Introduction
It was in early 2005 that media houses started reporting about Farhan Akhtar remaking Don—Amitabh Bachchan's 1978 classic crime actioner that was helmed by director Chandra Barot. While Akhtar had enough reasons to justify the remake, the primary one being Akhtar's bond with the original film as his father co wrote it with Salim Khan—remake wasn't too common back in those days and thus, people had a really hard time to understand what was actually cooking. Moreover, the decision to remake such a popular A-list Hindi film drew separate hate and skepticism. The casting wasn't digested by people at the ground level either, and critics majorly debated about how a relatively 'soft' actor like Shahrukh Khan can pull off a straight-faced mobster like Don, even in his wildest dreams? Flaks kept on increasing with every passing day in an era where social media wasn't even a thing, but the makers were stern on their take. As Don turns 19 this year, here's me discussing how the film shut every single critic after it's release! Apart from Shahrukh Khan, this film starred Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles, while Isha Koppikar, Om Puri, and Pavan Malhotra played supporting roles.
Note: No spoilers
Basic Plot
A police officer hires Vijay, a lookalike of a criminal in order to nab him down, but Vijay struggles to prove his identity once the police officer dies.
Positives
Direction, Writing, and Character Development
You know, the character development has been really solid, here in this film. If we see the OG Don- Bachchan's character was treated only as a Mumbai based crime boss with no proper pretext to what he actually does, or even, who his crime partners are. But here, things are elaborate, big on scale, with proper reason to what every character does. The titular character of Don is established really well here; his origin, his body language, style of talking, confidence, and most importantly, the way his syndicate performs, is intricately designed so as to get rid of any loopholes in the plot. The characters played by Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani are superiorly thought of as well, which lends this film a content driven edge. Chopra's character 'Roma' has enough motivation to go behind Don and Irani's character DCP D'Silva is all good and law-lover, until the interval scene that reveals who he actually is. The entire interval block fills a new breath of oxygen into the film, that carries the narrative confidently till the climax. I even liked the sub plot that Arjun Rampal's character 'Jasjit' gets in this film. Although the sub-plot isn't related to the main story in a big way, and even the execution seemed to be a bit uneven, it's a good enough emotional stimulus that majorly worked as intended. The direction by Farhan Akhtar has been on point as well- the world building, international locales, slick editing and subtle nuances through out the runtime give off a very slick, street-smart, and sophisticated vibe that works in favor of the film, big time. Javed Akhtar's contribution as a co-writer for the film has worked wonders, as the film successfully manages to keep it's old magic intact (keeping some iconic scenes, dialogues, and plot points from the older film intact), among all the modern noir substance that the film confidently carries.
Performances, Dialogues, and Action
I mean, things have been fabulous in these departments, with Shahrukh Khan leading the game from the front. While Amitabh Bachchan pioneered and made the character memorable, it's undoubtedly SRK who lived and immortalized the character! This is a type of Don who's confident, smart, narcissist, and most importantly, timelessly relevant. The fact that he's shown to enjoy Tom and Jerry in the film, states the fact that he enjoys what he does, (even small things) and thus, the size of his empire. Priyanka Chopra carried herself pretty well as Roma, a character that nobody could imagine being played by anyone else except Zeenat Aman. I also liked that the makers opted for a rather understated version of Roma here, instead of the more flashier one in the OG film; this newer version aligns the character perfectly with the story and tone of the film. Arjun Rampal is pretty convincing, and a special mention to Boman Irani as well for his genuinely convincing layered act. Dialogues are just perfectly cooked in this film, and each of them have their own USP's as well. They're just so fun and sassy at the same time, even the regular conversational ones, that you will just crack up at several instances not because they're funny, but because how well they fit into the scene and amplify the overall mood! This is also one of the very few films that emphasizes on raw and purposeful action rather than over the top and devil-may-care stunts, performed nonchalantly, as if they're a child's play. The 'martial-arts' thing comes right when they're required and in spite of a few slow-mo scenes spread disparately through out the runtime, you can easily say that this film shines with some really cool grounded action, for all the right reasons. The airplane and the subsequent mid-air fight sequence is one of my personal favorites, which is executed using minimal CGI and maximum adrenaline!
Underwhelming Aspects
Appeal
Although this film doesn't really have some serious issues, I personally felt the appeal and the 'pull' to be limited. Farhan Akhtar is known for making urban centric film and this is no different, but for an action-thriller film, this was a significantly different approach from what people have watched until then. Apart from the star cast, nothing really felt mass-friendly or even half as relevant to the common public as the OG film. The film did manage to do significant business nonetheless at the time of it's release as per 2006 standards, but I think a character like Don, a new rendition in this case, should've been more mass friendly, even if was intended not to be like that. Also, I did not really prefer SRK's version of Vijay in the film. It's nice when he impersonates himself as Don and tries to be him, but the scenes were he plays himself are not that great. No wonder the makers kept very limited scenes of Vijay being himself in the film.
Conclusion
It was a daring move by Farhan Akhtar to remake one of the best film of Amitabh Bachchan's career, and it's his risk-taking ability that produced one of the finest remakes of the modern era! The sheer urban revamp that the OG story received was something that no one saw coming, but it proved itself worthy especially during the cracker of a climax! The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is good with two remakes (people usually compare them with the OG ones and call the new ones inferior, but what they don't realize is that the newer ones absolutely fit the mood and setting of the new film) and three originals, but what stood out for me was the mysterious background score which provided the required amount of depth to the titular character. Man, the BGM was absolutely fab! As the film completes 19 years of it's release today, it feels all the more relevant and fun than it did back in 2006! 'Me too TJ.. I've also always.. liked me' says Don in the very first action scene of the film, and man, that's freaking sick!
Watch Out For
- Cast Performances
- Action sequences
- The shocking climax!
WTF Rating
7.5/10