There are two reasons why one went to see 'Don' with an open mind. The first is that I never thought much of the original and it certainly wasn't one of my favourite Bachchan films of the '70s. Therefore, the lack of baggage and absence of odious comparisons. The second is that I am an unabashed admirer of Shah Rukh Khan and generally like watching him on screen unless he's doing something unequivocally horrid like 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'.With 'Don', Farhan Akhtar probably lives out all his Hollywood dreams – the influence of the James Bond films, 'Con Air', 'Face/Off' and such other action thrillers is very much in evidence. He also tries to add a few more twists and turns to the original screenplay written by his father Javed Akhtar and erstwhile partner Salim Khan. The result is a classy-looking film with some exciting chase sequences, a couple of wonderfully choreographed songs (particularly the title track) and a brilliant background score from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. But perhaps a trick/chase/song too many. What mars 'Don' is it's uneven pace. There are racy moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, and others that prompt you to look at your watch and check if time is actually passing.
The director, ably aided by cameraman Mohanan, gives his film a stunning look. Everything is just right -- from Don's stylish clothes, to Roma's (Priyanka Chopra) classy hair-dos to some mean cars and picturesque locations. He also retains much of the original premise of the film -– of a gangster who gets killed by a cop who then replaces him with a bumpkin look-alike to bust his gang. The cop gets killed and the fake Don has no evidence to prove his innocence. Only thereafter, there are some unexpected turns that deviate drastically from the earlier film and may provoke purists to question Farhan's intentions. To me, it works just fine.
However, what doesn't fall into place are the asides – Jasjit's (Arjun Rampal) back story or in fact, his entire presence in the narrative, the 'Con Air' rip-off of a fight sequence aboard a very fake-looking airplane, and particularly, the situation for the "Khaike paan Benaras wala" song, which really looks like an item number that just had to be fit in somewhere. Watching Om Puri enact a two-bit role too is disappointing and the logic behind casting Kareena Kapoor as Kamini (played by Helen in the original film) is beyond comprehension. This character's only purpose in the film is to do a sizzling number on Don – and obviously Kareena can't be made to look seductive even under duress.
Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar, on the other hand, are perfectly cast, particularly the latter, who plays the don's moll in an unpretentious manner. Boman Irani lands one of the most challenging roles of his career so far as ACP D'Silva and executes it in a slightly exaggerated style, perhaps trying to follow Bollywood tradition.
But the film clearly belongs to SRK. There's an obvious tribute to Amitabh Bachchan, particularly in the parts where he's playing Vijay; there's also a hint of John Travolta's 'Face/Off' menace in his body language. It's sheer attitude and to a large extent it is his energy that holds the film together.
One doesn't know how well 'Don' is going to go down with audiences now getting used to shorter, crisper narratives. Perhaps Farhan needs to re-visit his editor and trim his 2 hour 50 minute film down to a watchable length.
Deepa Gumaste
6 comments:
I cannot believe that it is the same Farhan who gave us 'Dil Chahta Hai' which had so much life and optimism. 'Don' is so cynical and impassionate. It stems in a belief that everybody is screwed up and the only way to redeem oneself is to start enjoying the anti-social. This is reflected in the ad-hoc way that his screenplay chooses to deviate making anything possible without really having the guts to become anti-narrative. Just imagine driving oneself to a climax with the sole intention of pronouncing the possibility of a DON part 2.5!
And whatever happened to good old romance, falling in love and the sentimental journey to a feel-good end which are the hallmarks of a good melodrama. Whatever happened to balancing archetypal characters with some contemporary behavioral portrayals? Whatever happened to good sensuous song/dance choreography which seems to have completely disappeared in this film? and the less one talks about the Digital Intermediate work in this film the better.
If this is the kind of disregard to some of the sustaining aspects of Indian mainstream cinema displayed by a filmmaker with such good credentials, then I shudder to think the impact that it is going to have a lot of young aspiring young filmmakers who hold Farhan and Javed saheb with so much respect.
