Oct 24, 2006 10:55 PM
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Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi , na mumkin hai !
So has Farhan Akhtar managed to do it ? The answer is a deifinite - YES.
The plot is simple - basically taken from the 1978 movie. A DCP hot on the trail of a dreaded criminal called DON, manages to shoot him and to catch the rest of Don's cronies , trains and lets loose a duplicate DON. As the duplicate is about to get all the info, the DCP kicks the bucket , leaving Don to fend himself with both the police and his own cronies after him.
But it is here that Farhan excels, throws in a couple of twists in the tale - one comes bang in the middle and the other right at the end.
When the movie begins - you feel you are in a time wrap , the costumes and styling remind you of the old movie - you will tend to compare the going ons on the screen with the original and all the names will come rushing back to you - Ramesh, Narang, Don, D'silva.................but after a while you find that though the movie is a remake , its DIFFERENT. After you get through tthe initial feel , you watch it not as a remake but as a movie on its own and thats where Farhan scores.
Farhan takes you on a joyride - the cinematography is breathtaking and the locations are great, Paris , Malyasia and Mumbai. The pace is breathtaking (jarring 15 mins in the 2nd half) , the background score rocks.
The performances
SRK has a tough job to do filling into Big B's shoes and he does that admirably as Don. Stylish, sauve and debonair , SRK carries off this act as Don beautifully. As Vijay , in my personal opinion SRK falls short of Big B. He cant do the bhaiyya act convincingly and its shows.
Priyanka - Frankly put I dint like her in the movie one bit. And her plot with Don hasnt got much importance.
Kareena - I tried to put the comparision with Helen out of my head and review her performance , still she leaves me cold.
Boman Irani - He gets a meaty role and does full justice. People have told me they dont like Boman in the movie but I think that this is the 1st time Boman has got to play a normal character and maybe thats why people havent liked him. They expect a character that stays in the minds and beleive me Boman's DCP will be there like Iftekar is always there in our minds.
Rest of the cast - Om Puri is wasted and Pawan Malhotra gets a better role after a while. Rest all are adequate. And what exactly was Isha Koppikar doing in the movie ?
Music
Frankly the music is dissapointing. The 2 songs retained from the original being the major culprits more so the Khaike Paan Banaraswala song. Of the rest the title track is listenable, thats just about it.
Direction, Story and Cinematography
Farhan excels again. As a director he has complete grip over the movie and his introducing the 2 twists works beautifully. Cinematography as I said - perfect.
So Don ko pakadna hai ?? Head to the nearest theatre and watch it. You wont regret it.
Over all I give it 4/5.
