Don 2

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/

Chalo Dilli

I maybe working in the fashion industry for now but that has nothing to do with what I believe is fashionable in Indian Cinema these days. And I am not talking about clothes – just to clarify. I make the “fashionable” reference to the profession that is considered to be “in” as far as Bollywood is concerned these days. It’s a 2 letter word and I don’t mean vegetable vendor or movie star or managing director. It is the exceptionally lucrative profession of Investment Banking. Every alternate movie has the lead male and in this case female star who is an Investment Banker. How in the blazes does one of the most coveted professions of all time generally land up being portrayed as if it’s the only one available is just beyond me. There are so many other professions that Lara Dutta could have picked up for her role in Chalo Dilli but the choice of heading a 635 employee 200 crore turn over investment banking firm was too tempting to pass. That her description of her job leads you to believe that it is more to do with FOREX (or maybe it was too fast for the comprehension of lowly mortals such as this writer) is not going to go too well with the Investment Banker’s Association of India (if there is such an organization that exists).

Mihika (Lara Dutta) – and I like that name – has to take the 1630 flight from Mumbai to Delhi to catch up with her husband who for some strange reason doesn’t stay with her. She is used to the frills and fancies of quick check in, business class and the likes. But for availing these services, one has to get to the airport and preferably on time. Mihika manages the first part but fails miserably on the 2nd part. Despite her meek and vain threat about how much business the airline makes through her, she is asked to take the next flight @ 2300 hrs (I assume it is not 11 am) which coincidentally takes off in reasonable sunlight – unless of course she takes an alternate airline. En route to the airport, she gets delayed by traffic and as luck would have it, the same despicable Dilli Wala – Manu Gupta (Vinay Pathak) – gets onto the seat in front of her. With great pain and with the help of her i-pod (which has all of one song loaded onto it) she manages to touch down. However, thanks to the i-pod – and Apple is not going to be too happy with this – she doesn’t hear the announcement regarding the diversion to Jaipur. She does manage to get a car with a driver who is half asleep and again bumps into Manu Bhaisaab who offers to take over in the driver’s seat. And so begins the journey through the desert with various modes of transport – that too in expensive high heels.

I missed out on Shashant Shah’s first, highly lauded Dasvidaniya. But if Chalo Dilli is anything to go by then I am exceptionally surprised at the accolades that his earlier attempt received. After a point of time, it gets insulting to the audience if certain basic consistency errors are overlooked – a clear indication of the “chalta hai. Audience ko kahaan pata chalne wala hai” attitude that’s used across the board. One would have expected more attention to detail than what was paid. That he cannot make the gorgeous Lara Dutta do better than what she managed also doesn’t reflect too well. But the casting coup from Shah comes in the form of probably the only actor who could have pulled off Manu Gupta. There is nothing else to speak about in the movie. Watch this one for yet another scintillating performance from Vinay Pathak. I give this a 6 on 10 – out of which 10 are for Vinay Pathak and -4 for all the gaffes and the atrocious version of Laila O Laila. There should be a ban on remaking all things Zeenat – no one can come close.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khRB85bwj-8