Don (2006 Hindi movie)

2006 film directed by Farhan Akhtar

Don, also known as Don: The Chase Begins Again, is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Farhan Akhtar. The film was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Akhtar's production company Excel Entertainment. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra, with Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Isha Koppikar, and Om Puri appearing in supporting roles. Don is a remake of the 1978 film of the same name starring Amitabh Bachchan. The soundtrack was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar.

Don
Directed byFarhan Akhtar
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyK. U. Mohanan
Edited by
  • Anand Subaya
  • Neil Sadwelkar
Music byShankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Production
company
Distributed byEros International
Release date
20 October 2006 (India)
Running time
169 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget38 crore[2]
Box office106 crore[2]

The film was released on 20 October 2006, during the Diwali festive season, on the same day as Jaan-E-Mann starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta. It was generally well received by critics, with praise for Khan and Chopra's performances, the action sequences, music, production design, and cinematography. A major commercial success, Don grossed over 1.06 billion at the box-office against a production and marketing budget of 400 million and was the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2006. The film also received nine nominations at the 52nd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor for Shahrukh Khan. A sequel entitled Don 2 was released on 23 December 2011.

The illegal drug trade based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is booming. A team headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police De Silva targets the operations of cartel leader Singhania to capture his manager, Mark Donald (aka Don). Singhania is one of the two lieutenants of a deceased kingpin, known as Boris; the other is Vardhaan.

Don kills Ramesh, one of his close associates, after he tries to leave the gang. Ramesh's fiancée Kamini decides to help the police. She uses herself as bait in an attempt to trap him, but Don, knowing of her plan, kills her.

Roma, Ramesh's sister, plans to avenge her brother and sister-in-law's deaths, and infiltrates Don's gang. Don is injured and falls into a coma while trying to flee from the police. De Silva finds a look-alike named Vijay and asks him to join his mission. Vijay agrees when De Silva promises to admit Deepu, a boy Vijay takes care of, to school. Meanwhile, Jasjit, an information technologist and Deepu's father, is released from prison. He plans to kill De Silva to avenge his own wife's death. Several years ago, Jasjit was captured by an unknown assailant who made a deal with him in order to save his kidnapped wife. However, De Silva caught him and refused to believe Jasjit, shooting him in the leg and giving him a permanent limp. Jasjit's wife died shortly after his arrest.

At the hospital, a doctor gives Vijay scars identical to Don's. When Don suddenly dies after the operation, the masquerade begins. Vijay, posing as Don, joins the gang. De Silva asks Vijay to find a computer disc containing details about the drug cartel. When Vijay finds it, Roma attempts to kill him, but De Silva tells her of Don's real identity, and she agrees to help. Vijay hands over the disc to De Silva. De Silva murders Singhania, and the police arrest Vijay. De Silva is killed in the shootout, devastating Vijay, as De Silva was the only person who could prove that he is not the real Don. Having discovered his true identity, Don's associates turn against him. Vijay escapes and meets with Roma to recover the disc and prove his innocence.

Jasjit finds the disc in De Silva's apartment. He receives a call and is told that he will have to bring the disc to the men who are holding Deepu hostage. He learns that De Silva has been alive all along and is actually Vardhaan, Boris's other lieutenant, who was using Vijay to reach Singhania. Jasjit reunites with Deepu and teams up with Vijay and Roma. The trio comes up with a plan and informs Interpol.

In combat, Vijay overpowers Vardhan but is interrupted by Inspector Vishal Malik, who has Vardhaan arrested. Vijay is acquitted, and Roma confesses her love for him. Too late, she realises, in a twist ending, that she was being toyed with: Don is alive and was pretending to be Vijay all along. At the hospital, Don had overheard Vardhaan and Vijay's plan. After Vijay's operation, Don switched places with him and injected an overdose of diazepam in Vijay's glucose stream, causing him to die and making the doctors think it was Don who died. The disc Don gave to the police was fake. Now, with both Vardhaan and Singhania removed, Don becomes the master of the Asian drug cartel.


References

change
  1. "Don (2006)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Don – The Chase Begins Again". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2017.