Friday, November 03, 2006

Don - A review

Today ,I resort into a territory which I have never ventured so far into, but have always had a strange sense of liking for it.
I want to write a review about a movie.
This fateful movie happens to be none other than the recent release DON starring SRK and others directed by Farhan Akthar.
Monday evening, back from office and at a loss to think about anything I could do. Suddenly this idea flashed to my mind, to go and catch a movie since it had been quite a while. Sometimes I have been praising and patting my back for having made a decision to purchase a bike, because of instances like these. I think of something and there I have my bike, and off I go. Sheer independence and the joy of riding added!. I bought a ticket for a 9:30 show. Since I had 2 more hours at my disposal, decided to savour the Monday evening crowd at the Forum. Bought a new pair formal shoes too since the old one was starting to fall apart. Finally the movie started after a painful series of crappy ads. The green tinted screen showing the titles along with the melancholic background score serves as a prelude to the story which is going to unfold. Though I do not recollect having seen the original version on good old DD, SRK according to me has done enough justice to the original role with his typical feverishness(Some call it Overacting) and style statements. Story in itself is surprisingly different ,going by the current trend of movies.
Had it only been not a remake, but an original version by Farhan- Who I think is capable of such feat-, it would have been regarded as phenomenal; a trendsetter like RGVs Satya.
The dialogues to me appeared a little lose and sounded like narrating the story themselves, leaving little work for the audience to scratch and find the story. I was definitely comparing the Farhan of 'DCH' and 'Lakhshya' when it came to dialogues. I think Farhan, in an attempt to adopt a different style has gone a little slack in this regard. Action scenes were on par with the highest standards of bollywood in my opinion and that particular chase sequence
where police almost hunt down the Don, was to me, great!. Though hollywood action scenes are a far cry from what we see in bollywood, it is good to find such action movies raising the bar everytime and I can see that, some day a full fledged bollywood action movie of that standard will be a reality. Indian movies are incomplete without songs, and this one is no exception.
Remixes of the original version are pleasent to the ear, thanks to the neat work done by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Picturisation is glitzy and colourful with lust filled dance sequences to top it. Very few individual performances come to mind, if I were to recollect. SRK has given the best he could, which one can sense, and more important is nowhere in the movie does he try to imitate BigB. And he carries the role comfortably. I have not liked SRK in romantic flicks but I think he has done his job brilliantly here. Especially that deadly snarl on his face when he smashes that cigarette butt. But he just cannot be a bhaiyya. Remember the airtel ad in which he tries to imitate UP accent? He sucks, and he hasn't been doing any catchin’ up I believe, since he doesn't succeed to bring out that Vijay, who is the look alike of Don, here either. Boman Irani, as we all know has great potential and can very well slip into the shoes of the likes of Naseerudhin shah and Ompuri. But he just cannot do Kung-Fu, no matter how original he tries to be, neither his facial expressions nor his body support him in the act. I was not sure if Farhan had ever tried to keep the story a suspense, unassuming the original was no different than this. Because right after the chase sequence which I mentioned earlier, it is pretty evident that Boman Irani has fishy hands.This was kind of a let down for me, for I never expected it to be such a give away :(. Other than this, Priyanka Chopra and Isha koppikar do enough justice to their roles with the limited capabilities they have. Isha was a little better I felt,or does she have that 'buri billi' kind of look on her face? I'm not sure!. Arjun Rampal never comes out of the brooding image of his. Nevertheless he tries to act. SRK is aging, which is evident from the lines on his forehead and drooping cheeks and it's hard to cover it up with makeup. Last but not the least, that blood on SRK's teeth looks more real than it does on any other hero :D. I have been observing this right from ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Darr’. Very few can bleed so well like him ;).
All in all an entertainer, as it is proving to be. Churning out a lot both in India and abroad. 'Not to be missed' ,would not be an overstatement.

That was my first movie review! Phew!

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