Don

Comparisons are odious - but in this case, inevitable. Mr. Akhtar has taken the campy cult classic of the seventies and dared to present it to us in a magical new garb. This has outraged many fans of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and the old Don. I want to start out by saying that I was never a great fan of the original version - it was made as a low budget film and became a classic only by virtue of an interesting story line and Mr. B's larger than life persona in the film and at the time.

What does the new Don offer that the old Don lacked?

1. It offers a slick wonderfully smooth roller-coaster ride that was absent in the circa 1978 version.

2. It offers an updated suave yet menacing evil protagonist that the old one lacked. Mr. B was way better as the naive and bhaiyya Vijay, not very convincing as the evil Don. One should remember that the best of his roles that carried a menace associated with his persona were those where the menace was righteous! This was not the case in Don (1978) and so he did not present the role as well.

3. It offers wonderful action and thrills a minute. The action sequences, car chases, fights, flights are unmatched in Hindi cinema and rival stuff coming out of Hollywood!

4. It offers excellent music and dance numbers - ah, recycled some say. I disagree - the "Yeh Mera Dil" number sizzles in the hands of Kareena, and "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" now has Mr. Khan's image embedded with it!! And the two original numbers "Main Hoon Don" and "Aaaj ki Raat" are inspired and brilliant.

5. It offers excellent comedy that has nothing to do with slapstick or stupid.

6. It offers bad guy henchmen that are real. It replaces the fake sheiks and bug eyed goons standing around, with sexy sirens and real menacing dudes!

7. Best of all it offers a couple of very smart twists that I will not describe in any detail so the spoiler warning is unnecessary. Let me just ask two questions. Is it easier for a suave sophisticate to play a dumb yokel, or for a dumb yokel to play the suave sophisticate? What motivates DCP DeSilva to send Vijay back as Don in the 1978 version?

8. It offers a very smart and sleek leading lady, who does not seem fake in the martial arts moves - the practice was well worth it Ms. Chopra!

9. It fleshes out the character of Anita more than Don 1978 did, she was a warm body there. And Ms. KOPPIKAR does justice to the role.

10. It offers us Mr. Boman Irani in the role played by Iftekhar. Iftekhar was great but Mr. Irani is superb.

11. I saved the best for last. Last but not least at all, it offers Mr. Shahrukh Khan the opportunity to dust off his acting chops and delight us as the evil menacing Don. The Badshah is back and he is badder than ever! Welcome back Mr. Khan - first the bad boy in KANK and now the evil dude in Don. Divali came with a great gift this year! Let us hope the future roles are even more varied and delightful.

Surely it is not flawless, you ask. So what is wrong with the new Don?

1. Well, I never really believed in the whole Doppelganger thing (a duplicate human being for everyone) outside of the identical twin scenario. So yes, that is pretty unbelievable, but that is a premise that has fascinated story tellers and movie makers for years - plus that baggage came with the old Don so no negative points there.

2. Why was JJ carrying his kid on his shoulders - wouldn't it be easier to hold his hand and walk across? JJ in the old Don TIGHTROPE WALKED on his lame leg with two kids on his shoulders. So I am actually giving the new Don a plus point!

3. The whole CD with information thing was a bit overplayed - but it beat the toss the red notebook game played in the graveyard in the old Don! So again a point for the new version.

So when I do the math, Mr. Akhtar's Don comes out way ahead in sophistication, storytelling, fun, action, thrills, drama, and acting. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and you will want to go back for more. I will probably go back just so I can watch the demented Khaike Paan number again. And the twist does leave room for a sequel - I sincerely hope Farhan and Shahrukh will do one.

Don was great James Bond type entertainment. It had action, music, babes, great photography, good music and a surprise ending. What more do you want? It also bought some old memories back. I was amazed at the quality of production like special effects, camera angles, shooting locales, car chase, sky diving etc. SRK tries his best to fit the larger than life role of Don and does a good job. The women are just fillers. SRK is the movie.

For all the people out there who posted negative feedback and criticized the movie....Did you guys expect this to be an art movie? Have you seen how stupid the original Don is? Compared to the original this is a great improvement.

I think there is going to be a Don 2 coming soon.

Don just continues to prove that Farhan Akhtar is a brilliant director, taking a big budget blockbuster and making it smart, fast-paced and fun. Shahrukh Khan does really well as the villain, something I had not expected going into the movie. Priyanka Chopra is strong as the female lead, and Arjun Rumpal is especially good in his smaller but important role. The music in the movie is one of its strongest points, every song is carried out with excitement, yet the songs don't take away from the plot of the movie at all, they enhance the scenes they are complementing. One of my favorite Bollywood films of the past couple years, up there with Rang de Basanti and Kal Ho Naa Ho.

You want a hunky shahrukh khan, a va va voom Priyanka who seems to have worked out like hell to get that figure; an angel faced Isha Koppikar, FANTASTIC shots of Malaysia and i say FANTASTIC, a wonderfully underplayed intense performance by a mesmerizingly handsome Arjun Rampal slick action sequences and an as usual highly entertaining and effective performance by Boman Irani ......go see Don.

Oh and the song picturisations are very good too...especially title track and Khaike Paan Banaraswala....

Bear in mind this is an action packed remake of a thriller and also made purely to entertain...so don't go nitpicking small details like people did in the case of Fanaah....sit back sip on your coke, chomp on your popcorn and enjoy!

No one reveal the ending please.....let the others enjoy as i did the twist in the end!!!

Do not miss the start and do not miss the ending.

This movie has been shot very well, with the locations and cinematography at its best. The start of the movie goes a bit slow and then picks up pace.

I think Shahrukh has not over acted this time. The cast has been chosen perfectly to do their job.

This movie is a bit different from the original Amitabh Bachchan's DON, so comparing both the new and old movie is out of the question. Each one of them is good in its own league. For the people who have seen the original DON, at first, you start to think that it might not be so good, and justice has not been made to the original. As the movie goes on, you start to change your mind.

As for me, the overall the movie was really good and worth every bit of money paid to watch the movie.