‘Dhoomam’ movie review: Fahadh Faasil leads an unimpactful film fogged by its message

June 23, 2023 05:18 pm | Updated 05:43 pm IST Dhoomam is a film where the audience is left confused as to where the anti-smoking public service Early on in the movie, Avinash, the marketing head of a major tobacco firm, pitches the idea for flashy anti-smoking awareness Director Pawan Kumar, who debuted with the inventive Kannada film Lucia a decade back, enters the Malayalam industry with Hombale Films, the producers of the KGF franchise and Kantara. Dhoomam Director: Pawan Kumar Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Aparna Balamurali, Roshan Mathew, Vineeth Duration: 144 minutes Storyline: The marketing head of a major tobacco firm and his wife are caught in a hostage situation, which has something to do with his past actions to increase the sales for the company. The non-linear narrative keeps switching between their attempts to escape from the situation, and to the past, where Avinash climbs up the ladder in the tobacco company run by Sid. The film’s critique of profits at any cost is as powerful as the protagonist’s pricked conscience late in the day when he sees kids buying cigarettes; as if the cut-throat marketing head of a tobacco firm was unaware of this fact till that point.