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dangermousie, I saw Don yesterday. It was a lot of fun and worthwhile $10 though it didn’t crack my Top 5 Bolly movies this year (so far, and not in that order, they are Omkara, Fanaa, Rang De Basanti, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Krrish).
The spoilery write-up for the movie is behind the cut, but trust me, you don’t want to click it until you’ve seen the movie. I don’t care if you’ve watched the old Don until you can recite the dialogues by heart. Stay away. This is a reworking more than a remake and even such a spoiler nut as I am is glad she went into this unspoiled.
I am torn. It’s a very good movie. It’s fast-paced, clever, well-acted (SRK has said he wanted to do an action movie for ages and/or play the bad guy and he is tearing into this role, clearly relishing his chance. Anyone saying he has no range should watch Don and KHNH back to back), and with that rarity in Bollywood: a very tight screen-play. The final revelation made my mouth drop slightly.
The music numbers are great, the cringeworthy fashion is at a minimum and the three hours flew by.
So why the ambivalence?
This movie has no heart. OK. That sounds really harsh so let me explain. It’s not a bad thing for a movie to be cold, slick, smart and unemotional. But it’s not really my thing. In a way, in so many ways, this is a Hollywood movie with dance numbers and Bollywood gusto. And that’s fine, that’s a valid way to make a movie and a valid approach. But it’s not anything I look for in a movie.
Nothing in that movie touched me, made me feel, with the exception of the story of Arjun and his son, which was a minor subplot. I didn’t feel for ‘Vijay’ which is as it should be, as after all he is Don pretending to be Vijay pretending to be Don, but that very fact that the protagonist here is Don is the root of my lack of enthusiasm for the movie.
We are asked to root for Keiser Soze (Usual Suspect reference). And I can’t. Don is fun to watch, he is smart, he is undoubtedly cool. He is also an unrepentant mass murderer who manipulates people around him like pawns. Shahrukh is great in the role: he is vicious, he is off-kilter, he is pure energetic fun. I was drawn to him in a way I would have never been to the character if it was played by anyone else. I mean, even after finding out he was Don all along, I am thinking a one night stand might not have been that bad :P Evil or not, he’s got charisma to burn and it draws you in even as you remember his evilness.
But that’s the thing. I do remember his evilness. And I feel rather sick that he got away with it all. That he killed Kamini, who was trying to avenge the loss of his OTP. That he manipulated Roma so that she fell in love with the man who killed her brother. That (worst of all) he killed poor, sweet, innocent Vijay who really wanted to be in this only to help the child he took in (is it SRK’s chance to replay Duplicate? Only this time Manu does kill Babloo and convince everyone he is the sweet cook?) That Don manipulated everyone, betrayed everyone, and killed a whole bunch of people, from evil to saintly, and got away with it to scheme another day, makes me sick.
Ultimately, the whole thing becomes rather sad and feels entirely hollow. Is it a better movie than the old Don? Undoubtedly. And not just because the fashion isn’t making my eyes bleed. But the old Don, creaky and flawed as it was, made me happy when I finished it. In the old one, Don got his just deserts early on and the rest really is Vijay trying to stay alive and do good and clear his name. Here, the innocent never has a chance and the whole movie is the psychopath being cleverer than anyone. Does it make for a more convincing movie? Probably. But it’s not really what I want to watch.
This came out harsher than I thought. It is an enjoyable, fast-paced, slick movie that I do think is a worthy watch.
But if I want to watch a Bolly action flick with SRK, I'll prefer Main Hoon Na. I guess I am just hopelessly in love with masala. MHN has plenty of action, but it made me feel happy and fun and it’s just…eminently what I want to rewatch.
The spoilery write-up for the movie is behind the cut, but trust me, you don’t want to click it until you’ve seen the movie. I don’t care if you’ve watched the old Don until you can recite the dialogues by heart. Stay away. This is a reworking more than a remake and even such a spoiler nut as I am is glad she went into this unspoiled.
I am torn. It’s a very good movie. It’s fast-paced, clever, well-acted (SRK has said he wanted to do an action movie for ages and/or play the bad guy and he is tearing into this role, clearly relishing his chance. Anyone saying he has no range should watch Don and KHNH back to back), and with that rarity in Bollywood: a very tight screen-play. The final revelation made my mouth drop slightly.
The music numbers are great, the cringeworthy fashion is at a minimum and the three hours flew by.
So why the ambivalence?
This movie has no heart. OK. That sounds really harsh so let me explain. It’s not a bad thing for a movie to be cold, slick, smart and unemotional. But it’s not really my thing. In a way, in so many ways, this is a Hollywood movie with dance numbers and Bollywood gusto. And that’s fine, that’s a valid way to make a movie and a valid approach. But it’s not anything I look for in a movie.
Nothing in that movie touched me, made me feel, with the exception of the story of Arjun and his son, which was a minor subplot. I didn’t feel for ‘Vijay’ which is as it should be, as after all he is Don pretending to be Vijay pretending to be Don, but that very fact that the protagonist here is Don is the root of my lack of enthusiasm for the movie.
We are asked to root for Keiser Soze (Usual Suspect reference). And I can’t. Don is fun to watch, he is smart, he is undoubtedly cool. He is also an unrepentant mass murderer who manipulates people around him like pawns. Shahrukh is great in the role: he is vicious, he is off-kilter, he is pure energetic fun. I was drawn to him in a way I would have never been to the character if it was played by anyone else. I mean, even after finding out he was Don all along, I am thinking a one night stand might not have been that bad :P Evil or not, he’s got charisma to burn and it draws you in even as you remember his evilness.
But that’s the thing. I do remember his evilness. And I feel rather sick that he got away with it all. That he killed Kamini, who was trying to avenge the loss of his OTP. That he manipulated Roma so that she fell in love with the man who killed her brother. That (worst of all) he killed poor, sweet, innocent Vijay who really wanted to be in this only to help the child he took in (is it SRK’s chance to replay Duplicate? Only this time Manu does kill Babloo and convince everyone he is the sweet cook?) That Don manipulated everyone, betrayed everyone, and killed a whole bunch of people, from evil to saintly, and got away with it to scheme another day, makes me sick.
Ultimately, the whole thing becomes rather sad and feels entirely hollow. Is it a better movie than the old Don? Undoubtedly. And not just because the fashion isn’t making my eyes bleed. But the old Don, creaky and flawed as it was, made me happy when I finished it. In the old one, Don got his just deserts early on and the rest really is Vijay trying to stay alive and do good and clear his name. Here, the innocent never has a chance and the whole movie is the psychopath being cleverer than anyone. Does it make for a more convincing movie? Probably. But it’s not really what I want to watch.
This came out harsher than I thought. It is an enjoyable, fast-paced, slick movie that I do think is a worthy watch.
But if I want to watch a Bolly action flick with SRK, I'll prefer Main Hoon Na. I guess I am just hopelessly in love with masala. MHN has plenty of action, but it made me feel happy and fun and it’s just…eminently what I want to rewatch.
