‘Dhamaka’ — Movie Review

(Spoiler Alert — This movie is so bad, there’s nothing left to spoil, so chill.)

I just watched Ram Madvani’s Dhamaka. According to the New York Times (Yes, you read that right. NYT, no less) this movie is a “must-watch”! Dhamaka means “blast”. What I really want to know is which blasted idiot actually recommended this blasted movie!

The movie begins with Pathak Ji and Pathak Ji who are a deliriously happily married couple (till they are not). Pathak Ji (he/him) is a demoted anchor and Pathak Ji (she/her) is a journalist. Pathak Ji (He/him) is contacted by a terrorist of sorts who warns him that there will be a dhamaka if the Minister of Something doesn’t apologise for people who died building the Bandra -Worli Sea Link some 20 years ago. The Minister doesn’t apologize and sure enough, there is a dhamaka and chunks of the Sea Link land in the Arabian Sea.

The minister then sends his deputy to the studio and there is another dhamaka. In his ear, this time. (Seriously.) A big red glowing ear piece blows up, killing the deputy. (A TV anchor who saw this movie told me she is going to get her studio chappie to hold up big sign cards tomorrow instead of putting an earpiece in her ear when she reads the news. Just in case.)

The movie is all about things exploding and disintegrating, starting with the plot, which is the first to go. Some anti-terrorist Kamath chap tries to find the terrorist and actually manages to locate the building he is in. This is a minor miracle, since, in much of the movie, he can’t seem to locate/differentiate his head from his ass. But he also dies in a dhamaka, (which is no great loss, since his talents in the area of counter terrorism are as sparse as Nirmala Sitharaman’s skills in boosting the Indian economy.)

All that to say, avoid this movie. Watch The Crooked House on Netflix instead.

Have a blast!