Don 2

When you have a character like Don to play with, you must have the script to make sure that whatever he does becomes even more awe-inspiring. No one's looking for realism. In fact we want to see him pull off unbelievable capers. He's after all our very own Ethan Hunt or James Bond with his own bad-boy charm.  SRK and Don are immaculately conceived in the film (excuse the bad Christmas pun). Every line, every expression thought through well and delivered in acceptable SRK acting or hamming - depending on whether you like him or don't.  The problem starts when the script and director chooses to focus only on his character to portray his greatness. And that really fails The film in the overall scheme of things. Every other person - whether a cop or a rival gangster -  looks like they wouldn't be competent enough to bunk college, let alone catch the Don.  Priyanka Chopra is irritating when she throws attitude at him on catching him twice. Both times no thanks to her. Om Puri looks tired of mouthing cliches. Boman tries to look menacing but ends up being a caricature of himself from his other roles. Kunal Kapoor seems earnest at getting his fifteen minutes of fame. And Lara looks fabulous with a lot of plastic smiles and fancy hairdos but stops there. The guy playing Jabbar looks and acts like Big Moose and he's supposed to be the one to kill the mighty Don! The most groan-worthy is Priyanka's love interest-cum-subordinate. The opening sequence is fabulous. Then one is reminded of various films and TV series seen over time. Prison-Break like prison scenes, 24 like computer graphics, Ocean's Eleven like heist, Mission Impossible like fancy party wearing a mask, Usual Suspects like "poof, he's gone!", James Bond like car chases, Matrix like lobby gunfight, Die Hard like hostage situation, etc. All this makes for a heady cocktail of action. No points deducted for slick moviemaking but definitely negative marking for thoughtless character buildup. An example - Priyanka still wears a dainty Tag Heuer when on a search-and-rescue mission. Disappointing at the end of it all, especially from Farhan Akhtar whose forte has so far been in developing memorable characters on screen. The Don franchise promised great depth from its characters at the end of the first part. This one just doesn't live up to it. It just remains a straightforward heist film with predictable twists and turns. I hope there's no third if this is where it's like to head. Expecting too much from Don 2 is the real letdown. It's ended up being an Abbas-Mastan thriller. Script ko pakadna naamumkin nahin, par mushkil zaroor ho sakta hai. Wish Farhan had paid attention to that.