Avoid using your brains to enjoy it properly. Review on Don 2

I can't imagine that it is the same Farhan Akhtar who had made a classic movie like Dil Chaahta Hai. Don2 entertains but it is far from being considered an excellent movie. Most of the movie seems to have been directed by its action director. However I give credit to Farhan for making a movie with a new story this time because for making its prequel, he had got a readymade story in the form of the original Don (1978).

I feel, while making Don (2006) itself, Farhan had decided to make its sequel and as the groundwork of the sequel only, he had shown in the climax that the deceased person was Vijay (who had been sent to the gang as the undercover agent of the police) whereas Don was alive although he had not bothered to furnish any logical explanation for that as to how it could have been possible. Anyway, picking up the thread from that end only, he has started the story of the sequel and furnished sufficient twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged for a major part of the movie. However these twists and turns are by no means great. Anybody fond of reading thriller and mystery novels can identify them and guess the resolution before the suspense is unravelled by the narrator.

Don was the story of an undercover agent of the Indian police whereas Don2 is essentially a heist story in which punches related to the hero's checkmating his opponents, have been inserted. The heroine and the supercop of the original movie are now shown as having joined the Interpol and got posted at Malaysia where our hero surrenders himself. His surrender is bound to be motivated which throws the screenplay on its main track. First an escape with an old foe-turning-accomplice (Vardhaan) is masterminded and thereafter the heist. The double-crossing game is also at large alongwith the original heist plan. Mind games are being played by the law-breakers to outwit each-other. No prizes for guessing as to who emerges triumphant in the end.

I advise the viewers that to enjoy this movie properly, they should put their brains behind before taking the path to the theatre for watching it because it defies logic at several places and in several ways. If I go on detailing all those points, the space provided for writing the review may prove to be very very inadequate. Anyway, let me assert that the scene involving Hrithik Roshan is the height of stupidity. It reminded me of an old flop movie - Heeron Ka Chor (1982) in which it was shown quite in a kiddish manner that a criminal commits crime by wearing the facemask of a straight citizen. Ditto for the scene of Hrithik in this movie. Farhan Akhtar conveniently forgot that just by wearing a facemask, a person cannot change his true height as well as the true colour of his eyes (hiding it from the heroine who has been pretty close to him in the past) and above all, his voice. Had Farhan dubbed Hrithik's dialogues in Shah Rukh's voice, it would have gone down the throat of the viewers seeking (somewhat) logic in the movie. The jailbreak and the heist as well as getting away after that have been shown in an oversimplified manner. The hero's enemies have been shown as damn fools in the climax which is unnatural.

The thing that Farhan has worked upon the most is style. It is by all means a style movie. Style is there in everything. The movie has a glossy look and a very high production value. Action scenes and thrill are the essence of the movie and it is worth a watch mainly for them. Technically the movie is superb and matches the Hollywood action flicks. However, it is the overdose of action in the second half that bores. It can be compared to Dhoom2 in which the adrenaline-pumping job had superseded the story aspect.

Witty dialogues have nothing original in them but they are very impressive and add spice to the narrative. Music is one of the biggest disappointments in this movie. Completely forgettable.

Shah Rukh Khan's self-indulgence is a very big problem for any movie now. He feels that he is the best. Fine. But blowing that trumpet frequently is irritating for the audience. Confident heroes are welcome, arrogant heroes are not. However himself as well as all others have done well. I specially admire Priyanka Chopra who has proved that she is the new-age Zeenat Aman (the heroine of the original Don).

Farhan has laid the foundation for the third part of the story. However he took five years in coming up with the sequel during which SRK turned 46 years of age. If he again takes five years for the third part, SRK will be fifty-plus. Already age has taken over SRK and wrinkles are visible on his face. It's good that this movie contains little romance else it would have been very difficult to endure aged (and ugly) SRK romancing with still very pretty Piggy Chops.

While recommending this movie as an entertaining one time watch (no repeat value like the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don), I pose a question. Earlier, the (Indian) movies did not show criminals going scot-free because the common assumption was - crime does not pay. Now, should we change it to - crime does pay (and much more than the honest and lawful activities) ? If a person is intelligent, smart and daredevil; why shouldn't he become a criminal and enjoy life (like Don) ?