Warning: Spoilers Alert

The following article is by a user and is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything. Written by Ramesh Ganapathy

When Don 2 was first announced, it had the tag line the chase continues. Over the course of a year of shooting, the film was eventually renamed to "Don 2 - The King is back". Very cheesy, I initially thought, and was preparing myself for an upset and the familiar disappointment, which I felt after seeing his previous movies on the big screen. Ironically, the title justified itself for being there and I was pleasantly surprised with what I can only describe as thumping performance.

Not the first time I am watching a Shah Rukh starring film on day one, but the very first Indian film I am seeing in modern day 3D. The first thing I would like to point out about the movie is that it has only one video song. Yes, just one and it is not shot in exotic locations with SRK doing weird dance moves. Instead it is seriously stylish and slick. Goes to show how much sensibility Farhan Akhtar wants brings to the plot. The rest, however good they are, are left for the soundtrack and promotional videos.

The 3D experience is complete. There are many movies, which do not have a lot of scenes with 3D and you can simply put down your glasses and use them only when you need to, but that is not the case with Don 2. Right from the first scene where Don reintroduces himself, reassuringly and to the delight of all his supporters to the end credits, you are required to have the glasses on most of the time. So good is the cinematography by Jason West, obviously picked for his good work in movies like Rock On. He takes no time in showing how valuable he is to the Don 2 crew, with state of the art camera work in both normal and action sequences.

The next big name found in the crew list is Wolfgang Stegemann, well known for his work in V for Vendetta and Equilibrium and he is truly another asset to the team. Shah Rukh doesn't get away from fights too easily nor does he evade attacks like a Superhero. He is struck with blows, he fights hard and his action and chase sequences make Tamil cinema (Vijay, Ajith, Rajinikanth and even Kamal Hassan) look like a joke. They also have enough logic and are quite realistic. If the bad guy says he is gonna pull the trigger at the count of three, he really does.

As for the script and screenplay, I am obliged to say that Farhan Akhtar is a better director. And he is quite a good actor himself. There might be a few instances where the plot has been inspired from Hollywood flicks, but it is no way obvious enough for common viewers to interpret. Given a budget of 75 crores, which is less than half of the miserable Ra One and the same as Om Shanti Om from back in 2007, it is not exactly an expensive film in recent times. But considering that the budget includes promotions, adequate and not overwhelming when compared to Ra One, Farhan Akthar has not only managed his production company well but has handled things exceptionally well as a director. Simply put, actions films, most of the time are all about fight sequences and little about underlying tale, but Don 2 has good aspects of both, if not the best. All credit to Farhan for managing the team with a lot of big names.

Coming to the characters, Priyanka Chopra is first on my list and is the most frustrating and dull yet key character in the story. She is overshadowed by the others, no doubt, but that doesn't mean she has to be such a pain in the wrong spot for viewers to see. The fact that she plays catch up to Don who is at least three stages ahead of her in the plot is something sad in such a well planned movie.

Kunal Kapoor is kind of non-existent and no way deserves to be in the main cast of the movie when. Lara Dutta is said to have a guest appearance. He does play his part duly, none the less. The latter, however manages to show off her moves and looks in the only music video (no more guessing, you should find which one it is now) after her marriage.

Hrithik Roshan does a cameo too. This is no spoiler considering you would have already heard or read about it somewhere. Shockingly, Shah Rukh Khan looks more stylish than even him. We will get to that part.

Boman Irani is as good as his excellent self and although he is not given too much time on screen, he does bring out the fun is being the second important bad guy. His dialogues towards the end of the first half and at the end are priceless and very enjoyable.

Now, let us get to the star of the show. Having already mentioned that SRK has done well, I must justify. A couple of days back, I saw an interview of SRK on TV and he claimed himself to be the best and that he is not afraid of competition from newer talents. The same attitude is seen on screen with Don and I am not sure anybody else in Bollywood could have pulled it off as well as he did. His action, sometimes cheesy lines and sly humorous tone that is carried out through the film surprisingly makes his show much better. Something that was not seen in the first series, Don. His dialogues "I like love stories" is one of the best examples of his fun-oriented dialogues. Somehow, he manages to be the heart of the movie and give enough time for others to play their small parts.

And FYI, the "Don ko pakadna mushkil nahin, naamumkil hai" dialogue happens exactly thrice in the two and a half hour film and they are are kinda cool. The other aspects of the movie might as well go unnoticed, but SRK in Don 2 will not be forgotten easily.

There are bad parts as well too. The end of the story is similar to the first one. Farhan wraps things a bit too quickly, which reminds me of the Ocean's series and Fast Five. Some fights are a bit far-fetched and like I felt while watching every other robbery movie, I felt that the things were a bit too easy as usual. Flaws as they are, SRK fans would probably argue that they are not that bad. After all, you cannot have the hero killed in his own movie.

I might be a little too fast in saying these, but in a week where I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which is very good, I think it's fairly safe for me to go ahead and say the following.

Don 2 is SRK's best movie after Chak De India in the modern era.

Don 2 is SRK's best performance that comes close Chak De India. (MNIK had a lot of hard work, it was weird, no offense to fans)

Don 2 is one for SRK's best movies where in he has tried a different role. (KANK gets second place, not Don 1)

It will probably become a box office hit, perhaps a blockbuster. However, clearly understand it is not a super great movie. But it is definitely worth a watch for everyone. Haters will find faults as always, but the rest will like it.

Finally, some pointers:

1. Don 2 is the first Indian film to have a lot of scenes shot in Germany. No shooting in India.

2. The one music video looks extra cool on 3D.

3. When the end credits start rolling, you might want to stay back. You will get to watch two more videos in Dushman Mera and Mujhko Pehachaanlo…

Rating - 4/5 for a sensible Indian action movie