u/Boss452

Imo, Dhoom is a classic. It was iconic and spawned a very successful franchise. It's a unique franchise where the "villain" is the lead character, like Bond "girls" there are Dhoom "girls", the action is innovative and the suspense is high. Although John Abraham's Kabir is definitely not the lead of the film, he does steal the show easily.

Kabir is your villain who has a commanding presence and effortless cool. Since the moment we first see him on screen we know this guy means business, is very skillful at what he does and commands the full respect of the team. He is fearless as shown by his willingness to take risks, disciplined as shown by his strict adherence to his rules and very intelligent with the way he always finds a way out of trouble and is also fearless. But at the same time, he is not all perfect. We see his decision to trust Ali proves costly. His trick to use Sheena to seduce Ali also backfires since Sheena is won over. And in the end he does not get past Jai, though still finds a way to end things on his own terms. I'd call him a fantastic anti-hero.

On the other end is Jai who is the perfect counter to Kabir. Jai is also smart, disciplined and strategic. His plans actually make sense. First, to use a proper heavy biker as a weapon to catch Kabir instead on relying on the ordinary cops. Secondly, to stage a fight which gets Ali into Kabir's group. He quickly devises this plan once he sees that one of Kabir's guy was shot down by him. Then the whole act of resigning, so as to give Kabir a false sense of security, while still being undercover.

Jai and Kabir make for a great cat-and-mouse dynamic which really puts Dhoom up there with one of the best thrillers. We could say it has shades of Heat (1995) even. Their two conversations scenes, one on the phone, the other in the casino are also well written and acted. Just the right flavor of cheese for the cop-thief dynamic.

Where the film fails are in the other elements. Ali is an important character but his scenes are in stark contrast to the rest of the film and each time he is on screen you feel the absence of Kabir and Jai. The comedy bits have not aged too well. Then there are the female characters. I thought more could have been done with Sheena who barely has 5 sentences in the whole movie. Jai's wife is mostly there for a couple of songs and do make desserts for Ali. And both these women are always dressed for clubs for some weird reason.

The action and racing scenes also feel wonky at times. Although the bus fight in the end is definitely fun and cool. But the stunts took a jump in Dhoom 2 and Dhoom 3 became too cartoonish.

The music is great and probably the best Dhoom album. Shikdum, Salame, Dilbara and both the Dhoom versions are all bangers. I feel the English version of the song is very energetic, just suiting the flavor of the film.

Overall Dhoom is an 8.5/10 film for me largely because of Kabir. One of my favorite Bollywood films. And I actually think a Dhoom 4 could have him back since his death is left ambiguous.

I think Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator are his undisputed top 3, as per popular consensus. The 4th is an open spot with a few contenders. However, the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven seems to have aged very well and I see a lot of respect for that version of the film. It is indeed a masterful work.

Ridley gets a lot of flak these days, for a poor track record recently, but he has made 3-4 iconic films that continue to age very well.