’You can’t remake a DON. Not even with Amitabh. The movie’s going down.’ declared my mom. I believed her. ’The remake is a total failure’ shouted Rajeev from CNN-IBN. I believed him. ’Shahrukh is just an entertainer who should stick to it. DON demands much more than an entertainer.’ opined my friends. I believed them.
Being a die hard fan of Amitabh of the golden era, I remembered every bit of the earlier DON. Still I went to the movie rentals and got the video. I saw it through just to get a Farhan Akthar’s perspective of why he wanted to remake it. It was clear. Don had the perfect success formula. And anyone who thinks of remaking it can’t put the idea away. Its any film maker’s dream toy.
But I kept away from the new Don. Atleast until today. And today I didn’t have a choice. There isn’t any other good flick that I haven’t already seen. So felt I should watch Don too and join the bandwagon. Criticize the hell out of Shahrukh and Farhan. And what do I come out with? A lovely surprise. Don was worth every rupee I put in. Its not a marvel, but it isn’t stupid.
Critics insisted nobody acted well. Who didn’t? Shahrukh, Boman, Priyanka, Om Puri, who? They all did.
Screenplay was shabby. was it? I didn’t think so. Not at all compared to the best of movies we got in recent times. Too techy. For once, inspite of the capabilities and the situations, Farhan didn’t put us through another cheap imitation of hollywood (ala matrix).
Strengths:
Shahrukh. He’s amazing. Amitabh was too good in the earlier. But Shahrukh’s the only one who could’ve done justice. He portrayed the characters with so much style and substance, I was gapped.
Boman. He can pull a movie all by himself. Every scene he’s in is fantastic.
Cinematography. Tell me a better flick in recent times.
Plot. We saw it before. Still worth it coz of the twist at the end.
Kareena. Just the right dose. So easy to serve us an overdose.
Dialogues. Wow! Might just go for a second helping just for those.
Faults:
Direction. It lacked the pace at certain times.
Priyanka. Not her fault. I was comparing her with Zeenat all the time. She was a bomb shell.
Music. What’s wrong with these guys? They come up with such great ones like Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya. The promise existed but it was lost somewhere. The remixes of the earlier songs certainly rocked my heart, but the originals sucked. Big time.
Overall, certainly worth the money put in.
If you haven’t watched it coz of all those beatings that Don took, forget it. Its a joy to be watching Shahrukh as the Don. Certainly the chase begins again and its a chase worth its speed.