It was a rainy day in a remote district of Karnataka when I caught up with DON for the first time. I was around eight years old and the movie had had its re-release. Today’s kids wouldn’t be caught dead in a theatre as this one - the squeaky chairs were infested with all kinds of bugs and I am not even mentioning the mosquitoes. Air-conditioning was natural - the air came in through the many holes in the walls. But when the credits came on and the baritone voice of the Big B hit those eardrums, nothing mattered. Amitabh Bachhan was on the screen and all was suddenly well with the theatre. The audience cheered, laughed, and cried till the end when it was time to leave and face the realities of life. To me, like most kids of that generation, Amitabh was the ultimate hero - the rest existed on the fringes.
To remake an Amitabh movie and its music that are cult hits requires courage. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL) take on an unenviable task here. Do they succeed? Read the review.
Movie: Don - the chase begins again
Music: SEL
Singers: Udit Narayan, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan, Alisha Chinoy, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Sonu Nigam
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Label: T-Series
Main Hoon Don (Shaan)
Category: Techno
Rating: (2/5)
Shaan’s rendition of Don is akin to Deepak Malhotra’s dialogues in Lamhe (what?!!! you missed the movie?). The title song of Don is supposed to give you the creeps, have you shivering in your seat , and raising your hairs on their end. But what you get is a wishy-washy rendition. It is like a rat trying to sound like a lion. So, when Shaan says, "Bahut hi Khatarnak hoon main" in his chocolatey voice, you know it is time to hit the fast forward button. The original Don did not have to say, "mujhko pehchaan lo, main hoon Don." You just looked and bowed, no questions asked.
Yeh mera dil (Sunidhi Chauhan)
Category: Cabaret
Rating: (1/5)
Listening to this number, you realize the difference between the ladies and the girls, the supremos and the wannabes, the divas and their imitators. When you invoke a Lata or Asha composition, the best you can hope to achieve is to not muck it up. Sunidhi Chauhan, for reasons best known to her, sounds downright flat in a tailor-made composition. The orchestra does its best to rev up matters but then the soul of the song was never there in the first place. Even a lesser singer or a kid from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa would have scored better.
Mourya Re (Shankar Mahadevan)
Category: Modern Bhajan
Rating: (2.5/5)
Listening to this song, one wonders if this disastrous outing would have been better if Farhan had let SEL do their own thing instead of decimating the originals. I would still sing, "Deva oh Deva" from Tumse Badkar Kaun. However, this should come a close second. More than Shankar’s rendition, it is the chorus that got me. Shankar is listless when he sings, "Tujhko agle baras aana hi hoga" and a thousand dholaks cannot hide that. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are passable.
Khaike paan banaraswala (Udit Narayan, Shah Rukh)
Category: Modern folk
Rating: (3/5)
After Sunidhi, I wasn’t expecting much but Udit does Kishore proud by not hitting one false note. This ageless song, in its new facelift, is as refreshing as the benares paan as it was the first time. I am not quite sure if I like all that techno coming in but if that is what the next-gen likes, so be it. I will still play my Kishore original. Shah Rukh adds a rap bit somewhere at the end. Thankfully, that doesn’t take away anything from all the fun even if it does little to add to it.
Aaj Ki Raat (Alisha Chinoy, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Sonu Nigam)
Category: Disco
Rating: (3.5/5)
The best thing to happen to the album by far, Aaj Ki Raat could have been much better if Mahalaxmi Iyer and Sonu Nigam were replaced with Sunidhi and Abhijeet. Mixing Alisha’s husky sexy vocals with Mahalaxmi’s dipped-in-honey notes is like well, having coffee with honey in it. Very few would like the idea. Sonu tries to edge his way in between but feels more unwanted than inviting at the end of it all.
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My verdict: A bland dish by SEL made digestible only by the Paan and Aaj Ki Raat numbers. You could save your money by catching up with these songs online (like I did). I only hope that the movie turns out better. I am not even hoping that Shah Rukh will do an Amitabh but unlike SEL, I am praying that he doesn’t muck it up either. The next generation should not expect anything less from their Don.