Kathmandu:

Don: The Chase Begins (Thriller)

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Isha Koppikar, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor

Direction: Farhan Akhtar

Showing at Jai Nepal

Does Farhan Akhtar’s Don: The Chase Begins recapture the revolting and revolutionary dread of its 1978 original? An unfair, though a million-dollar question!

But comparisons are likely as we stack King Khan against the most charismatic actor in Bollywood, whose sheer baritone would send the entire peanut-gallery to go ballistic. Almost everyone would agree that to step into the shoes of Big B still remains a colossal challenge and to replicate his saga namumkin (impossible).

However, praised be King Khan for reprising the role that we still revere. And we do not precisely dislike the Don, who displays a semblance if not exactly re-establishes the character, that still remains raved about.

This remake of Don scores on most counts as not only does it enjoy the technical progress of the last two decades, but some of the most mind-blowing stunts in the backdrop of Malaysia. Nevertheless, while the Big B starrer became one of the biggest blockbusters in Bollywood history, this one has a fair chance to bomb at the box office.

Shah Rukh is in fine fettle and he’s quite comfortable with the role until he has to play another bumpkin as his own proxy. And that’s where he loses the flourish and all that plausibility (though he still continues to wear the tie underneath his collar!).

As much as it could be blamed on Khan, it’s also to be blamed on the slapdash screenplay that dodges the thin lines that limit the lines of plausibility. And blame it on the array of other inadequately developed characters that waft away the moment you leave the theatre. Kareena Kapoor as the revenge-driven femme fatale is the worst of the characterisations, who not only fails to sizzle despite the raunchy remix track, but also is devoid of the emotion of a vengeful woman.

The only commendable performance is from Boman Irani, who plays an Indian officer (Desilva) and fits it to the T. And those of you, who’ve been expecting more from Priyanka Chopra, will get to see her in a role that’s much more than just an eye candy. At moments, she even resembles a catwoman (no pun intended!), and at moments is the only character who manages to hold the audience back into their seats.

If this is what the remakes of the blockbusters are going to be, it’s time Bollywood already started rethinking.