大象传媒

Post 9/11 the theme of terrorism has slowly seeped its way into international cinema. The latest filmmaker to tackle the subject is Bollywood's Anubhav Sinha, whose action-packed Dus focuses on the Anti-Terrorist Cell's (ATC) mission to foil a deadly plot aimed at wreaking havoc during the Indian Prime Minister's goodwill visit to Canada. Sanjay Dutt plays ATC chief Siddhant, whose mission it is to unravel the conspiracy before his own government scraps his department. Glossy but gutless, Dus is a case of style over substance.

With the help of his elite squad members Shashank (Abhishek Bachchan), Aditi (Shilpa Shetty), Aditya (Zayed Khan), Neha (Esha Deol) and Canadian cop Dan (Suniel Shetty), Siddhant has just seven days to capture master terrorist Jamwal and uncover his dangerous scheme - code named Jeet. But in a peaceful country like Canada where the closest thing to a national catastrophe is the cancellation of an ice-hockey game, saving thousands of innocent lives without causing mass panic isn't going to be easy. Unless of course you have a bunch of gung-ho Indian troopers on the job.

"EVERY RED HERRING SMELLS FISHIER THAN THE FILM'S ENDING"

Despite boasting great music, slick stunts and a talented cast, Sinha tries but fails to mask the main problem with Dus: a predictable screenplay. What could have been an exhilarating thriller ends up being a conventional story where every red herring smells fishier than the film's ending. But the script's biggest hole comes with the basic lack of explanation as to why evil Jamwal has a gripe against the Indian PM in the first place. This said, where Dus does win points is in its successful attempt at giving the unpolished Bollywood thriller a Hollywood-style makeover.

Music: Vishal-Shekhar

In Hindi with English subtitles.