Dum Maaro Dum

About the film

Dum Maaro Dum (transl. Hit a Puff) is a 2011 action thriller film directed by Rohan Sippy and produced by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu in the lead roles, with Rana Daggubati (in his Hindi film debut), Prateik Babbar, and Aditya Pancholi in supporting roles. Deepika Padukone makes a special appearance in the remix version of the song of the same title. The music was composed by Pritam. It became the first Indian film to have its soundtrack mixed in Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound.

Jump Games, an Indian mobile video game developer, also released a platformer based on the film.

Plot

The film starts with a footballer, Lawrence "Lorry" Gomes, who gets admission into an American college. Due to insufficient funds, he is unable to fulfill his dream. On the other hand, his girlfriend Tani got a scholarship to the US. Though he is happy with his girlfriend's achievement, he becomes depressed for not fulfilling his own dream. His friend Ricky tells him that he can get him into the college, but Lorry will have to smuggle drugs along with him. Lorry agrees and, at the airport, successfully passes the X-ray machine.

ACP Vishnu Kamath is a previously corrupt cop who had accepted a lot of bribes to satisfy his family. However, his family died in a car accident. Several years later, he is offered a job by the Chief Minister of Goa: to flush out all the drug dealers in Goa, which he accepts. His success leads to a panic among the drug suppliers. The drug dealers gather for a meeting led by Zoey Mendosa. Zoey guarantees them that their drugs will be in safe hands if they are given to a mysterious person named Michael Barbosa. Kamath decides to chase Michael Barbosa and finds out about Ricky.

When Kamath reaches Ricky, he is already dead. Kamath finds out about his cocaine smuggling and his girlfriend, Rozanna. They reach the airport on the same day Lorry is about to leave. Kamath encounters Rozanna and finds a photo of Lorry in her phone. She is allowed to go due to a lack of evidence. Kamath then identifies Lorry as the person he had seen on Rozanna's phone. They detain him and find cocaine stuffed in his bag. Lorry is sent to juvenile jail, where his friend, DJ Joaquim "Joki" Fernandes, tries to get him out. It is then revealed that Zoey and Joki used to be in a relationship. Zoey wanted to be an air hostess but failed. Joki introduced her to his boss, Lorsa Biscuita, a.k.a. the Biscuit, who had worldwide contacts. With the help of his contacts, Biscuit got her a job in the airlines, though she had to smuggle cocaine to international regions to repay him. She ended up getting caught and was sentenced to 14 years in jail. Biscuit's contact got her free in 14 days, but to repay him, she had to sleep with Biscuit. She broke up with Joki and made her life drug-dealing with Biscuit.

Reception

The film received mixed-to-positive reviews.

The Times of India, which gave a three and a half rating, mentioned that "The film slags in places and needs tightening, but the lull is followed by a tangy twist in the tale, which makes up for the occasional yawn. Shridhar Raghavan writes a thrilling cops and robbers tale which has some quirky banter scripted by Purva Naresh. Add to this Goa captured in glowing colours by cinematographer Amit Roy and a peppy music score by Pritam, and director Rohan Sippy gives you a film that keeps the popcorn crackling, till the very end".

The Filmfare gave a four-star rating stating, "Dum Maaro Dum has a taut narrative that doesn't flail till post interval. It keeps you engrossed through an imaginative blend of some stupendous background music, animated cinematography and simple effective storytelling. The characters are introduced with clarity and soon you get a very clear picture of what's going with whom. As for the performances Abhishek does an earnest and impressive job. Rana Daggubati sure has an impressive screen presence but we must wait to find out if that dead pan expression is restricted only to this film. Pratik looks dazed and you don't want to take your eyes off him when he is on screen. Bipasha looks suitably traumatised".

Controversy

There was controversy over the theme of the film. One particular promotional dialogue from the film, "Liquor is cheap here and women are even cheaper here", caused quite a stir. Journalist Savio Rodrigues filed a petition to Goa Bench of Bombay High Court seeking a permanent ban on the movie stating that the wrong portrayal might attract sex offenders, drug launderers and criminals to Goa.

Soundtrack

Director Rohan Sippy launched the song Dum Maaro Dum during the 2011 India – South Africa ICC Cricket World Cup match on 12 March 2011. The music of the film was composed by Pritam.

Key details