This latest instalment of Bollywood's lucrative mismatched cops versus robbers franchise is louder, longer and just as dumb as its predecessors.
Set largely in the NRI (Non Resident Indian) community in Chicago, we meet Sahir (Aamir Khan), a magician with an aversion to wearing shirts, who sleeps in corduroy trousers. He hates the evil (and fictional) Western Bank of Chicago for foreclosing on his dad's circus, leading to his suicide. Sahir plots his revenge by robbing branches of the bank and leaving notes written in Hindi at the scene of the crime. Powerless to nab the mysterious gym-bunny thief, the Chicago police department calls in the Mumbai cops for help. Will serious Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and joker Ali (Uday Chopra), from the previous two films be able to stop Sahir?
Fans of mindless masala Bollywood flicks will love this enjoyable nonsense. Plenty of ingredients from the 'Fast & Furious' formula line up on the starting grid: beautiful semi-nude leads, fast cars, mind-blowing motorbikes, a stripper babe and peppy songs. Superstar Khan dominates and plays his undemanding role with a deadpan seriousness, alternating between a smirk and a scowl to convey menace. Everyone else is sidelined, including British Asian Katrina Kaif, who lets her washboard abs do the acting.
Not content with paying homage to almost every famous Hollywood action B-flick in his last two 'Dhoom' scripts, writer turned director Acharya now borrows heavily from the Christopher Nolan mystery thriller 'The Prestige'. It is irrelevant that we know where the familiar plot is headed; it's the roller coaster explosive ride that matters. In this respect Acharya delivers more of the same. Depending on your cinematic sensibilities, this energetic, exhausting film can be regarded as festive fun or a tikka turkey.