Review : Don

Rating : Above average (3.85/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hr and 59 minutes
Director : Farhan Akhtar
Cast : Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Isha Koppikar, Om Puri, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor

Don (2006) : Good but not scintillating
 

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I so agree. Thus you’ll understand, that when I went to see Don, it was with in-built prejudice. I was convinced that Akhtar was making a mistake attempting the remake of a classic. How do you make a great film’s remake even better ? You don’t. At best, you could improve on it minutely, and then, let’s face it, who’d notice ? At worst, you could crash and burn – and the whole world would know.

And while I can’t say that Akhtar has achieved the impossible, I must say that he’s tried. The film started off visibly slow. The first few scenes did nothing more than follow in chronological order – Don did this and did that etc. Quite boring. The first half followed in the original’s foot-steps, with SRK attempting an emulation of Amitabh’s Don, and the film seemingly content to wallow in pre-delivered and well-remembered punch-lines. And while the movie pre-interval clearly smacks of adulation for the original, in the second half, Akhtar comes into his own, putting a new, cerebral spin on an old tale.

Doubtless, you’ll remember the story scene for scene. Still, here’s the gist : Don – dashing kingpin of the underworld, wreaks havoc. DCP D’Silva hot on trail. Don dies unexpectedly. Enter Vijay – a Don look-alike, rural bumpkin, tutored by D’Silva to infiltrate Don’s gang by impersonating him. That done, D’Silva dies. Don, aka Vijay, pursued by police who think him Don, and gang-members who know he’s not, now in very, very hot soup.

Just reiterating the story makes me tingly. The drama, the promise of a juicy tale, the immense opportunity of a thriller ! There are 2 ways to look at this film, one by making the obvious comparison, and the second to judge it stand-alone, by itself. The first way, “Don 2006” comes out the loser. The reason : Shahrukh is Shahrukh, and while I do like the guy, he is no Amitabh. It makes you realize just how much Bachhan was responsible for the original’s magic. Also, the 1978 Don was a tight, simple script held together by cinematic muscle and Amitabh’s skin. It moved, and it moved fast. And it was un-complicated. Here’s the hero, here’s the villain – a couple of hours later, the good guy wins and everyone goes home happy. The new Don seems to revel less in it’s very Bollywood-ian formula, and tries a tad too hard. It is too conscious of itself. While stylized and “brainier“, and presenting to us a new improved, cutting edge Don it forgets to imbue him with anything more substantial than frivolous personality and zany neck-ties.

However, I find much to applaud when I look at Don 2006 stand-alone. The film has style. It takes a while to get the pace up, but when it does, it revs up and takes off. Most importantly, it diverges from the known rut, to travel a slightly different, original path. The characters in the film, although bearing the same names as the original, are a newer, cooler, funkier version. They jetset around the world, displaying their snazzy outfits and (then ?) trendy Moto Razrs. The film has a modern feel to it, and the characters translate accordingly. Plus actors, like Priyanka Chopra (looking gorgeous and very Zeenat-esque with those signature neck-scarves) and Arjun Rampal, who’m I’d been leery off, do better than expected. The music borrows heavily from the original songs, but the newer interpretations are picturized well. The fight sequences, of which there are many, are done beautifully. It’s not the usual dhishum-dhishum anymore; these are well-crafted, sinuous, lethal-looking moves, enacted by fighting-fit actors.

As expected, there are problems also. To me, the film did not flow as engrossing films should. Plus the entire concept seemed dated, like the director was forcing a 70’s film to come of age. Unfortunately, the wrinkles show; a square 1978-ish peg in a round 2006-ish hole. Acting wise, SRK’s stylized rendition of “the Don” didn’t feel like the real thing – it looked put-on. He does better in the second half of the film, when enacting the “new” bits. Also Shahrukh as country bumpkin was hard to swallow since he exudes an urban yuppie-ness that‘s hard to miss. When Amitabh did the role, I believed it all – the anger, the callousness, the simplistic naivete. No questions asked. With SRK, even though he does leave his mark (like the well-done “Khaike Paan” number) I have to think too hard. Boman Irani as DCP D’Silva does the job adequately, although he seems to oscillate quite a bit, between being hellishly cold, and passionately furious. Isha Koppikar as Anita looked rather faded and washed out (did the clothes just not suit her or has she fattened up – I couldn‘t tell), and Kareena as Kamini appeared much too naive. Not a patch on our Helen.

I did notice that the cast at times reverted to vintage, but still stylish, 70’s clothing. The women display ample cleavage and leg, and look good doing it. Priyanka appears in a one piece swim-suit which is almost a bikini, and Kareena in the “Yeh mera dil” number worries not as the hem of her dress moves higher and higher. Still, what’s with SRK’s neckties ? Ties worn under the shirt do not make you look cool; they make you look like you have ADD.

My reaction to the film, thus, is mixed. I am un-excited about trudging in some-one’s jaded footsteps just because. Hence while I tolerate the first half, it is the second, post-interval half which gets my vote. It is clear that Farhan, like the rest of us, suffers from a big time Don hangover. However, he does manage to breathe into it some of his own directorial magic; original, new-fangled shards of brilliance which translate into unexpected twists in a worn story. The film is definitely worth a dekho; just don’t go in expecting too much. You might not get it.

Update : The edited version of this review appears on Rediff here