MOVIE REVIEW : DON

DISCLAIMER - This is purely a personal opinion and may contain spoilers, which you may find objectionable or may thank me later.

Diwali weekend saw the release of 2 big movies in Bollywood..Farhan Akhtar’s DON and Shirish Kunder’s JAANEMAN. Both movies had the star cast and the hype to make it big at the box-office. But are they really worth a watch? Lets find outÖ

Since it was a remake of a classic and the directorial reins were in the hand of Farhan Akhtar (whose Dil Chahta Hai is still one of my favorite movies) I preferred to see DON first and hence I will begin with its review..


DON –



Well the name of the movie says it all..you hear DON and instantly the image of Amitabh Bachchan comes to your mind. Such was (oops..is) the presence of the Big B. So what is this DON all about? It is Farhan Akhtar’s tribute to this 1978 cult film and in a way it is a remake of the original.

As soon as Big B fans hear this they will protest saying that it is blasphemy to remake such a classic or even watch it. But it is the time for remakes and sequels in Bollywood and Farhan Akhtar sets about making the first remake with many more in the pipeline like Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony and as of yesterday I heard even the 1972 film Victoria No. 203 is going to be remade.

Farhan Akhtar chooses none other than Shahrukh King Khan to essay the role of DON. So do Farhan Akhtar and Shahrukh Khan do justice to the original? I would say yes they do. Of course you cannot compare both movies (just as you cannot compare say Sarkar and The Godfather) but Farhan Akhtar’s DON doesn’t make you regret watching his version/his take on it as well.

The premise of the story is well known to everyone, but for those who don’t.....<B<>r>
Shahrukh Khan is the high profile DON, currently roaming the streets of Malaysia in his posh car and wearing dark shades. Police from 11 countries (including India) are in search of this elusive DON. The DON has one policyÖ”DON ke dushman ki sabse badi galti hai..ki woh DON ka dushman hai”. In the process he ends up killing Roma’s (Priyanka Chopra) brother and Roma decides to join the gang to avenge her brother’s death. Circumstances lead our DON to India where in an enduring chase sequence with ACP D’Silva (Boman Irani), DON is fatally wounded. ACP Silva then decides to send the DON look-alike (Vijay) to get more information about the entire gang. The twist in the tale takes place when ACP D’Silva is killed and Vijay is left with no one to prove that he is actually Vijay and not the DON. The rest of the story revolves around how Vijay tries to get the truth out.

From this short summary, it appears as if nothing has changed from the original storyline and yes nothing major has changed. But this DON has some extra twists and turns that make this movie worth watching at least once. At the same time let me add that this definitely ranks last among all 3 of Farhan Akhtar’s movies till date.

Coming to the performances, Shahrukh Khan delivers yet another believable performance this time as the elusive DON. No comparisons can be drawn between him and the Big B and SRK cannot get anywhere near to Rajinikanth(DON's orginal tamil version of "BILLA") but obviously, but Shahrukh does manage to leave an impression, which is different from his chocolate hero image. His portrayal of Vijay isn’t as convincing and looks forced on.
Priyanka Chopra tries to step into the shoes of Zeenat Aman as Roma and comes out with an ok performance.
Boman Irani plays the role of ACP D’Silva with much ease. He has quite a decent amount of screen time in the movie and makes good use of it.
Isha Koppikar plays DON’s interest in the movie as Anita and as like in her previous movies she doesn’t have much to do in this one as well.
Arjun Rampal tries to do a Pran but it doesn’t come naturally to him and is definitely miscast in this movie.
Om Puri as Inspector Malik is totally wasted.
Kareena Kapoor is in the role of Kamini and she may be no Helen, but she definitely got the crowd whistling for her through the song.

Plus points for the movie:
1) Modifications done to the original storyline do make the second half of the movie interesting.
2) The choreography of the song “Khaike Paan Banaraswala” deserves special mention here. When I seen the promos on TV I was like yucckkk, but the full song on full screen was a delight to watch. I have never seen the crowd give such a reaction to any song. You had people whistling, singing along and applauding throughout the song. Big B fans will say that is because the original song itself was a huge hit and I wont deny that, but even this version is very likeable.
3) The climax of the movie will have you talking about the movie after it is over. We have seen similar endings in many Hollywood movies and we appreciate them there. I would like to do the same here.

Negative points for the movie:
1) Its inevitable comparison to the original version.
2) A very slow first half. Kareena Kapoor’s dance was the only major attraction of the first half.
3) Some really unwanted scenes such as the rescue of Don by Priyanka Chopra, etc only prolonged the ending.<B<>r>
While seeing this DON, I had no fresh recollection of the original movie and that is why probably I enjoyed this movie much better than others. Farhan Akhtar has already shown us that he is a very capable director and although this movie of his might not generate great critic reviews, there is no doubt that his movies are definitely worth a watch.

So give this movie a watch...

Rating: ***