Film Review (B'wood): DON (2006)

[Spoiler alert: almost all of the plot is described below]

Over 12 months since my last post here! It doesn't mean that I haven't seen film that is compelling or moving enough to write about in the past year. Instead, it's the not-so-easy process of relocating between continents, even if you're coming back to your home country.

I've returned to a bold phase in the post-independence history of India. And to a population that is getting younger, on an average, with every passing day and will continue to grow younger for a while longer. In the midst of all this promise, I'm yet unable to resist a smile on what Farhan Akhtar managed to pull off. So, I'm compelled to start posting again with DON.

His DON doesn't die; in fact, he comes back to life in his original skin. His DON doesn't get arrested, doesn't repent, doesn't lose family members, doesn't pay for tricking the heroine into loving him - he just refuses to be the norm! In a year when new ideas in mainstream Hindi cinema have found public acceptance more than ever before, even a Nagesh doesn't risk a sad ending in Dor, even a Rakeysh Mehra cruelly ends the lives of the lovable Rang De Basanti cast, who took the law into their hands.

And here is Mr.Farhan Akhtar - he's done something he will find hard to surpass through a lifetime of making films - pulling off his childhood fantasy...by staying true to script on his rendition of DON.

As a film, DON had few gaping holes but many flaws. There were some surprisingly poor performances - from Om Puri and Boman Irani - and not so surprisingly, from Arjun Ramphal and Vijay (the look-alike). However, the women and DON were in their element and made the film as entertaining as possible (most viewers knew the outline of the story), catering to a 2006 audience, as opposed to its 1978-born cousin. It was a remake from that perspective - super-slick and almost 007-like in its treatment - and it was bound to ride on the back of unprecedented pre-release publicity (the newly discovered 2006 Bollywood business model).

Critics didn't know what hit them - they tried some weak comparisons with the original and pooh-poohed acting, music and attributed box-office success or foreboded the lack of it to a 'twist in the tale'. BullS**t! What they couldn't obviously reveal in the reviews was the twist itself but it was impossible for them to publicly admit that Farhan had done more justice by tinkering with the script than the original could ever have.

The original could've passed off as 'VIJAY' instead of 'DON' - no fault of Amitabh's. Amitabh's rendition of coolness was, and is, unparalleled (I think Shah Rukh had to work much harder to get to his DON image even close, except for the final pan-away cigarette shot, where he exuded this ruthless look - would love to see an Amitabh version of it). The result was a very entertaining first 30 minutes in the the original DON and the anti-hero emerges as the archetype for 70's coolness.....who then dies a meek death? Enter Vijay - and the ensuing typical story line & impossible transformation to DON. Trapped between Bollywood scripts & coincidences, Vijay and Roma run away merrily at the end with a celebratory paan in cheek.

Squashing the myths & multiple miracles that meander through a Hindi film script, Farhan simply dedicates himself to one impossibility - an invincible DON. Presented with the most powerful hero and villain that can be on the same stage at once, the audience marvels at his brilliance, i.e. DON's brilliance, as they leave the theatre. Furiously working back the clues.... "oh! there were some blurry background cartoons, did you see them?", "he touched Isha's hand!", "ah! he couldn't recognize the kid, that was a giveaway"....the audience quietly absorbs the climax on the drive home. A remake, they said. Wow! All the masala delivered to order and an audacious villain kept alive for a sequel! (Note: This guy - DON - was more than a regular anti-hero, he was a villain in the original and is as evil in the remake. He's no Sarkar or Godfather - he's not into charitable causes.)

Note to Shah Rukh and Farhan on a proposed sequel: You caught the audience unawares and left them cheering for DON. Death to the wimp Vijay (ah! the hero, wasn't he) and the audience didn't bat an eyelid. Next time around will be more difficult. Its not everyday that a Bollywood film audience goes home after cheering for the anti-hero while he menacingly sneers - fancy-free, with his woman on one arm, a smoke in the other, and rid of all his enemies. Cheers to Farhan Akhtar!