Dhamaka movie review: A Rousing Thrilling Knock Out

Dhamaka movie review

In ‘Dhamaka’ the lead character Arjun (Kartik Aaryan) when faces an adverse situation coming without any warning (a caller threatens to bomb a bridge). In his capacity as an ex popular news anchor, an RJ and a journalist before, Arjun decides to ‘use’ this situation to his benefit. The quintessential Bollywood hero in a quintessential Bollywood thriller drama having media at its backdrop may have peeped out of that confined studio room window and tried to jump into the action outside in its heroism to save the nation.

Here writer director Ram Madhvani ( Neerja, Aarya) with his fellow writer Puneet Sharma take a very interesting turn and introduce us to the selfish side of Arjun. Arjun is more of an antagonist going wrong in doing the supposedly ‘right’ thing in front of the camera.

There is a line in the movie when Arjun is confronting his boss Ankita Malaskar (Amruta Subhash), Arjun says, ‘yeh sach nahi hai’ (this is not true). Pat comes a reply from his boss Anikta Malaskar, “Ha par yeh news hai’( yeah but its news).

We as a nation are many times forced by the media channels to know things in which we are least interested in knowing. We come across set versions and discussions but not the actual fact.

‘Dhamaka’ scores in its strikingly remarkable soul searching themes of trust (name of the channel is Bharosa), mistrust, what is truth and the power of lies, the class divide, the power play and more.

With a soft breezy start the movie takes no time in setting the pulse rate high, the caller calls, something explodes, tension mounts.

Mind you most of the action takes place inside that one room, those screens and that window showing us the bridge and it’s still scary to the hilt. Scary about what will happen next, scary about how media has turned into a circus, scary on the constantly declining rate of humanity in humans. Everyone is having an agenda.

Performance

Performances are of the highest order over here.

Kartik Aaryan as Arjun Pathak - famous anchor of TRTV Bharosa 24/7 is terrific. His anxiety, angst, guilt, fear all come across strikingly in a very nuanced act that holds the audience throughout right from the first frame to the last.

Mrunal Thakur as Soumya Mehra Pathak, Arjun's wife shines and has her moments.

Amruta Subhash as Ankita Malaskar, Arjun's boss is fantastically mean and focused on what she wants.

Vikas Kumar as Praveen Kamath is very natural and gives justice to his role.

Vishwajeet Pradhan as Subhash Mathur the PA of the Minister is marvelous.

Technicalities

Manu Anand’s camera is confined mostly to one room but the cameramen uses perfect angles to create the required tension and succeeds in increasing the adrenaline rush.

Monisha Baldawa and Amit Karia editing is crisp. Music by Vishal Khurana and Prateek Kuhad maintains the tempo.

Flaws

People might debate on the way the news channel is shown. How did the caller managed to place those bombs inside the studio building remains a mystery. For a certain section of the audience, the climax might be a debatable issue.

Final words

‘Dhamaka’ is another remarkable work from Ram Madhvani, the rousingly thrilling knock out tension-soaked thriller drama fueled by an all through gripping Kartik Aaryan. The movie offers a pulse rising debate of truth, the power of lies and more. Don’t Miss It.