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ACP Jay Dixit is back. This time he doesn't have time to establish himself as a no non-sense police officer. He gets going from the frame One and keeps working till the last. This is yet another sequel to hit the Indian screens this Friday. Makers of this movie are so confident about thier product that they have refused to release it on the set norms in theatres and wish to grab the bigger share of the revenue. The result: 'Dhoom 2' is not released in many multiplexes and there are long queues for advance bookings in front of the single screen theatres. The film has got tremendous opening and black marketers are back in business.

But before the final verdict there is statutory warning: Too many expectations from 'Dhoom 2' may not be good for your weekend. The film does not have John Abraham and you will miss Esha too. Action sequences do look, pairing of Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan is cool and Uday Chopra is out there to tickle your bones plus you get to see sexy siren Bipasha Basu in double role as bonus. All said and done, 'Dhoom 2' has just slipped a step behind the first of its series. Yes, 'Dhoom' was better than 'Dhoom 2'.

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'Dhoom 2' starts with famous action sequence in the deserts of Namibia where Aryan alias A (Hrithik Roshan) lands on a running train from helicopter and steals the famous crown of the local king. But when he does it , he is disguised as the queen of the kingdom. The news flashes around and it is established that A is an international thief who steals antique items and is ready to strike in India's business capital, Mumbai. ACP Jay Dixit's wife (Rimi Sen in guest appearance) is expecting a baby and Ali (Uday Chopra), who has now joined the police as a sub inspector warns her that in ninety percent cases men tend to develop an extramarital affair when their wives are expecting.

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And, in between this ACP Shonali Bose lands in Mumbai who has been chasing A for two years. Shonali and Jay start working as a team but right below thier noses A steals the most worthy diamond from the museum. A has a habit to leave the city after every heist but this time he wants to strike once more and to steal an antique sword. Defying all the security he reaches near the sword only to know that there is another thief looking for the same sword. This thief is a woman, Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai). She poses to be a great fan of A and wants to become his disciple. After a hiatus, A accepts her as partner and moves over to Brazil to steal some antique gold coins. Sunehri who was a small thief and was once caught by Jay is actually working as a police agent for Jay.

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Following Sunehri, Jay and Ali reach Brazil and there is Monali (Bipasha Basu in a double role), a sexy girl who gets besotted by Ali. Ali and Monali strike like a long lost couple and Jay gets working on A. Right till this stage , the film is okay but as A falls in love with Sunehri and the latter decides to ditch the police for her love, the movie goes haywire.

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The admittance of love from A, and then his disclosing the real identity, A comes to know the real face of Sunehri and both of them smooch on the screen. This mars the pace of the film. Finally, Jay manages to catch hold of A and Ali catches Sunehri in the chase. The story ends as expected and yes there is no John Abraham appearing in the last sequence of the film as was being publicized in a section of a press. In fact, most of the viewers miss John a lot.

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Director Sanjay Gadhvi, who has completed a three-film contract, may have heaved a sigh of relief. But, the fact remains that 'Dhoom' was much better than this sequel. Jay and Ali's chemistry does give you the same kind of tickle in 'Dhoom 2' and even Hrithik initially gets claps but during post-interval the film moves on the very expected lines. You kill me or I kill you sequence between A and Sunehri is far stretched and people start moving in thier chairs.

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To see Hrithik and Aishwarya together has been a dream of millions right from the incident when Aishwarya walked out of Hrithik's first film as hero, 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. They look good on screen as a pair and director Ashutosh Gowariker (who is making 'Akbar Jodha' with both ) may get a shot in the arm after seeing this chemistry. But, had it been handled more intelligently, results could have been mind-blowing.

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If you want to sum up 'Dhoom 2' in one line, it is kind of remake of 'Bunty Aur Babli' where Hrithik becomes Bunty and Aishwarya slips in the skins of Babli, plus Abhishek dons the role of his father from 'Bunty Aur Babli'. Story writer Aditya Chopra and screenplay and dialogue writer Vijay Krishna Acharya fail to develop the film with the same excitement that people have watched 'Dhoom'.

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They have worked on a very thin line and to give more footage to Hrithik and Aishwarya, they have tried to make Bipasha's character look like a prop. Bipasha sizzles in two-piece on the beaches of Brazil, and had Monali's character been developed in second half, it would have been a major boost for the film. Hrithik and Abhishek have also paired in 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon' in the past, but here they have been pitted against each other.

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The writer and director should have come up with some challenging sequences. There is no real clash of hero and villain and for this reason the fight of good and evil looks goody goody. The music has succeeded in creating as well as maintaining the hype . Pritam once again has done a good job. On the whole, 'Dhoom 2' is an above average film and it will manage to do expected business thanks to advance booking. But, it will find the film falling short of the expectations created by its cult.