A couple of months back, Netflix Tudum announced ten new projects in 'India Spotlight'' & among the trailers that were showcased, Ram Madhvani's "Dhamaka" caught my eye apart from our Basil Joseph's "Minnal Murali". Apparently, the shooting of the whole movie was wrapped up in just 10 days & it is the official remake of the Kim Woo's Korean movie "The Terror Live". The trailer promised it to be a suspense thriller & certainly had the vibe that it would keep the audience on the edge of their seats. So does it manage to stay true to its name???
Arjun Pathak (Kartik Aaryan), one of the most prominent news anchor in the media world was at a low point in my life both personally & professionally. His marriage was on the rocks & he was asked to take up the role of a radio jockey after he was pulled out from his primetime TV slot due to an unpleasant issue. Life moved on uneventfully for the demotivated & jaded Arjun, until he received a random call at his radio station that threatened to blow up the Bandra Worli Sea Link. He dismissed it as a prank call but to his dismay, the caller proved to be true to his word. However, rather than informing the police, he saw it as an opportunity to resurrect his career. So does he manage to save the day for the city & his career???
Ram Madhvani rose to fame with "Neerja" which was awarded the Best Feature Film in Hindi at the 64th National Fil awards. He followed it up with the web series "Aarya" that was nominated for the International Emmy Awards in the Best Drama series category. In his latest venture, he collaborated with Puneet Sharma to remake the Korean thriller, which seemed like a sensible decision after all it had a story that was relatable to the Indian media madhouse. The cut throat competition, the greed for TRPs at any cost & the utter disregard for media ethics has been captured well. But after the initial thrill, it fails to sustain it as the proceedings turned out to be rather amateurish be it in the manner in which ATS handles the situation, the storm that builds up in the newsroom & the eventual grand reveal of the 'caller'. Manu Anand captures the tension of the situation neatly & even the VFX team has done a praise worthy job.
Coming to performances, Karthik has done justice to his part especially in the portion where he is wasted & irresponsible. However, as the story moves along with his character required to show as emotionally torn; it didnt come across as convincing. Mrunal as his estranged wife, Soumya did her part aptly along with Amruta Subhash who as the hard headed boss, Ankita was spot on. As for the rest of the cast, the 'caller' turned out to be pretty mediocre while the others were average at best.
Verdict: After starting off in an engaging manner, it eventually fizzles out with hardly a whimper. It was a premise which could have been well crafted after all it isn't alien to us. In short, could have been far better!!!
Rating: 2.25/5
Regards...Ben
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