Dear Sir,
I was thrilled to receive your response to 'Don'. There's no greater joy than knowing that your teacher is reading your work and takes the trouble to react to it.
About 'Don', I felt it was a sign of the times. Good old romance, falling in love and the sentimental journey to a feel-good end as also good melodrama are perhaps fast disappearing from our lives, as they are from the screen. A couple of months ago a journalist called me to ask whether the conventional Hindi screen villain is now becoming redundant. I said he is, because every mainstream star from Amitabh Bachchan to Aamir Khan to Akshay Kumar is routinely veering towards negative characters including terrorists, dacoits and murderers. In which case, the modern day 'Don' could no longer be about old-fashioned righteousness. It would, I think, look stale.
Back when Amitabh was playing the messiah of the masses, perhaps the masses actually felt that they needed to be saved. Now the masses are too busy trying to get upwardly mobile in any way possible and the battle of good-versus-evil is almost becoming a thing of the past in the age of reality television.
It's ironic, but in a film like 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' too, a goon preaches Gandhi's words and instantly cleanses himself of his past sins. In 'Bunty Aur Babli' the duo rob and cheat everyone in sight and get away with in the end as if to suggest that in modern times you can actually get away with anything. In Ramgopal Varma's Sarkar, the foreign educated Abhishek Bachchan character easily defends his father's criminal ways to his girlfriend by citing the failure of the 'system' and the inevitability of a parallel government run by gangsters. So we are living in an age where every unethical act committed on screen by mainstream stars is cleverly justified and even glorified.
Farhan Akhtar is a product of my generation. People like us have had a fairly comfortable life without working hard for it. We inherited our parents' money and their cynicism and casually accepted both as a legacy. We live in a world where getting ahead is more important than the means employed to get there. Is it any wonder then that Farhan's 'Don' gets away with his misdeeds and lives to die another day?
Deepa Gumaste
Deepa, now I cannot believe that you too have become part of the cynical gang, perched on the high-rises in Mumbai, having lost all faith in the 'masses' below. Do you really believe that our people have lost all their warmth to become selfish upwardly mobile 'in any way' possible? What 'new' 'comfortable life' generation are you referring and comparing yourself to?
Have you lost yourself in the world of simulation just because you are an unabashed admirer of SRK? I don't know him and so I shall not comment but I thought you and I shared some ideals based on the faith that there are still some 'good' values to be cherished for!
How could you compare concepts in 'Lagge Raho' to "Don" in the same cynical vein? The problem with "Don" is the fact that it is latching onto the aesthetics of melodrama like a leech. Why doesn't Farhan have the guts to be cold-blooded like Tarantino and spit on the world around him instead of sponging on melodrama to make it enjoyable? Let him proudly carry his cynical spirit on his chest like an Almodovar instead of chewing his 'paan' and using me to spit it out! Comparing it to "Sarkar"- even in that self indulgent film there was a note of anguish somewhere when the young heir blames the system! There is some sort of redemption there but this "Don" can only be saved by unabashed fans!
Dear Sir,
No, I haven't become cynical. I firmly believe that there are values that deserve to be cherished no matter what and I continue to try to live by those values as far as I can. However, I notice that popular Hindi cinema is definitely giving up on old-fashioned melodrama and the eternal battle of good-versus-evil. Of course I like Shah Rukh, but will be the first to criticise his work if it doesn't appeal to me – like I did with 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna', which I hated and couldn't bear to see SRK in it because he was terrible.
