Don (2006)

Don shares a special place and a mention in the category of Bollywood films on genre of mafia and goons. Actually this Don is out and out remake of Chandra Barot's 1978 original. While Amitabh Bachchan had a memorable and indistinguishable characterization as Don, Shahrukh Khan had more stylish, fiercely furnished character. SRK was so intriguing in his first venture of Don and he completely dominated the whole film. Coming back to the story, Farhan Akhtar has stole the show, even as halfway possible. Story itself is gripping and flawlessly directed film makes it more sophisticated to see decorated film in the 2000's decade. SRK as both Don and Vijay are ebullient to watch on screen. Priyanka Chopra as Roma is delightful to watch. Other actors to watch out for are Boman Irani, Om Puri and lesser way possible Arjun Rampal. Though Farhan Akhtar was mild to keep secrets safe and there had been a little let down due to predictability in the second half, it doesn't let you make fumble over exciting thrill. Suspense plots were aptly kept so that patrons could feel tense throughout the film. Secondly, film has more uprising like James Bond films. Plot, thrills, action etc all are comparable to Bond ventures. SRK is no less than a Bond to feature in such films and to lure people over his skills and charisma.

Don is the movie that shows Shah Rukh Khan at the top of his game. After having already played numerous memorable characters, he has taken the role of DON and made it his own, with shades of many of his previous memorable roles but given a megawatt jolt. His inexhaustible charisma lights up the biggest larger-than-life character in the history of Hindi cinema.Farhan Akhtar demonstrates again why he is one of the most promising directors in Bollywood. He has covered every aspect of the movie with brilliant poise and delivers a highly intelligent action movie. Akhtar has taken of something much revered and made a contemporary, and true, classic that preserves everything laudable about the original, and improves on its every fault. The characters are more fully drawn and their roles are better balanced to provide a more cohesive and engaging narrative.Boman Irani does a commendable job with a crucial role in the movie. Arjun Rampal hardly flinches in what could have been a breakout role but at least stands his ground. Kareena Kapoor makes an excellent turn as the new Kamini and hits every note just right. Lending a lot of substance to the role, she does it more justice than was done to it in the original.It's almost a shame then when Priyanka Chopra becomes the principal female character. She certainly looks the part, especially as it was physically demanding, but doesn't really accomplish anything outstanding with it. Much more note-worthy is Isha Koppikar in the role of Anita. The role is very light on screen time and as subtle as it is brief. Koppikar though, gives a magnificent and under-stated performance to make it shine.The female characters aren't given much focus, but they integrate well into the story and to the central character of DON and give scope for improvement in future instalments of what should become Bollywood's most favoured franchise.The fight sequences could have been improved with better choreography, while the other action sequences range from fairly well-executed to excellent, and all make up a major step forward for Bollywood. The good production value really shows through on the screen.The soundtrack is fantastic and seamlessly complements the on screen proceedings. Each song is not just entertaining, but also progresses the story.The movie has hundred per-cent replay value; it is engaging and entertaining every time.

The movie is a slick action flick. Well the old don was clichéd, and just good performance by Big B was the only thing that made it watchable. I hate how critics trashed this film calling old don a classic. Gimme a break. And if you watch closely, nothing is much changed, it's not coz farhan was too lazy to change the script, it's his interpretation of the clichéd story. Just watch the movie once more after you saw the film, and you'll understand how well it is directed by farhan. SRK as the don is cool but the vijay role was over his head. Priyanka is good. Boman is excellent. Arjun is decent. Must watch, you won't be disappointed unless you are just watching to make wortheless comparisons between the two.a 7.5/10 from me and a very good attempt by farhan! Waiting for Don 2.

I was initially sceptical about Don being remade because the original Don is one of my favourite Amitabh movies and was even more sceptical when I found out that son of Javed Akthar, Farhan Akthar was going to direct it. I was however pleasantly surprised, though not quite as good as the original but considering that most remakes are terrible it was decent entertainment. There are however some quite serious flaws. One of Farhan Akthar direction, his movies are known to be slow and stately paced, for instance Dil Chata Hai. Unfortunately Farhan Akthar brought that same slow stately pace to Don, which considering Don is meant to be a fast paced action thriller can be a huge flaw. Another flaw is that the original Don had an element of surprise and since this is a remake the element of surprise disappears because I already know that the policeman(In the original played by Om Shivpuri, in the remake played by Boman Irani)will be the head of the criminals. Thankfully it is not a complete disaster, Shah Rukh Khan almost saves the movie singlehandedly. His rendition of Khaike Pan Banaraswala could have fallen flat on its face but instead is a success. Another saving grace is the twist ending, which was not in the original that had me reeling from the shock days later. As far as remakes come, you could do a whole lot worse than Don.