The DON that isn't .......... Review on Don: The Chase Begins Again

I must begin by stating that I have not seen the original DON & in my opinion I dont even think that one has to see that to review the new one. Why ? Coz its only fair that any creative output must be judged basis, only itself - how it made you feel when you saw it: did it grip you with emotion, and/or, make you rise n jump in excitement, and/or has it had you burst into tears of laughter .... all in all did it make you leave the screen feeling satiated, one way or the other.

DON, left me feeling, quite honestly, nothing. Yes there were parts when I thought that it was 'just pulling along too long' .... parts when I looked at my watch (which is atually sounding a final death knell to any creative production). Yet, there were parts that I enjoyed - action sequences that enthralled me, frames that caught my fancy (especially when Priyanka danced in her brushed-silver, shortish, dress!). So, something, somewhere went wrong in DON, atleast for me. And what was that ?

This, is basically, what didn't work me & there in I have a hypothesis of mine that has been hangin in there in my mind for long ....... Shahrukh is not cut out for larger than life roles. His brilliance lies in the fact that he does the 'simple boy next door' stories, the best that anyone could EVER do. He just is NOT cut out for the 'super hero' roles.

Let me explain this a little further (& pls dont send hate mails to me just yet .... !). When you look at a Chamatkar, DDLJ, Dil to Paagal Hai or some of the other great hits that SRK has had to establish himself as a superstar, he has played a role which is very natural, boy next door. He has brough such life to those portrayals that each one of us has cried & laughed with him, putting ourselves in his shoes as it were. But with that dimpled smile, hair falling on his forehead, doe eyed charm, I just dont think SRK has the personna to play larger than life screen roles.

One look at DON & one of my favorite scenes is where he is singing 'khai ke paan banaras wala' where it is the SRK of old, the simple small town boy who with his natural charm & expressions, simply makes you love him. He is not the BIG persona of DON in that !

Neither does he have that voice - that has to be an omnipresent one for a larger than life character. The 2 most 'key' dialogues - 'Nau mulkon ki police ....... & Don ko pakardna ......' just fall limp,with a faltering hiss; not leaving the kind of impact that they should otherwise have had.

Having said all of the above, I still say that SRK has indeed acted very well in the movie. At no point does he leaves you anguished ........ but it is those parts where he is doing a 'Vijay' rather than a 'Don' that endeared me the most to him. In sum on SRK, he is not cut out to pull off, to take another parallel of a larger than life role, an Agnipath. He is perfect for my 'friend next door whom I love' kinda roles ........

The others in the movie:

Priyanka: Great sensuality on display ........ she just has the looks to pull that off & looks quite stunning in most parts of the movie (although her make up does 'cake' on her face)

Isha: A retro glam gone waste. Perhaps has not more than 6 - 7 dialogues to mouth in the entire movie.... and in anycase even here other presence (s) are missable !

Kareena: A complete waste. Parched expressions. Forget taking on a yester years icon, even by her own performances that she has shown us in the past, this act of hers is very forgettable. And that one song that has been recently grabbing a lot of written space, even in that her dance steps are very poorly choreographed as well. Outside of jerking here 'b**bs', there is nothing more to it at all.

Boman: Fabulous. Have stopped getting surprised with his performances. Simply brilliant !

Arjun: Was he there ??? ......... leaves you with nothing at all. And I personally think has a played the limping loser enough for sometime now.

And if I have missed out some others, thats coz they dont even come to my mind !

All in all, slick action, good amount of style, too much of going back n forth, felt a stretch at times, had SRK give a decent display of his abilities in a role that he is not naturally cut out for.

Should you go & watch it ? Well what the heck, with everyone talking about it till the cows come home, you should .......... although on a weekend @ a multiplex with the kind of ticket costs that you have these days - it wont be the best bang that your rupee could deliver !!!