When it comes to 'Don', in my opinion, the original film was fairly ordinary and perhaps succeeded largely because Bachchan was riding a tremendous wave of success. The new version tries to update the story to contemporary times and yes, I do find that in contemporary Hindi cinema, the lines between right and wrong are fast disappearing. I don't for a minute justify this absence of values in cinema, but lament the fact that filmmakers do not find anything glorious about old-fashioned idealism. And I find a reflection of that in the world I live in. The students I teach at the University are readily willing to make every compromise required to succeed in the material world. This is their admission, not my conjecture. And it is almost unanimous. Not one of them believes that there is some worth in upholding a certain value system. They quote their 'middle-class' background and the need to break away from its mediocrity. And yes, when I watch films like 'Bunty Aur Babli', 'Sarkar', 'Bluffmaster' and numerous others where popular stars routinely essay morally ambiguous characters and generally get away with their on-screen misdeeds, I do see it as a sign of the times. In the case of 'Don', I am not surprised to see the wily villain crush the good guy because honestly, that's what often happens in contemporary society.
Lage Raho is a different story because although the protagonist is a crook to begin with, he does get transformed into believing in a certain value system. I liked the film a lot, but also found it quite simplistic. I think to an extent, Rang De Basanti actually fired the imagination of the youth. And yet, once again, many of my students thought it was foolhardy of the youth in the film to sacrifice their lives for a cause.
Deepa Gumaste
Dear Deepa,
I did not like Don for multiple reasons. That in itself may not have prodded me to write. Your review and the conversation with Hariharan certainly has. To use the amorality and cynicism of contemporary youth in Mumbai as a justification for Don or for that matter any film is extremely dangerous. First because I refuse to believe that people are only amoral and cynical. In the vastness of India any assertion or generalisation is always both true and false. You will find millions who are cynical and millions who are not. I have had the privilege of interacting with your students. I suspect a fair number would be cynical and a fair number would not. I might add that human nature is per se so fluid that there would be situations in which those whom we read to be cynical would respond in idealistic ways and vice versa. The point I'm making is that a film maker, must make a conscious decision as to what world view he or she shares.
Don is the glamourisation of a cynical cold blooded killer disguised by sophisticated styling. Great clothes, great sets, great music etc. In my opinion this is the culture of the `Harshad Mehta is great' generation. The success of Don proves that this has large numbers of takers. The success of RDB or Lage Raho proves there is a constitutency and a large one at that for a diametrically opposite viewpoint. Farhan Akhtar has taken sides. Is this the side you really want to be on Deepa?
Satyajit Bhatkal
Dear Satyajit,
Thanks for your feedback. I know many people think the way you do. But the world I see around me justifies the glorification of a cold-blooded don. Also, that's exactly what i see happening in mainstream cinema. Given the fact that every single popular mainstream actor is readily accepting negative roles as terrorists, gangsters, dacoits, murderers, petty thieves etc, where is the question of questioning Farhan's motives? It is definitely a sign of the times. For every RDB, I can name half a dozen films where popular stars are doing questionable things on screen and getting away with them without remorse.
Just last week I watched Dhoom 2, where Hrithik Roshan play a stylish robber who looks far more attractive and glamorous than the good guy played by Abhishek Bachchan and is always two steps ahead of the cops. What's more, like in Bunty Aur Babli, his questionable past is conveniently erased because the cop finds the kindness in his heart to forgive him. Don is talking about a cold-blooded, dreaded gangster who gets away with murder right up to the end of the film. But in innumerable films I see far lesser criminals made to look glamorous, a life of petty crime glorified and the criminals walking away scot free despite being caught by the cops. There is a distinct difference between these 'innocent' criminals and 'don', about whom there is no ambiguity whatsoever. We don't start loving him in the end because he dodges the cops and gets away with his crimes. But we do love 'Bunty Aur Babli' and 'Bluffmaster' and now Hrithik's Mr. A, all of whom commit far greater crimes than Farhan's 'Don' in my opinion, because they make a life of crime look glamorous and even socially acceptable.
I found 'Don' to be a stylishly shot film. It's a mainstream potboiler and in that genre of films, I found it a few notches above the regular Bollywood thriller.
Post a Comment