Dhamaka, which was released recently, is all about the common man’s frustration, media ethics (or the lack of it), and the prevalent corruption in politics.
This thriller movie by Ram Madhvani is based on the South Korean film, The Terror Live.
Dhamaka is a 1-hour 44-minute movie, currently streaming on Netflix.
The Plot of Dhamaka: What is it about?
Dhamaka begins with pleasant visuals of the happily married and much in love couple, Arjun Pathak, played by Kartik Aryan, and Soumya Mehra Pathak, played by Mrunal Thakur which makes it seem like a romantic movie.
However, cut to the present, and we find that Arjun is a former news anchor who has now been assigned (or rather demoted) to the post of a radio show host.
He takes the audience’s calls, his divorce papers lying on his table, making it apparent that his life is, at present, a complete mess.
This moment is when he gets a random call informing him, in a rather determined tone, that the caller has planted multiple bombs in the Bandra Sea Link in Mumbai.
Arjun initially brushes this off, but the very next moment, a blast at the Sea Link, which is visible from his window, makes him believe that the caller means business.
Scene from Dhamaka (Image Credit: Netflix)Instead of reporting this to the authorities, Arjun sees this as an opportunity of a lifetime to revive his flagging career and his marriage, if possible.
He cuts a deal with his boss, Ankita Malaskar, played by Amruta Subhash, promising an exclusive interview of the bomber in return for his old primetime slot.
Ankita is shown to be the cold and calculating boss who can go to any lengths to increase the TRP of her channel.
Why Does The Caller Plan The Bombings in Dhamaka?
The caller first asks a price for this interview, and when he gets his price, he reveals his identity and motive.
He discloses that his name is Raghuber Mahata.
He worked as a laborer at the Sea Link, where three of his co-workers slipped into the sea and were killed at the time of the repair work of the bridge due to the negligence of certain government officials.
He is appalled at the apathy of the concerned ministry, and he demands an apology from the concerned minister.
After negotiating a deal with the bomber, Arjun had hoped to become a successful news anchor and a national hero.
However, very soon, he finds himself at the receiving end when the caller reveals that the earpiece that Arjun is wearing contains explosives.
The anti-terror team arrives, and the officer, Praveen Kamath, played by Vikas Kumar, asks Arjun to buy time from the caller.
Scene from Dhamaka (Image Credit: Netflix)All this time, Arjun’s wife, Soumya, a news reporter working with the same channel, is seen reporting the events at ground zero and trying to help the hostages stuck there.
Dhamaka Ending Explained
Almost at the end of Dhamaka, it is revealed that Arjun had accepted a bribe to avoid doing the story of the death of the three laborers on his channel.
The said minister, whose apology was demanded by the bomber, sends his deputy instead to the news channel office, who makes a hash out of the negotiation deal.
It makes the bomber pull the trigger of the bomb he had inserted in the deputy’s earpiece.
The bomber also blasts the adjoining building, where the police team was carrying out their search operations.
This blast also damages the building in which Arjun’s news channel office is located.
Who is the Real Bomber in Dhamaka? and why did Arjun blow the whole building at the end?
Amidst the chaos that ensues, putting some facts together, Arjun works out that Raghubeer Mahata is not the caller. Instead, Raghubeer was one of the laborers who were killed at the bridge.
The caller is, in fact, Anand, Raghubeer’s son, a chemical engineer who works at the same channel.
Anand had planned all this to extract an apology from the government for his father’s sad demise.
Arjun sympathizes with him, but it is too late by now. Anand is shot dead by the sniper team.
To add to Arjun’s woes, he finds that his manipulative boss, Ankita, has projected Arjun as a co-conspirator of Anand and has sold this story to the rival channel to save the face of her own channel.
Apart from the knowledge that he is now a fugitive, Arjun is shocked to see the news on television that Soumya, too, has died in another explosion at the Sea Link.
Completely shattered, Arjun takes the detonator from Anand’s body and blasts the whole building, which is the end of him.
Dhamaka Review: Our take on the Film
First and foremost, to give the credit where it is due, the viewers get to see some top-notch performances from Kartik Aryan and Amruta Subhash in Dhamaka.
As the disgraced news anchor desperate to retrieve his lost position, and facing a divorce simultaneously, Kartik Aryan is just brilliant and has given some intense performance in Dhamaka.
So has Amruta Subhash, who plays his evil boss in the movie.
Both the actors have displayed the intricacies of media persons with ease and a natural flair.
On the other hand, Mrunal Thakur’s role is a limited but impressive one.
The cinematography in Dhamaka is brilliant as well, and the visual effects of the bombings and the aerial shots are almost flawless.
Considering the fact that Dhamaka has been shot in ten days, the team of Dhamaka seems to have done a great job.
The plot of Dhamaka, too, had great potential and can boast of raising many burning social issues without being preachy.
Dhamaka kept us on our edges up to a certain point.
However, somewhere down the line, the plot of Dhamaka seemed to be losing its tautness, which is an essential factor for a thriller.
Scene from Dhamaka (Image Credit: Netflix)The revenge plot of an ordinary person got entirely messed up later in the movie, Dhamaka.
Why would a common man take the lives of innocent people to prove his point?
With his expertise (a chemical engineer and a former explosive expert), he could have made a better plan to grab public attention and get his point across effectively.
He hated being called a terrorist, but his actions made him one.
Arjun was justifying Anand’s act saying that Anand had chosen the time to bomb the Sea Link when there was minimal traffic on it so that the casualties could be minimized.
It was totally uncalled for because every life is precious.
The action of the anti-terror unit officer present in the newsroom seemed half-baked and was not crisp.
Arjun’s boss, Ankita, seemed to have more authority than the officer.
The role of the minister’s deputy as a negotiator was also clumsily handled.
The conduct that the deputy displayed at the newsroom is not expected of a top government official when lives are at stake, and it is a matter of national security.
Ankita’s making a scapegoat out of Arjun also seemed unnecessary.
The fact that she appeared to be selling information to the rival channel at the drop of a hat does not seem to match her projected fierce loyalty towards her channel.
In all, Dhamaka manages to raise a vital issue but fails to tug our heartstrings and generate sympathy for the ordinary person who is out to take revenge.
In fact, “A Wednesday” has raised the bar for common man revenge movies to the extent that one is sure to expect some more sharpness and tautness while watching Dhamaka.
That said, Dhamaka is definitely worth a watch, and more so if you are a Kartik Aryan fan. If we had to rate it, we would give it a solid 78/100.
