Don (Hindi, 2006)

What’s with Sharukh Khan and remakes? First, he goes ahead and becomes Devdas, a role which used was Dilip Kumar’s signature role. Now, he is the Don, again a signature role of another of the greatest actors, Amitabh Bachchan. The result is the same – the remake is a good movie on its own; as long as you don’t keep on comparing it to the original movie. I am not going to compare it to original movie, apart from one statement – even Sharukh Khan in his right mind would not say Shahrukh Khan was as good as either Dilip Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan.

DON, 2006 is a movie with style. It brings to an old plot the technology of 2006, and the movie is more chic, more sexy for that. Sharukh Khan looks so desirable (that’s from my wife), Priyanka Chopra, Isha Kopikar and Kareena Kapoor add to the glamour quotient. Shahrukh has always excelled in his portrayal of negative roles, and he once again proves that he has not lost the touch. Boman Irani is wonderful in the role of a police inspector with devious ways. The plot is well known, but the twists in terms of deviations from the original are quite good. Finally, the Malaysian locations and the cinematography around them are breathtakingly beautiful.

Well, that is saying a lot of good about a movie which can be termed average at the best. I genuinely liked watching the movie, I got from it what I expected. Like most of the remakes, the movie lacked a certain spontaneity, a certain life of its won, as if the actors themselves know that they are copying someone. Try as I did not to compare with the original, the movie deliberately reminds you of the original in every scene, every dialogue. It becomes very difficult to appreciate the movie if you are thinking all the time, “I would rather be watching the DON DVD kept at home”. There’s hardly anything special about the movie, hardly any magic.

Recommendation – Go watch it, it’s a well-done remake.

Rating – ✔✔