Director: Farhan Akhtar, Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Kunal Kapoor, Nawab Shah, Alyy Khan

BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

With a proclamation like “The King is back”, expectations ride high. Farhan Akhtar’s Don 2 in indubitably leaner, meaner and sexier in presentation as the leading man Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) mentioned in one of the promotions. Is that enough? I wonder. 

Farhan is young, talented and known for his debonair approach to cinema. SRK popularized the kolaveri packed anti-hero image when he stuttered ka-ka-ka-ka Kiran in Darr, harassed two sisters pretending to be in love with them in Baazigar, and destroyed a girl’s life who refused his advances in Anjaam. Suffice to say, Farhan and SRK had the chance to work at something they are really good at, without the added burden of improvising on a classic. Did they succeed? Well, partially.
This time around, Don’s (SRK) ambitions tower high in minting money, literally so to speak. Having captured the drug trade in Asia, Don is looking at expanding his influence to Europe. Don’s plan is to steal currency plates of the Euro from the German Central Bank. The idea is to blackmail Deutsche Bank’s desi Vice President, Diwan (Alyy Khan) with an incriminating video clip. First order of business though is to enlist services of his arch enemy Vardhan (Boman Irani), now in Malaysian prison. Don “surrenders” to cops (Om Puri, Priyanka Chopra) and escapes with Vardhan reaching Zurich, then Berlin. His other accomplices include a computer hacker he just met (Kunal Kapoor), Lara Dutta and a local henchman Nawab Shah, who was actually hired to bump him off. 

There’s the problem to begin with. Why is it that Don, with his ubiquitous reach, appears to be a lone ranger soliciting help from former foes and folks out to kill him? Does he not have an empire of his own, like the previous Don? Details. Details. Let’s move on. What’s with the cops? I know that they are supposed to be dumbed down for Hindi cinema’s sake, but I thought this was supposed to be a cat and mouse chase with the cat and mouse outsmarting each other (We are even shown Don enjoying Tom and Jerry). But hey, this is SRK’s Don, so the star power takes over. Roma and her team don’t stand a chance, they never get close enough. There is actually no chase. Don is unstoppable, untouchable. That is no thriller. 

A weak script and story apart, the visuals are simply stunning, zooming into spectacular Thailand, Malaysia, Switzerland and Germany at their glorious urban best. Playing a goon himself, Wolfgang Stegemann does a great job of choreographing the fight sequences. We are also treated to some spectacular car chases, explosive action and stunts in recent times. Sadly, this time around, Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music does not add much flavor either. 
SRK has had fun making this movie, you can tell. He gets to be suave in his suits and even braid his hair. He has fast girls and faster cars. He even has some slick lines and striking stunts. He gets to be an unapologetic baddie with all the goodies a guy could ever dream of. So the rest of them fade into oblivion. It’s Don’s game all the way, unchallenged and unopposed. That’s a shame. Because if the much publicized tension between Roma and Don had been well utilized, this could have been a far more engaging thriller. 

As stylish and trendy as the presentation is, Don 2 could have done a lot better with the script and pacing of the classic sequel. Don races off on a bike with license plate reading “Don 3”. Let’s hope the cops get some action next time around. For now, I will revel in the riveting visuals of not just the locales, but Don himself, The King knows how to make bad look good, really good!