Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Don

"Don ko pakadna mushkil nahi hai.. na mumkin hai". Translation for the no hindi malum junta, "Its not difficult to catch Don.. its damned near impossible". This is the clincher dialogue in the movie Don, the latest blockbuster from Bollywood. With Shah Rukh 'King Khan' in the lead and Farhan Akhtar of the 'Dil Chahta Hai' fame behind the wheel, a lot of expectations were riding on this movie. Not to mention the fact that they were attempting to recreate the magic of the original Bachan-starrer. Did they come through in the end? Let me walk you through my experience and then you can decide.

Yes, I admit it. I went for the movie. I could not say no to Kaboor who drove all the way from downtown (35 miles) to our suburbs, and W who's been jumping up and down ever since this movie came out. We walked in to the theater, the biggest one in AMC30 and there were just 2 people in the entire place. A few walked in once the movie started, but still the count could not have been more than 10. To be fair to Don, its been almost 2 weeks since it released and we went on a slow weekday.

I vaguely remember seeing the original Big B version of the movie, but don't remember much of it. I actually remember more of the story from 'Billa' a tamil remake of the movie that catapulted the inimitable Rajnikanth thalaivar to fame. When Shah Rukh Khan walks in clad completely in tight black leather with gloves and goggles and an old ass Razr phone to boot... let's face it, I thought the movie was doomed. However, by some combination of unseen forces, the movie held my attention for the better part of 3 hrs.

Ofcourse, it didn't hurt that there was a lot of eye candy around. Kareena Kappor plays the role that Helen did in the original movie. And even today, Helen has the sort of fan following and nostalgia that seems silly to waste on a screen vamp. But she has shaken it quite a bit in a lot of hit song sequences. The good thing is Kareens has put on a bit of weight, and hence would appeal better to South Indian folks like me. Bad thing is she still can't act. Anyway, she's gone in a few minutes, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Then comes Isha Koppikar who's completely wasted in the movie. She just lies around swimming pools looking good, and gives her best shot in a couple of song sequences. She does come through in the end. Priyanka Chopra seems to get delicious with every movie. She's shown as some kind of martial arts expert in the movie and i'm fine with that. But how the hell does she manage to penetrate the upper most echelons of an elite international mafia organization with just a staged shooting, I don't understand! And then, she's riding bikes, kidnapping people, playing with guns and knives, all without any formal training or experience. Impressive!

The biggest letdown in the movie is Bummer Irani, i'm sorry, Boman Irani as DCP DeSilva. Don't get me wrong. I have the higest regard for Boman Irani as an actor. I really liked him in 'Mein Hoon Na', the very impressive 'Being Cyrus' and more recently in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. But casting him as a police officer who shares as much screentime as Shak Rukh? Come on, are you kidding me!!! He's definitely bit off more than he can chew here. His facial expressions are constipated for the most part, and I'm being kind here. The shooting scenes were Boman tries to do typical gun combat poses behind cars are hilarious. He tiptoes around like Donald Duck on Ecstacy! And ofcourse, there's the big climax suspense. Okay, let me not play too much of a spoilsport here. But I'm going to be very wary of watching another movie where boman plays such a big role! The other disappointment is Om Puri, as the man form Interpol. He just walks around looking very important and gets screwed by everyone. When him and Boman with their bulging bellies and receding hairlines, are trying to track down AK47-toting mafia men in a parking lot, you are caught between laughing your ass off and feeling sorry for the Indian police force.

And ofcourse, there is King Khan. I guess there were a lot of apprehensions about whether he would be able to pull off a role that has become synonymous with Big B. I'm not sure how he fared in that department, and I guess I was lucky in that I did not have to keep comparing it with the original. But I think he did a good job. Let me start with Shah rukh's wardrobe. Have you seen a family with four kids ranging from 3-16 years of age, each wearing the exact same shirt and trousers? The parents would probably just buy a massive piece of cloth to economize. In Don, Shah Rukh wears these bright colorful shirts, and then a tie inside the shirt of the exact same cloth. A tight checked pant usually goes with this. The end result is that the fearsome mafia leader ends up appearing a bit on the gayish side. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it becomes difficult to take him seriously as a guy who goes about killing for fun! And wait till you see all the towels and bath robes King Khan wears. They're all inscribed with a big 'D' symbol, just in case we forget the name of the movie. Shah Rukh playing the part of the paan-spitting simpleton Vijay is unremarkable. Apart from a good song ('Paan Banaras Waala..."), he does precious little.

The plot, I'm told, deviates from the original towards the end. I thought the story had a lot of twists and turns that kept you guessing. A few of these are a bit over the top. But hey, this is a Hindi movie! If you brought your logic along with you to the theater, then you're either absent-minded or overly optimistic. The movie has a very slick look and feel, especially with the editing and photography. Shah Rukh uses the song sequences to put on various pimp-like costumes, complete with velvet and frills... but to his credit, he' s probably the only Bollywood hero who can pull off such outrageous costumes.

And now for the second admission - yes I enjoyed the movie! so what's the verdict? If you're a Shah Rukh fan, this movie will make you really happy. If you enjoy slick action movies or just want a masala movie to watch with your friends on a weekend, then this movie will work. For the rest of you I want movie with logic and sense losers as well as the no hindi malum Shah rukh is a funny guy gang, stay away!

3 Comments:

Blogger funkaboy said...

'donald duck on ectasy' ?!
Nice one. Good that you enjoyed. Or is enjoyment of logic-less
hindi movies a prerequisite for marrying a Naarth Indian?

11/7/06, 2:51 PM  
Blogger Ashley said...

Thanks for posting a review. The new Don only screened for a few days where I live, so I missed it. I have seen the original a few times. It is excellent! The reason I find it so entertaining is because every aspect of it is pure 1970s nostalgia.

11/9/06, 6:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The movie was okay.... Sharukh khan wasnt really suited to be the next don he couldnt compete with Big B....

1/17/07, 10:30 AM  

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