DON is the ultimate cool movie...and critics be damned!!**SPOILERS!!!**
before I went to see Don today I watched another film where the protagonist was a hunted man with double identities,amazing abilities, and multiple agendas...you think I watched the old Don? naaaah.. I watched The Bourne identity, one of my absolute favorite film ever! Ever since I knew Frahan was to remake Don, I was hoping he will take the Bourne identity rout and not the MI one, and to my delight he did!!.
The film worked for me on so many levels, and the most important one is the twist , it suits our times, we live in a harsher, more cruel world where innocents like Vijay are squashed by the powerful,the film's cold atmosphere matched it's cold ending, the only vibrant scenes with colors and pure happiness where with Vijay celebrating Ganpati. The twist made perfect sense, and it also revealed a convoluted sense of irony. Everybody was not who they are, and everybody was conning everybody, and the biggest Con of all was Don taking down the competition( Vardhaan, Mac, Narang,Singhania), he said to Narang in the vault that where he wants to go requires fast methods..and sure he did use fast methods, and speaking of the vault, was that the scream I saw?
....damn but I love Farhan so much for those touches.
the other level why this film worked for me was how the characters where drawn out, and I start with Don, because ultimately the film Hinges on Don.Don was a total psychopath, his enjoyment in killing people and lack of remorse was fascinating, one scene that stuck with me was the bathtub scene, where Don is watching his cartoons when he is informed about Ramish's betrayal, there was this look of disappointment on his face that I didn't know if it was because Ramish betrayed him or his cartoons are interrupted.He killed Ramish with such delight..it sent a chill down my spine.
but the brilliance of Don's characterization comes later when we think he is Vijay, Don's surfaces from time to time in a subtle ways, when he regains his memory and boasts about enjoying killing them all, or when Jasjit tells him that DCP Da silva is actually Vardhaan, we see the scheme formulating in his head, the last hurdle in building his empire will be removed.
and despite all that..i couldn't but fall for the charm of Don, he is stylish, articulate, sophisticated, little off-kilter, little unhinged, and raw..when he talks people listen, and when he is in a room people pay attention. I was reminded with another evil character that had the charm and he diabolical actions of Don, and that was Frank Costello played by Jack Nicholas in The departed (2006), you can't but hate him as an evil guy, but you also can't but laugh at his antics, and admire the mind and the charm of the evil master .
Technical aspects:Everything about this film tells that the filmmakers paid great attention to every detail, the cinematography was top notch, the camera work was fantastic, and the editing was superb( I wish I had more technical knowledge to describe those aspects), everything worked..that's all I can say.The FX and stunts were top notch, Red Chillies has improved so much since Paheli and MHN, those were not on bar with HW exactly, but they were damn close. The dialoges of this film are also worth mentioning, because they were all written with double meanings all over the place...I need to see this again...and the dialogs are one of the reasons.
The music and picturization: every song was placed perfectly in the film, and all of them moved the narrative forward, and the picturization was almost perfect( except for YMD). KP got the highest cheers in my theater, I personally loved MHD, something about the decadence and sheer corruption of the gang was portrayed with elan in that Song...and SRK turning on the charm was all the fan girl in me needed...and speaking of fangirly moment..
*Fangirl squeeee::SRK was HOT!!! damn the man is fine....Collar bone and floppy hair Galore!!!*End Fan girl squeee!
the background music needs to be released ASAP..because I want it!!
performances.
SRK: He was Don, Don of 2006!! , I can't possibly imagine who else can pull this off...and please..Akshey Kumar is not an option,SRK was excellent as Vijay, funny, street smart and very naive, but as Don? he gave a power performance that will be mentioned among his best when it's all said and done. The maniac look of a truly evil man is what makes SRK among the most talented actors today, he fooled the gang, the police...and me!:)
Arjun Rampal: I loved him in this, his pain was real, and his rage was boiling one of his best performance.
Boman Irani: DCP Da Silva was dull, methodical, and boring, Vardhaan was cocky, arrogant and despicable. Amazing actor with fantastic performance.
Priyanka Chopra: I loved her as Roma, strong yet warm, and her goodness shines through, she looked amazing with SRK.
Om Puri: very one dimensional, but the film didn't need Malik to be complicated .
Ishaa Koppikar: didn't have much to do, but her spunk was there.She looked sexy as hell, and the dress in Aaj Ki raat? awesome!!
Kareena Kapoor: looked sexy and seductive, but was let down by the clunky dance moves she was given.
and Finally...Farhan Akhtar: the man behind this excellent movie deserves every bit of praise, his vision was clear , direct, and very apparent, there is such enthusiasm and energy in Don , that comes from him, the flow of the film was excellent, I loved all the extra story lines.For a young director, he keeps improving and impressing, I just can't wait for his next venture.
Audience reaction: The Indian population in Utah is a new one , so most people are professional young people, what I am trying to say that there wasn't much children, and the audience was mostly young families or college kids who appreciated the action sequences, and the twist very much, there was a huge cheer when SRK said Don at the beginning, there was also a huge cheer for Kareena and Priyanka. KP ot a huge cheer, and people laughed at the funny lines, and the twist produced a big gasp in the theater. I had an American friend who watched Don with our group( his Indian wife dragged him to his first BW film in the theater) , he "dislikes" BW films, and I was afraid he will make fun of Don, he was so damn impressed, he loved it!
verdict: excellent is an understatement about Don, brilliant, well done, and awesome!! how about that??
