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Dhaam Dhoom is a 2008 Indian Tamil language-language action thriller film based on the 1997 American film Red Corner. Written, filmed and directed by Jeeva shortly before his death and produced by Sunanda Murali Manohar, it stars Ravi Mohan (credited as Jayam Ravi), Kangana Ranaut, Jayaram and Lakshmi Rai. The film marked Ranaut's debut in the Tamil film industry.
The film revolves around a Tamil people Indian Physician who, two weeks prior to his wedding, goes to Russia for a conference pertaining to his occupation. While in Russia, he struggles to cope with the language because of the Russian reluctance to speak English, and eventually, due to the gruesome murder of a local woman, he gets imprisoned. How the doctor manages to get himself out of jail with the help of an Indian female lawyer, forms the crux of the story.
Dhaam Dhoom was released worldwide, after a long delay, on 29 August 2008. It was the posthumous film that cinematographer Jeeva undertook before his death which occurred halfway through the production. The film, released as a tribute to Jeeva, was completed by his assistant G. K. Manikandan, and his wife Anees, and was overseen by cinematographer P. C. Sriram.
Finally, the journey to Russia happens. Gautham reaches Moscow and completes his immigration procedures. Incidentally, Gautham meets Anna (Maria Kozhevnikova), and unknowingly, Anna drops her jacket, which is seen by Gautham. He has no time to return the jacket and exits from the Moscow airport accompanied by his medical team. Gautham is flabbergasted by the roads and buildings of the city and is surprised to see the city of Moscow from his hotel view. Gautham learns that the only hiccup with Russians is that the people are ignorant about the English language and the whole conversation with them must be made in Russian.
Soon after, Gautham discovers Anna and takes the prospect to return her coat. get together well and part ways. Meanwhile, Gautham's medical conference takes place successfully, and in order to celebrate its success, the whole team heads to a nightclub. Gautham bumps into Anna in the nightclub, and the two have an enjoyable time in the club. Anna, due to heavy consumption of liquor, intoxicates, and Gautham has no other choice but to accompany her to her room. When the two reach Anna's apartment, they settle down and sleep. Gautham is brutally dragged onto the floor by a Russian police officer the next morning, and the reason is that Anna is murdered on her sofa.
Consequently, Gautham's situation changes; he gets abused, accused, and imprisoned by the Russian police. The language, people, and surroundings are totally new and confusing to him. Fortunately, Aarthi Chinnappa (Lakshmi Rai) is appointed as a defendant lawyer to Gautham. The Indian consulate sends Raghavan Nambiar (Jayaram) to Gautham's rescue. When Gautham tries to run away from the Russian police, he gets drowned in a lake, and Aarthi finds him at the shore. Aarthi kisses Gautham to rescue him, and she realises that she has fallen in love with Gautham, but she suppresses her feelings when she learns about Shenba. Gautham escapes from the police and is running around St. Petersburg with Aarthi, trying to figure out who murdered Anna and why he was caught up in the scandal. Whilst fleeing from the police, Gautham gets shot by the organized crime and manages to escape narrowly. After taking care of his wounds, Aarthi and Gautham decide to seek down those who misled them. The eventual villainous figure is revealed to be Raghavan.
Before a shoot out, Raghavan reveals that Anna was a drug trafficking from Chennai to Russia, and by dropping her coat, consisting of drugs, off at the airport, she manages to evade being caught. Soon after, Anna had changed her ways and was ready to tell the police about Raghavan's drug dealing, but before that happened, Raghavan, along with the mob, had her killed off. In the final scene, Raghavan is killed by the police, and Gautham is set free to reunite with Shenba for their wedding.
Reema Sen was chosen for a significant role in the film; however, 14 days after her confirmation, she pulled out of the project, citing differences with the director, Jeeva. The role offered to Reema Sen, that of a lawyer, had no songs and was the second heroine role. Reema Sen confirmed later to Kumudam magazine that she did not want to play the second lead in the film, and opted out of the project. On 19 February 2007, the producers confirmed the choice of Lakshmi Rai to essay the role dropped by Reema Sen. The project was also Lakshmi Rai's biggest film of her career till then, despite being the second female lead in the project. Jayaram was later selected to portray the villain in the film, appearing in such a role for the first time in his career.
The story is heavily inspired by the Hollywood film Red Corner (1997). As per Jeeva's previous films, Jeeva himself took charge of the cinematography, though, after his death, P. C. Sriram took charge. Although Jeeva had been reworking his final draft during filming, S. Ramakrishnan was brought in after his death to find a way to connect the climax with the previous draft to the final one; the two would not come together properly, otherwise.
In early July 2007, it was announced that M. Raja, the elder brother of Jayam Ravi, would complete the project, but subsequently, veteran director P. C. Sriram signed to complete the project with Jeeva's widow Anees. Finally, Anees announced that the film would be completed by her and Jeeva's assistant G.K. Manikandan, whilst Sriram would overlook their efforts. Eventually, the team returned to Russia and canned the remaining scenes within 40 days.
Overseas, in the United Kingdom box office, the film opened at number 22, earning £21,634 during the first weekend, after opening across four Cineworld screens. After the second week the cumulative gross increased to £37,050, retaining the number of screens, but slipping to 34th in the weekly rankings.
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