Don

Don is the movie, that I am in love with after 'Sholay', so much so that I still remember most of the dialogs, characters, scenes and good performance by many contributors in this movie apart from legendary, one and only, Amitabh Bachhan.

Almost all of the main characters in this movie, though they are doing a typical "bollywood" act, are too good and have given a life to the role, like Pran, Jinat Aman, Om Shivpuri, Iftekhar, Kamal Kapoor, Helen and Shetty.

Every scene keeps you thinking what is next; the suspense, the thrill - it's very exciting, very well played. Add to it, few good songs like "Khaike-Pan-Banaras-Wala", "E-he-Bambai-Nagaraia", and "Mai-hoon-Don" are too good and evergreen. Even the background music is one thing that I love and remember, the one that is there when DON (duplicate) is running to save himself from the police. Dialogues were too good and are still popular all these years - "Don-ka-intezar-to-gyarah-mulkon-ki-police-kar-rahi-hai", "magar-Don-ko-pakadna-mushkil-hi-nahi-namumkin-hai".

No wonder – the re-make version is under production this year (2006) where Shahrukh Khan is playing the DON, and it will be a hit, because the name of the movie itself is famous enough to blow up the box office.

Don is a true classic thriller of the 1970s, and it surpasses the usual fare of the times in both story and execution. The film is extremely well shot, and Chandra Barot's direction is very good. The film gave me Bond vibes as I was watching it - everything about it from very early in the film is really stylish, the camera work is great, the sets, decorations, costumes, score, sound - everything boasts of very high production values. What makes the magic in the end is the script, which is tense and twisted and really well etched out, and, guess what else, oh, well, who else if not Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, who is excellent in his dual roles, and his presence alone does much to captivate the viewers. What almost takes away from the magic is the ending, which turns the film into a sort of slapstick comedy, unintentionally I guess, but it is forgivable because most films of the genre end on similar notes. The film has many other great things going for it, including great music, a lovely leading lady in Zeenat Aman, and impressive turns from the famous character actors Pran and Iftekhar. There's hardly a dull moment in this film. It's nostalgic and highly entertaining.

Don is a very bad boy. In an international syndicate of smugglers, Don is the meanest of them all. Mess with Don and you're dead. It's not just difficult to catch the Don... it's impossible!

Amitabh Bachchan plays Don like every cool dude rolled into one - Shaft, Dirty Harry, and err... other cool dudes! That is until he takes a bullet 30 minutes into the movie and dies. "Wait a minute - this movie is 3 hours long, and they've killed the title character already!" is bound to be your first thought at this. But it's alright, because the only man to see him die, the police 'DSP', happens to know of a man who is Don's exact double... and he has a plan. He trains up the amiable betel-nut chewing street performer in the ways of the Don, and sends him undercover to root out evidence against the rest of the gang. Here Amitabh gets to show his range - from badass cool dude to goofball to goofball pretending to be a badass cool dude, he fits the role (and those flared trousers) to a tee.

Don has clearly been made from concentrated 1970's extract... and it's cheesier than a McDonald's Cheeseburger where they forgot to give you everything but the cheese - and when you go up to the counter to complain, they just give you more cheese . But even though you know it's probably going to make you fat and give you spots, you can't help going back for more. The movie manages to straddle that fine line between inspiration and idiocy where you find the rarest of substances - pure entertainment.

This is not a movie to be taken seriously, and it could hardly be called a movie of great technical virtue. But Amitabh Bachchan takes the role(s) and gives them such a lot of character and life you can't help but love watching him. The crew of flared and paisleyed crooks and goons and the kung fu fighting revenge babe, the crippled tight rope walker and the well meaning but mostly simple police officers all make the Don's world an interesting environment to watch Amitabh at work and play too.

And then there's the zoom lenses, the toe tapping funk tunes, the chase scenes that seem to leap miles between each cut, the fight scenes that are acted out in courteous slow motion (when they're not being bounced around on trampolines)... the song and dance routine opining on the virtues of mixing opiates and stimulants... With Tears Of The Black Tiger and Don all in one weekend I feel guilty, like I've just eaten a whole triple chocolate cake in one sitting... life just shouldn't be this much fun!

If you've got 3 hours going spare, let the Don into your life too and he'll make you a happy chappy - I guarantee it!

This movie has to be one of the best thrillers of the 70's and it still packs a punch today. The reason is simple, you think you know the whole story then suddenly the plot twists leaving you all shaken up. The script by Salim Javed was absolutely superb. Amitabh excelled in a role he was born to play. Zeenat Aman provided good support as his love interest. Even Pran lent fantastic support.This film isn't the greatest to ever hit Bollywood, nor it is a path breaking film for the industry. Don is a genuine entertainer with an interesting story line for the 70"s era. They could have spent half the film showing the notorious don but instead the character dies soon, and later is replaced by a look-a-like. Which is where we get plenty of laughter and light moments. Towards the end when he is discovered by the police to be a fake Don, he is in a big soup. It is interesting how he manages to prove himself innocent, and how he find the father of the kids he was taking care of. mega hit songs by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle with the powerful music done by Kalyanji Anandji :) one of the best movie I have ever seen in the vintage era 70's with greatest night view camera work used in this mega hit film Don :)

There's not much to explain about the story of "Don", which probably EVERYONE knows about by now, right? It may not be a GREAT story...but none the less the movie is just totally entertaining ~ you watch Amitabh perform from a totally COOL-evil bad guy to a goofy paan-eating guy and trust me, it's impossible not to adore the man. He's just so COOL! His stunts rock too.

Though I usually can't stand Zeenat Aman, in this movie she got such awesome clothing, and an awesome hairstyle topped with a really COOL role. Pran is also the regular COOL guy, about just as COOL as Amitabh, which is why it rocks to see them together on screen as usual.

Pretty much everyone else in the movie played their roles well.

And I have to mention Kalyanji-Anandji who were behind all of the totally COOL music throughout the movie. The background music and songs are made to match the COOLNESS of the movie :-D. Lata, Kishore, and Asha at their ultimate COOL.

So watch this COOL movie so I can stop using the word COOL so much hehe. Khaike Paan Banaras Wala!