The film worked for me on so many levels, and the most important one is the twist , it suits our times, we live in a harsher, more cruel world where innocents like Vijay are squashed by the powerful,the film's cold atmosphere matched it's cold ending, the only vibrant scenes with colors and pure happiness where with Vijay celebrating Ganpati. The twist made perfect sense, and it also revealed a convoluted sense of irony. Everybody was not who they are, and everybody was conning everybody, and the biggest Con of all was Don taking down the competition( Vardhaan, Mac, Narang,Singhania), he said to Narang in the vault that where he wants to go requires fast methods..and sure he did use fast methods, and speaking of the vault, was that the scream I saw?
....damn but I love Farhan so much for those touches.
the other level why this film worked for me was how the characters where drawn out, and I start with Don, because ultimately the film Hinges on Don.Don was a total psychopath, his enjoyment in killing people and lack of remorse was fascinating, one scene that stuck with me was the bathtub scene, where Don is watching his cartoons when he is informed about Ramish's betrayal, there was this look of disappointment on his face that I didn't know if it was because Ramish betrayed him or his cartoons are interrupted.He killed Ramish with such delight..it sent a chill down my spine.
but the brilliance of Don's characterization comes later when we think he is Vijay, Don's surfaces from time to time in a subtle ways, when he regains his memory and boasts about enjoying killing them all, or when Jasjit tells him that DCP Da silva is actually Vardhaan, we see the scheme formulating in his head, the last hurdle in building his empire will be removed.
and despite all that..i couldn't but fall for the charm of Don, he is stylish, articulate, sophisticated, little off-kilter, little unhinged, and raw..when he talks people listen, and when he is in a room people pay attention. I was reminded with another evil character that had the charm and he diabolical actions of Don, and that was Frank Costello played by Jack Nicholas in The departed (2006), you can't but hate him as an evil guy, but you also can't but laugh at his antics, and admire the mind and the charm of the evil master .
Technical aspects:Everything about this film tells that the filmmakers paid great attention to every detail, the cinematography was top notch, the camera work was fantastic, and the editing was superb( I wish I had more technical knowledge to describe those aspects), everything worked..that's all I can say.The FX and stunts were top notch, Red Chillies has improved so much since Paheli and MHN, those were not on bar with HW exactly, but they were damn close. The dialoges of this film are also worth mentioning, because they were all written with double meanings all over the place...I need to see this again...and the dialogs are one of the reasons.
The music and picturization: every song was placed perfectly in the film, and all of them moved the narrative forward, and the picturization was almost perfect( except for YMD). KP got the highest cheers in my theater, I personally loved MHD, something about the decadence and sheer corruption of the gang was portrayed with elan in that Song...and SRK turning on the charm was all the fan girl in me needed...and speaking of fangirly moment..
*Fangirl squeeee::SRK was HOT!!! damn the man is fine....Collar bone and floppy hair Galore!!!*End Fan girl squeee!
the background music needs to be released ASAP..because I want it!!
performances.
SRK: He was Don, Don of 2006!! , I can't possibly imagine who else can pull this off...and please..Akshey Kumar is not an option,SRK was excellent as Vijay, funny, street smart and very naive, but as Don? he gave a power performance that will be mentioned among his best when it's all said and done. The maniac look of a truly evil man is what makes SRK among the most talented actors today, he fooled the gang, the police...and me!:)
Arjun Rampal: I loved him in this, his pain was real, and his rage was boiling one of his best performance.
Boman Irani: DCP Da Silva was dull, methodical, and boring, Vardhaan was cocky, arrogant and despicable. Amazing actor with fantastic performance.
Priyanka Chopra: I loved her as Roma, strong yet warm, and her goodness shines through, she looked amazing with SRK.
Om Puri: very one dimensional, but the film didn't need Malik to be complicated .
Ishaa Koppikar: didn't have much to do, but her spunk was there.She looked sexy as hell, and the dress in Aaj Ki raat? awesome!!
Kareena Kapoor: looked sexy and seductive, but was let down by the clunky dance moves she was given.
and Finally...Farhan Akhtar: the man behind this excellent movie deserves every bit of praise, his vision was clear , direct, and very apparent, there is such enthusiasm and energy in Don , that comes from him, the flow of the film was excellent, I loved all the extra story lines.For a young director, he keeps improving and impressing, I just can't wait for his next venture.
Audience reaction: The Indian population in Utah is a new one , so most people are professional young people, what I am trying to say that there wasn't much children, and the audience was mostly young families or college kids who appreciated the action sequences, and the twist very much, there was a huge cheer when SRK said Don at the beginning, there was also a huge cheer for Kareena and Priyanka. KP ot a huge cheer, and people laughed at the funny lines, and the twist produced a big gasp in the theater. I had an American friend who watched Don with our group( his Indian wife dragged him to his first BW film in the theater) , he "dislikes" BW films, and I was afraid he will make fun of Don, he was so damn impressed, he loved it!
verdict: excellent is an understatement about Don, brilliant, well done, and awesome!! how about that??