Don 2 (2011)

Don is now a big shot drug dealer in Asia. He pisses off the European drug cartel due to his low rates and they want him dead. Somehow he escapes an attempt on his life in Bangkok and surrenders to Roma and Malik in Malaysia. Don is sentenced to death. He meets Vardhan in the jail and convinces him to escape along with him for a job.

This time Don is eyeing a German bank. He wants to get hold of the plates that are used to print currency notes. He uses the corrupt Indian vice president in the bank, Diwan to get the information that he wants to pull off his heist. Diwan wants Don dead due to this.

Don gets some more men for his heist job, including a computer expert Sameer for hacking. He has his trusted 'sweetheart' Ayesha by his side as always. Things don't go very smoothly and there is in-fighting between the men as expected.

Just when the police think that Don is good enough to be behind bars, he pulls off a coup and manages to either kill all his enemies or send them behind bars. It is all a big master plan cleanly executed. Don's soft corner for Roma remains and he is now ready to rule the underworld even more due to the lack of a single enemy.

Don 3 will be back to tell more on that ...

Hits

• The look and feel of the movie is like any Hollywood action blockbuster - be it the locations, the action blocks, the cinematography, the sound effects, the costumes etc. Top notch production values. 
• SRK is made for such roles that flaunt his villainy and style. He carries off a stubble like a king be it, the intro scenes or the climax. It is a solid return to form. The crowd just goes berserk whenever he mouths the famous punch dialogs or smokes or wears his coolers or just walks in his designer wear. King of the masses, this Don is. 
• Boman Irani as Vardhan and Priyanka Chopra as Roma carry on in the same roles. Priyanka looks super hot while Boman is convincing as always. Kunal Kapoor has a solid role too, considering the future of this series. 
• No place for contemporary Indian romance and dream duets. Limited songs that don't spoil the movie one bit. 
• The initial scenes with SRK in his long hair - stubble avatar, are racy and send the crowd into a mass frenzy. Heroism rules as always. When SRK's name is mentioned on screen, it is a moment of sheer mad fanaticism. 

Comments

• Om Puri sticks out like a sore thumb with his total lack of style and finesse in a movie that oozes style and suaveness. 
• The twist in the climax is expected because we know what Don is capable of. 
• The 2nd half is not racy and most of the scenes are dedicated to the heist at the bank. 
• Hrithik Roshan makes a special appearance in a scene that celebrates typical Hollywood action blockbusters like MI.

VERDICT

A solid return to form for SRK. The star rocks such villainous roles like none other. Kudos to Farhan Akhtar for making a Hollywood movie in an Indian budget

Ra.One movie review

The Plot
The movie is based on a far fetched idea that virtual characters in a video game can become real and roam around in the actual world.

Shekhar Subramanium is a gamer who designs a game for his kid Prateek, where the villain is deadly and is more powerful than the hero. The villain is Ra One and the hero is G One.

Prateek is super excited and feels great about his dad. He starts playing the game with the name Lucifer but, he doesn't complete the game. Ra One is not happy about this pause in the game and soon comes out of the game into the real world to look for Lucifer and settle the game with him.

Ra One wreaks havoc on the game's developers Aakashi and Shekhar himself, and starts chasing Lucifer aka Prateek. Just then, G One also comes into the real world and now he is the savior for Prateek and Shekhar's widow Sonia.

The game between G One and Ra One starts in London and continues in Mumbai. Ra One has the ability to take different human forms just like the villain in "Terminator". G One is the endearing robot on the lines of Chitti and he is like Arnold in "Terminator" as he protects Prateek and his mother Sonia.

After some terrific stunts in the local train, G One faces Ra One, with Prateek controlling his moves through the gaming console. Another far fetched piece of imagination.

The movie ends with the promise of a sequel. But, no one was excited one bit.

Hits

• The first face-off between Ra One and G One gives goose bumps and is a big high in an otherwise lackluster fare.
• SRK as the nerdy Shekhar Subramanium irritates with his idiotic Tamizh but, this was the only character in the movie that had at least some audience connect. As G One, his hairstyle is super cool. 
• Kareena looks smoking hot and contributes in making the songs a visual treat. Criminal, Chammak Challo, Dildara were all the few highlights. 
• Ambitious 3D and VFX. Best technical film seen in Indian Cinema by a mile. But, it was not flawless. Some instances like the train coming onto the road, were quite artificial. 

Misses

• The grand finale in the climax between Ra One and G One is a big disaster as it is just an avalanche of VFX thrown at the viewers with 0 emotional connect. 
• Just one theme is repeated in the BG score. A superhero film requires something else. 
• The comedy scenes involving G One in the second half have a Chitti feel to them. 
• In the special scene involving Rajinikanth as Chitti, he was so jaded, tired and had no charisma. Pitiable. It was a mere caricature of the larger than life superstar that Rajini was, not too long ago.  
• A plot devoid of logic, completely. Even considering the fact that it is a superhero film, the execution is equally botched. 
• Arjun Rampal just flaunts his body but his performance as Ra One leaves a lot to be desired. The Aakashi version of Ra One is also funny. 

Comment

• For all the supreme hype given, this movie is just plain silly. The exhibitors and distributors will have a tough time recovering their money parted to that super smart businessman SRK

VERDICT

Money has literally been burnt. The screenplay has no grip, minimum involvement factor and it tires the viewer very often.