Up in smoke

The verdant albeit crowded beaches of Goa are a treat to watch, in any cinematic landscape, through the twists and turns of even a lukewarm plot, the dramatic sizzle of western India’s most happening state is infectious. Therefore, when Dum Maro Dum opens with a cutting line on the myriad snakes populating the golden sands of Goa in the form of drug traffickers and runners, controlled by the string-pulling hands of the drug mafia, the expectant veins of the cinegoer do not exactly hyperventilate. Though the lines are pithy and searing. This is the story of a Goa marred and polluted by the acrid smoke rising out of the chillums of thousands of backpackers, tourists and locals; there is no default in the supply chain, the carriers are chosen carefully, and cocaine and heroin worth millions are traded everyday against the backdrop of rave parties and beach fiestas. Gone are the scenes of palms swaying against the sea breeze and the shimmering waters lapping against the glittering sands; this is a Goa of Russian drug lords, British rave organizers, and Nigerian peddlers who work in unison and with alarming alacrity and guile with local Goans (not to forget the police) to seal the fate of this fabulous party destination. The characters range from a bad cop-turned-good cop, a young college topper with dreams in his eyes, to a local DJ with a heart of gold and the drug kingpin who inaugurates deaddiction centres without batting an eyelid. Lawrence Eduardo Gomes (Prateik Babbar) is the local goalkeeper who receives an admission letter from a university in the US but not the scholarship, which incidentally is bagged by his girlfriend. So, Lorry (short for Lawrence, a typical Goan quirk) becomes easy prey for the drug overlords hatchet men who turn him into a willing carrier of contraband drugs, trying to pass off a suitcase laced with kilos of cocaine through airport security. Incidentally, Lorry is all set to join his girlfriend in the US having secured all payments and papers in return for a safe passage for the consignment. Enter ACP Vishnu Kamath, the cop with an enduring legacy of being one of the deadliest narcotics policemen, also one of the most corrupt, but with a tragic past (lost his family in accident etc etc). A shaken Lorry is caught, detained, searched and questioned. Kamath, on special duty on invitation by the Chief Minister of the state, has put together a small team of two men (and himself) which includes Rane (Govind Namdeo). The clueless police force, by the way, has been trying to track down a shadowy man called Michael Barbossa, the alleged leader of the cartel running the contraband industry in Goa. Joki, short for Joachim, Fernandes (Rana Daggubati) steps in to help a pleading Lorry, willing to stand guarantee for the young lad. After all, the aspiring musician has already lost his ladylove Zoe (Bipasha Basu) to drugs and the local lord, Lorsa Biscuita (Aditya Panscholi) (never mind the name!) and, of course, is incredibly pained to see another young life going to the dogs. Subsequently, Kamath and his team, with help from Joki, embark on a wild goose chase to find Barbossa, also known as Vincent Vega, Colin Coutinho, and Toby Follett. Cut to sacrifice by the fallen air-hostess-turned-gangsters moll and her consequent death at the hands of Biscuita and the enlightening discovery of the origins of Barbossa—actually a name engraved on top of a gravestone brings the film to a close. By this time, Kamath has been killed, felled by bullets from the service revolver of his own team man Rane who sleeps with the enemy and follows the lure of the lucre and Biscuita has been unmasked. Ever the help at hand, Joki takes on from where Kamath left off, goes for the jugular making Rane grovel and beg for mercy, finds Michael Barbossa’s grave, stuffed with narcotics worth Rs 970 million and avenges his girlfriend’s death. Lorry, meanwhile, has been let off and is free to fly away. The plot is racy and the dialogues taut. Cinematographically, Dum Maro Dum captures the beach life of Goa abundantly and reflects the colour and splendour of the state. The performances are efficient, except for Bipasha Basu who has little to do except look slim and svelte, shed a few tears and make love to Rana Daggubati and (hold your breath) Aditya Panscholi. Abhishek Bachchan stands his ground as the angry young cop, while south star Rana Daggubati takes pretty long strides into the heart of Bollywood. Panscholi looks sufficiently menacing though the cold countenance could have been better exploited.