To say that DON is a cult flick would be an under-statement. Amitabh Bachchan’s portrayal of a ruthless underworld kingpin captured the imagination of millions of fans in India; so much so that it encouraged a remake. And so we have DON-The chase Begins Again written and directed by Farhan Akhtar, son of the original scriptwriter of DON-Javed Akhtar.
To compare the 2 movies(the original and the remake) would be firstly incorrect in my opinion. Mainly because, the movies belong to different eras, they were directed by different directors and they also had different actors. So it is only fair that the new DON be treated like any other movie. However, some comparisons are inevitable which we shall see in due course.
The story begins with Don(Shah Rukh Khan), a ruthless drug dealer who works for a drug lord Singhania. DCP D’Silva (Boman Irani) is the upright and righteous cop who receives the news that Don is in Malaysia. D’Silva’s team aided by Interpol officer Malik reaches Malaysia in an effort to bust the gang. Meanwhile, Don kills one of his men, Ramesh as he wants to leave the drug trade. This invites the wrath of his sister Roma(Priyanka Chopra) who vows to kill Don. As the story unfolds, Don gets badly injured in a shootout with the police but is rescued by D’Silva who hides him from everyone’s eyes. He then hires Vijay, a poor man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Don. D’Silva asks Vijay to impersonate as Don, so that he can get information to bust the gang. Matters become complicated when D’Silva gets killed.
Is Vijay successful?
Who is the hidden enemy who is stalking Don?
Is the gang busted? These are the questions which are answered in the next 2 and a half hours of the film.
The story is exactly similar to the original one, except that this time there are many twists and turns. The audience is bound to be surprised by these twists, since they are least expecting it. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem. Farhan Akhtar sticks to the original screenplay in the first-half, but in the post-interval section it completely changes and there are times he loses grip over the screenplay. Especially the part concerning a CD is extremely confusing for the viewer. The part concerning Jasjit(Arjun Rampal) could definitely have been better.
If one thing the movie scores over its predecessor is the slickness with which it is made. Here again the action sequences are strictly OK. The problem is they appear too labored and too slow which takes out the fun for the viewer. The background score is apt and suits the mood of the movie. One will definitely experience the feeling of watching a Hollywood movie while seeing this film. This is a rather clichéd sentence, but the overall feel to the movie is definitely Hollywood.
The music is strictly average. Two of the original songs; ‘Ye Mera Dil’ and the iconic ‘Khaike Pan Banaraswala’ have been retained in the movie, but in a different format. They are unfortunately, the worst tracks of the movie. ‘Main Hoon Don’ and ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ are the best tracks in the film. One good thing with the movie is that the director integrates the song properly with the screenplay and so it doesn’t appear forced down the viewer’s throat.
Shah Rukh Khan as Don and Vijay is just about all right. While playing Don, he sometimes loses his ruthlessness and starts acting like a psycho(like the one he played in Darr or the movie Duplicate).There is definitely a lack of consistency in his acting. As Vijay, his Bhojpuri is so bad, that he can’t speak it to save his life. When he utters iconic dialogues, you can’t help but flinch, remembering Amitabh. Priyanka Chopra is simply a caricature of Zeenat Aman’s original role. Arjun Rampal acts as usual, with minimal expressions and a cold dialogue delivery. Boman Irani fits into his role well, though he too appears a bit bored with it. The other minor players are decent enough.
So why should one see Don? Well, simply because, it is a decent, entertaining movie. You can be rest assured that you will get your money’s worth from it. However, unlike the original one, you are most likely never ever going to remember this one again after you walk out of the theatre.
DON-The Chase Begins Again gets 3 out of 5.