The air crackled around me as Deepika Padukone's Rubina Mohsin sauntered into the frame in slow motion, as Besharam Rang played in the background. I could barely hear the music as the screams around me grew louder. I instinctively leaned back under Deepika's (and Shah Rukh Khan's) subjugation, ready to be entertained at the cost of another talented woman being reduced to eye candy.
This is just another Katrina Kaif Dhoom 3 moment – I thought to myself – as I often do when a female lead in an action film is forced to quickly justify her presence on the screen with a seductive dance number, a la Vaani Kapoor in War, Katrina Kaif in Dhoom 3, amongst many others.
I remember putting this question across to Vijay Krishna Acharya (writer and director of Dhoom 3) during one of our guest lectures in college – whether the absence of any character quirks or even a storyline for Katrina in Dhoom 3 was intentional. I remember him giving me a non-answer, to no fault of his.
Of course, it is intentional – it is an afterthought to think of a story arc for the primary female character, one that does not revolve around furthering the arc of the much more well-compensated male lead.