy cohort, that rescues this adventure from becoming an elongated tourism commercial."^[47]

Controversies[link]

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.^[48] The film also sparked controversy and a court case for a scene containing a kiss between Rai and Roshan.^[49] Rai and Bachchan eventually were married on 20 April 2007.^[50] Unlike the original, the robberies depicted in Dhoom 2 were not inspired by any real-life crimes.^[51] The film, however, inspired the robbery of a man by his nephew, who wore clothing similar to Hrithik's in the film while committing the crime.^[52]

Accolades[link]

Dhoom 2 was nominated for several awards that year, but only picked up a few of the major ones. At the annual India-based Filmfare Awards, Hrithik Roshan won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor, out of five total nominations for the film. At the International Indian Film Academy awards, it won the IIFA Award for Best Makeup and the IIFA Award for Best Costume Design, out of 13 nominations. Aishwarya Rai won the Stardust Award for Star of the Year – Female, and had similar nominations at several other awards ceremonies.

At the 2007 MTV India Style Awards, however, Dhoom 2 swept nearly all of the movie awards, winning the following:^[53]

• Most Stylish Film: Dhoom 2
• Most Stylish Actor – Male: Hrithik Roshan
• Most Stylish Actor – Female: Aishwarya Rai
• Most Stylish New Look: Hrithik Roshan
• Most Stylish Body: Hrithik Roshan
• Most Stylish Couple: Hrithik Roshan & Aishwarya Rai
• Most Stylish Song in A Film: Shaimak Davar (choreographer)
• Most Stylish Bollywood Designer: Anaita Shroff Adajania

Home media[link]

Dhoom 2 was released in DVD format on 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.^[54][55] It was released on Blu-ray in December 2009.^[56] The film is also noteworthy because its soundtrack is the first in Indian cinema to be released in DVD-Audio in addition to other audio formats.^[57] The tracks have been mixed in London in 5.1 Surround Sound and audiophiles can choose the format from the audio menu.^[57] Four bonus tracks from other films are included, and the lyrics of all 10 tracks can be viewed on-screen while the music is playing, enabling Karaoke sing-along.^[58]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dhoom 2 at the Internet Movie Database
• Dhoom 2 at Box Office Mojo
• Dhoom 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Dhoom 2 at the TCM Movie Database
• Dhoom 2 at AllRovi
• Dhoom 2 at Yahoo!
• Dhoom 2 at Bollywood Hungama
• Dhoom 2 at Rediff.com