Dhoom 3: 'Bollywood and Hollywood in equal portions'

The first "Dhoom" (2004) was more Bollywood than serious action movie, and then "Dhoom: 2" (2006) upped the ante by bringing in some A-list actors and easing off the dancing. Now, with the third edition to the series, it seems director/co-writer Vijay Krishna Acharya has finally got all the dials in the right position: "Dhoom: 3" combines equal portions of Bollywood and Hollywood, and though the blend gets to be a wee bit annoying, the important thing is that it works.

Mumbai cop duo Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra) arrive in Chicago to investigate a series of bank robberies with Indian police consultant Victoria (Tabrett Bethell), where Hindi messages are left at the scene.

The culprit is local magician Sahir (Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan), out to avenge the death of his circus-owner father. There are some incredible chase scenes through downtown Chicago that go above and beyond the "Fast and the Furious" series — my gold standard for inner-city vehicle races and pileups. "Dhoom: 3" may be a long at three hours, but it is packed with outrageous detail and explosive flavors, which is, of course, what you can expect from Bollywood at its best.