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Sequels are fairly new to Bollywood, but director Sanjay Gadhvi realised there was cash to be made from resurrecting his hit action thriller Dhoom, by casting sexy young stars like Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan in an even bigger game of cops and robbers. In theory he should have a hit on his hands, but flashy stunts, bronzed biceps and bikini clad bodies aren't enough to make Dhoom 2 as gripping as its predecessor. It's a case of style over content for this shallow follow up.

Last time we saw Inspector Jai Dixit (Bachchan) and his sidekick Ali (Uday Chopra), they had successfully nabbed one of India's most elusive conmen. This time round they are joined by detective Shonali Bose (Bipasha Basu), who is on the lookout for Mr A (Roshan), a mysterious thief with a taste for technological gadgets and international art. But Dixit gets more than he bargained for when he sets a honey trap using Sunheri (Rai), a stunning cat burglar with her own hidden agenda. A hop, skip and jump from the palaces of India to the beaches of Brazil, and we are more likely to be impressed by the beautiful backdrops than the predictable plot.

"AN ELONGATED TOURISM COMMERCIAL"

By roping in acclaimed action director Alan Amin to take care of the thrills and spills, you'd expect Gadhvi to have spent time crafting out a sophisticated storyline instead of simply sending his cast on a cat-and-mouse chase around the globe. That the twist in Dhoom 2's tail is not explained is yet another shortcoming. It's only Roshan's charismatic performance as the criminal mastermind, and the sizzling chemistry he shares with Rai's sassy cohort, that rescues this adventure from becoming an elongated tourism commercial.