Boom - Movie Review

Published: October 9, 2009

By JENNIFER HOPFINGER

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover Katrina Kaif, Padma Lakshmi, Madhu Sapre

How this terrible film got made at all is truly a wonder, but what’s even more puzzling is why Bollywood great Amitabh Bachchan agreed to appear in it and how Katrina Kaif’s debut here launched her subsequent rise to stardom instead of killing her budding career. (Kaif has since expressed regret over doing the film.) Padma Lakshmi—who went on to become the host of the U.S. reality TV show Top Chef—also starred in the film, back when she was known as a model, along with Indian model Madhu Sapre. American actress Bo Derek makes a brief cameo, reprising the famous scene from her film, 10 (1979).

Even though Kaif, Lakshmi, and Sapre essentially play themselves in the film, their performances are laughable. When a model trips on a runway at a high-profile fashion show and hundreds of stolen diamonds, which were supposed to be smuggled out of the country to Dubai, fall out of her hair, chaos ensues as everyone dashes for the gems. Rina (Kaif), Sheila (Lakshmi), and Anu (Sapre), who were on the runway at the time, are blamed for the mishap and held responsible by the mob, and the trio gets sucked into Mumbai’s seedy underworld. The women go up against three gangsters: Chotte Mia (Jackie Shroff), Medium Mia (Gulshan Grover), and Bade Mia (Amitabh Bachchan).

 

Strangely, the gorgeous models are made to look awful in the film. They spend most of their time traipsing around in unglamorous underwear, sweating and ruminating about their problems. They seem as dumb as they look, but they set out to dupe the mob.

 

None of the characters is remotely interesting, but Bachchan does have fun with the role of crazy crime boss. Still, no one, not even die-hard Bachchan fans, should waste their time watching this mess.

Boom is rated Skip.

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