I liked Don when it was remade. The secret to that was to look at it as a completely different movie, independent of the Big B block buster which released some 3 decades earlier. A lot of people I know loved Don (2006) and the so called “purists” hated it to the core. I was, as accepted earlier, part of the former set of people. I thought Farhan Akhtar’s adaptation was superb and deserved a 7 on 10 on my scale to say the least. It was slickly made. It had great music. And most importantly it was finished beautifully.
The twist towards the end has kept people waiting for the past 5 years. Everyone who left that hall knew there was a Don 2 coming. It would have been stupid not to have capitalized on the brilliant opportunity that Farhan had created. Now why would he wait for 5 years to come up with Don 2 is a question only he can answer. It baffles me to no end. The concept of making the sequel along with the first movie and only delaying the release was not new to the industry when Don released. I would have released Don 2 within a year of Don. Excel Entertainment thought differently I guess. Excel was wrong.
Don 2 opens 5 years after the dramatic escape that Don (Shah Rukh Khan) manages to pull off under the noses of Roma (Priyanka Chopra) & Malik (Om Puri) and Co. By then Don has complete control of the Asian Drug Market and is hot on the heels of the Europeans who have created a cartel to kill him. But then as everyone knows “Don Ko Pakadna….”. So killing him would be out of the question right? After escaping from the attempted murder, he turns himself into the Interpol which continues to be led by his favourite Junglee Billee. All a build up to get into the same Malaysian jail that Vardaan (Boman Irani) is housed in and use his help in his next venture – stealing the plates for that are used to make the Euro from the DZB.
Don 2 may as well have been called Mission Impossible (Hindi). The list of inspirations from Hollywood is endless and that’s what probably disappointed me about this movie. Why? Because I think Farhan Akhtar is one of the finest directors and story tellers we have in our time. Why he would stoop down to “inspiration” is a bit beyond me. It will be for the first time that I would give a Farhan directed movie less than 7 on 10. Also disappointing is the finishing which is really Farhan’s forte. The effects seem “chipkaoed” (Stuck) and not seamless. The screenplay and dialogues lacked the impact usually associated with him with the exception of some instances such as “No Autographs please”. The story was well – nothing we haven’t seen before. The editing was just about acceptable. The consistency errors were just shooting through the roof!!! All very unlike Farhan. Seriously wonder if he was on LSD or something while shooting.
In the acting department, Boman Irani was head and shoulders above everyone else by a country mile and a half. No one but Shah Rukh can pull off this role which demands so much of arrogance – a trait that comes naturally to the King. Piggy Chops continues to look good as the Interpol officer who has time for a French Manicure and the best of fashion – but only look good. Lara Dutta is the sincere water girl, room service girl, courier girl, odd job girl etc. with no role per se and also ill fitting clothes. Kunal Kapoor’s role is pivotal but really badly essayed. To make matters worse the Shankar Ehsaan Loy music is lack luster to say the least.
In all, is Don 2 worth watching. Yeah I guess so. Is it close to Farhan’s best – nowhere. Worth spending time on? You would have booked your tickets by now and so go ahead I and watch it. Will you come out of the screen feeling happy – nope. Disappointed? – nope. It is the feeling of being let down by some of India’s finest coming together and delivering a product that is barely average which is worse than being disappointed. Is it better than MI4 Ghost Protocol – hell yes!!! 6 on 10 I say.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2265947673/
The twist towards the end has kept people waiting for the past 5 years. Everyone who left that hall knew there was a Don 2 coming. It would have been stupid not to have capitalized on the brilliant opportunity that Farhan had created. Now why would he wait for 5 years to come up with Don 2 is a question only he can answer. It baffles me to no end. The concept of making the sequel along with the first movie and only delaying the release was not new to the industry when Don released. I would have released Don 2 within a year of Don. Excel Entertainment thought differently I guess. Excel was wrong.
Don 2 opens 5 years after the dramatic escape that Don (Shah Rukh Khan) manages to pull off under the noses of Roma (Priyanka Chopra) & Malik (Om Puri) and Co. By then Don has complete control of the Asian Drug Market and is hot on the heels of the Europeans who have created a cartel to kill him. But then as everyone knows “Don Ko Pakadna….”. So killing him would be out of the question right? After escaping from the attempted murder, he turns himself into the Interpol which continues to be led by his favourite Junglee Billee. All a build up to get into the same Malaysian jail that Vardaan (Boman Irani) is housed in and use his help in his next venture – stealing the plates for that are used to make the Euro from the DZB.
Don 2 may as well have been called Mission Impossible (Hindi). The list of inspirations from Hollywood is endless and that’s what probably disappointed me about this movie. Why? Because I think Farhan Akhtar is one of the finest directors and story tellers we have in our time. Why he would stoop down to “inspiration” is a bit beyond me. It will be for the first time that I would give a Farhan directed movie less than 7 on 10. Also disappointing is the finishing which is really Farhan’s forte. The effects seem “chipkaoed” (Stuck) and not seamless. The screenplay and dialogues lacked the impact usually associated with him with the exception of some instances such as “No Autographs please”. The story was well – nothing we haven’t seen before. The editing was just about acceptable. The consistency errors were just shooting through the roof!!! All very unlike Farhan. Seriously wonder if he was on LSD or something while shooting.
In the acting department, Boman Irani was head and shoulders above everyone else by a country mile and a half. No one but Shah Rukh can pull off this role which demands so much of arrogance – a trait that comes naturally to the King. Piggy Chops continues to look good as the Interpol officer who has time for a French Manicure and the best of fashion – but only look good. Lara Dutta is the sincere water girl, room service girl, courier girl, odd job girl etc. with no role per se and also ill fitting clothes. Kunal Kapoor’s role is pivotal but really badly essayed. To make matters worse the Shankar Ehsaan Loy music is lack luster to say the least.
In all, is Don 2 worth watching. Yeah I guess so. Is it close to Farhan’s best – nowhere. Worth spending time on? You would have booked your tickets by now and so go ahead I and watch it. Will you come out of the screen feeling happy – nope. Disappointed? – nope. It is the feeling of being let down by some of India’s finest coming together and delivering a product that is barely average which is worse than being disappointed. Is it better than MI4 Ghost Protocol – hell yes!!! 6 on 10 I say.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2265947673/
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