Director Pawan Kumar's Dhoomam delves deep into the world of marketing games played by corporate tycoons who blindly focus on the profits, without a care for the potential impact on consumers. With an anti-tobacco message merged into a thriller plot, the Fahadh Faasil-starrer can be an engaging watch for youngsters—the target audience for most marketing campaigns these days.
Avinash (Fahadh Faasil) plays the marketing head of a tobacco company run by Sid, played by Roshan Mathew. Avinash, the man behind the company’s tremendous success and increased sales, is caught off guard when one day he finds himself and his wife Diya (Aparna Balamurali) in a life-threatening trap.
Aparna, who teams up with Fahadh after Maheshinte Prathikaram, does not have a major role to play in the early scenes of the film, but tables turn around when Dhoomam puts the female protagonist in the spotlight later. A bomb is planted inside Diya's body and she is forced to keep smoking to stay alive. Adi, in the grip of the very demon he once helped create, is clueless about who is behind this situation. Is it the company he worked for, or their market competitors? The struggle to break out of this trap, while his pregnant wife keeps smoking for survival, forms the next half of the film. Fahadh delivers a top-notch performance. Aparna, and Roshan, too, do their parts well.
With unexpected twists and turns, Dhoomam takes off well, but the emotional backstory ruins the thriller mood, giving it a more melodramatic feel post-interval. Poornachandra Tejaswi’s songs were aptly positioned, be it during nail-biting moments or touching scenes.
Though there was stimulated tension till the climax, the film fails to bring closure. Dhoomam leaves the audience with an abrupt ending and several unanswered questions. Kumar's film did not live up to the hype promised by the intriguing trailer.
Film: Dhoomam
Director: Pawan Kumar
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Aparna Balamurali, Roshan Mathew
Rating: 3.5/5