Writer: Fanaqi N.

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Watch this if you liked: “DON 1”, “Ra.One”, “Dhoom”

Following the previous instalment, "Don 1", the sequel sees the return of the all-star cast, such as the Bollywood King, Shah Rukh Khan, in his leading role, alongside Priyanka Chopra, as well as a few Malaysian artistes, such as Adi Putra and Syukri Hashim.

"Don 2" talks about the life of a man named Don that is currently wanted by the police due to his previous criminal offences, despite being a police officer previously. His colleague was Roma (Priyanka Chopra), whom we last saw left with an unrequited affection for Don. After a sequence of events, Don is finally captured and thrown into prison, where he meets his old enemy Vardhaan (Boman Irani). For those who are interested, the shooting was done in Malacca's prison. Don then sought the help of a lawyer, played by Adi Putra, our very own local actor. After much effort, he finally gets out, where we follow his trail to Germany to take over the European underworld.

Shah Rukh Khan's role in this movie is beyond important and just like in the previous "Don" movie, Don possesses an intelligence and endurance that is beyond believable, yet the movie lacked the production capacity of "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", making Khan a poor man's Tom Cruise. Khan is often seen being hit more than a few times, yet his hair and clothing remains in a good condition. This is something that director Farhan Akhtar should have spotted in order to make the movie more realistic. Roma's role was much like a flower pot, put merely on display. Her role was definitely not challenging as all she did was just point the gun at Don. Should her role be omitted, "Don 2" would still be interesting as well as audience-pulling because it is Khan's movie after all.

Cinematography-wise, Farhan was meticulous enough, elevating it to almost perfect proportions. The part where Don starts to race was detailed enough to make the audience feel as if they were there, such as stones shattering. In addition, there was an appearance by Hritik Roshan at the climax, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise, which put a fresh spin on the movie.

Overall "Don 2" can be said to be one of the better action movies from Bollywood and it is a good start for King Khan in expanding his career as a versatile Bollywood actor. It would have been better with a more detailed storyline as well as fight scenes. Special congratulations to Shah Rukh Khan on his bravery, as he performed all the stunts in the movie which included the scenes of jumping off a high-rise building and the heart-pumping car chase against Roma.

Cinema Online, 03 January 2012