Review of Don, The Chase Begins Again

Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006)

Director: Farhan Akhtar

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapor, Isha Koppikar, Om Puri

Time: 171 min.

Hindi with English subtitles

Rating:

The man who brought us Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya ventures into the action remake genre with Don: The Chase Begins Again. The 1978 Bollywood classic Don starring Amitabh Bachchan tells the story of the Vijay, a slow-witted, unsophisticated man who could be the identical twin of Don, a suave, ruthless crime lord. When police inspector DeSilva witnesses Don’s death, he doesn’t tell anyone what happened. Instead, he convinces Vijay to assume Don’s identity and infiltrate his gang.

Invariably any remake is automatically compared to its original, and the creative team behind DTCBA clearly realized this. In the pre-release interviews, the Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra explained that they weren’t trying to recreate the original Don but to make a new movie based on the original. Farhan Akhtar even added a silly subtitle to avoid all cases of mistaken identity.

However, despite these attempts deflect comparisons, DTCBA deliberately plays on our knowledge about the original. Characterization is avoided because we already know the characters and their motivations. Exposition is ignored because we already know the plot and why it unfolds as it does. The songs aren’t even meshed into the story smoothly because we already know how they fit into the plot.

DTCBA is really nothing more than a modern skin draped over the internal organs of an older, far superior, creature. A lifeless skin is perhaps the best description for this film. Everything about DTCBA is flat—the script, the acting, the visuals, the songs, the dancing, the action. Perhaps the only visible spark of life in this movie is the song sequence for “Khaika Paan Banaras Wala.”

Dual-role movies are generally interesting because they allow the lead actor to portray two vastly different personalities, as Amitabh did in the original. That angle is missing from DTCBA partly because Farhan Akhtar made some poor directing choices, partly because Shah Rukh Khan (as Don and Vijay) can only portray one character who always makes the same faces and has the same emotional responses (over-the-top mugging or teary-eyed blubbering), and partly because the plot twist at the end inherently sabotages the preceding 165 minutes.

In a strange creative decision, Akhtar updated one or two aspects of the film, such as the ending, but failed to update anything else. During car chase scenes, the vehicles were driven slowly and the film played back at a faster speed to create the impression of a high-speed chase. Don ran his “company” in the most unrealistic non-Mafioso way. The script contained the usual cheesy, unbelievable coincidences and plot-holes you find in most ’70s Bollywood films.

So what is there to like about DTCBA? Arjun Rampal actually manages to act. He just might be the best thing about this movie. And Priyanka Chopra looks quite stunning in the “Main Hoon Don” sequence. Even the updated songs are enjoyable without the dull visuals.

Ultimately, I wonder if someone who hasn’t Don will understand DTCBA. It simply doesn’t work outside the context of the original. If you plan to watch DTCBA, I would recommend watching Amitabh’s version first. Of course, if you do watch Don, you really shouldn’t waste your time watching the chase begin again.