Dileep, after doing some interesting offbeat movies like Chanthupottu, seems to have found a taste for high-octane commercial ventures. The success of Chess may have emboldened him more.

And with a director like Shaji Kailas at the helm, Dileep is going masala almost with a vengeance. The Don, as the name may confirm, seems a movie that is full of stuff that appeal to mass and masala film aficionados.

This is the season of gangster movies all over. And Malayalam cinema too seems no different.

Don is a typical gangster movie in typical style. It is the rites of passage in the life of an innocent man Unnikrishnan who ends up as a dreaded gangster Salaam (Dileep).

Unnikrishnan is sucked into a vortex of crime and violence by events that are beyond his control. His parents are killed in his midst and he is also jailed for a murder committed by some one else.

In one word, fate is conspiring against him. And then fate smiles ever so impishly at him by winning him an acquaintance with a rich man Qasim (Lal). It is a strange twist, and from then on it is all out action and adventure as Unni now as Salaam is not ready to take fate lying down. It is all an explosive action film, says the director.

For Dileep this is yet another step in his growth as a mass star. The fact that he has made bold to make out and out masala movies is proof enough of his growing stature. Lal as his able friend has a typical role. Gopika plays the heroine. There is a gaggle of actors who add to the list.

For Shaji Kailas, the movie is on typical territory. It is his first movie with Dileep and both have worked extra hard to get things right.

The director says the film will be high on technology and family entertainer. He has made the movie at a rapid speed.

Mohan Sitara has scored the music.

Don is set for release before Onam.