Showing posts with label SRK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SRK. Show all posts

DON 2 - THE CHASE CONTINUES: Shah Rukh is Back!

 
DON 2: The Chase Continues review by Diana (Italian Cinema Hindi Blog)

Rating: *****

Have you been on holiday and have totally relaxed? Have you been enjoying the seasonal festive banquets, oblivious to whatever is happening in other parts of the world? Or have you returned to normal daily life, becoming absorbed in the same everyday boring duties? 

In case you did not know: THE KING IS BACK. 

Drop it all and take the first plane to Mumbai, London or any other place in the civilized world (Fiji, for example!) And without stopping for food, sleep or even calling your mother to tell her you have landed safely, head to the nearest cinema to watch Don 2: The Chase Continues. You will never be the same again.




PLOT
Don (Shah Rukh Khan, who else?) has been ruling the Asian underworld for five years. By becoming increasingly powerful,  he has ended up challenging drug traffickers who operate in the European market and has therefore become an inconvenient competitor for them. He has less friends than foes and there are many enemies who wish him dead. He therefore decides to surrender to the police in Malaysia, not without offering an agreement to his old acquaintances, "wild cat" Roma (Priyanka Chopra) and inspector Malik (Om Puri). Don is hence arrested but once he finds himself in jail, he eventually meets Vardhaan (Boman Irani).

REVIEW
In 2006, Farhan Akthar took up a challenge against living legend Amitabh Bachchan by directing a remake of Don (1978). Don: the Chase Begins Again was born. The ending was different from the original and the main characters were revamped. The locations, soundtrack and general look of the film became modern and refined.  

Shah Rukh Khan, having reached the utmost peak of his charm, returned to the screen successfully starring as a villain. The King of Bollywood was perfect for the part and he skillfully reinvented the role and made it fully his own. Five long years afterwards, a sequel seemed inevitable given that Shah Rukh Khan absolutely shines in the role of Don. The storyline's possibilities are endless, the opportunity was there to be seized. Additionally, SRK and Farhan Akhtar have raging fun together (see it for yourself by watching both Shah Rukh and Farhan Akhtar interviewing each other on The Times of India website). 

Don 2 follows in the same style as Don: The Chase Begins Again and does not disappoint at all. Greater action, a fast pace, surprising and spectacular special effects. The film is an Indian blockbuster that is closer to what we are used to watching in Western cinema, even though Bollywood, of course, has never had anything to envy. With Don 2, however, even the die-hard fan of action-movies "Made in the USA" will be seduced. The movie's feel is very cosmopolitan, but, fortunately, lasting over two hours, the film will present a special screening at the 62 th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.The most refined palates, that of the bloodthirsty Hindi cinema, do not feel betrayed. The plot is intriguing, the direction is in the hands of one of the "boys" most stylish and talented on the square (by Farhan!), The protagonist is one of those that leave their mark. Don 2 is already a legend. Stone-cold audiences and wallflowers should refrain from watching. Everyone else... HAVE FUN!



Positive points: 
- Don, sporting wild long hair, kicks and punches better than a jujitsu champion, wearing a uber-cool cream coloured linen jacket.
- Don wearing an orange uniform in prison dominates a handful of shots, erasing decades of cinema by  becoming the most unrepentant, brazen and sexy quintessential bandit ever to have graced the screen.
- Don, and his dangerously swaggering walk, his new-dandy look (the leather jacket worn under the coat will might make sensitive souls lose a few hours of sleep), walking the streets of Berlin totally free.
- Don, cigarette in hand, voluptuously surrounded by a cloud of smoke throwing a smug glance at the mirror. 
- Don, the irresistibly seductive and elusive criminal. Don and the sexy villainous look in his eye. Don and his vitriolic wisecracks. Don: ruthless, sardonic, arrogant, über-cool, elegantly self-controlled, at times becoming suddenly angry and impetuous, burning ice. D-O-N!
Warning: Impressionable young girls are adviced to handle with caution.
- Shah Rukh Khan, who, shortly before the sixth minute, relieves the pain and frustration of all his Italian fans repaying their devotion with a few simple words: "Italian restaurant... you know spaghetti bolognese, a glass of red wine... What? Don't you like Italian food? What a shame..."
- The D initial of Don, tattooed on Shah Rukh Khan's arm, which is, among other things, protected by copyright
- Hrithik Roshan appears in the film during a delicious cameo. It is only a few minutes but is truly tasty. 
- The song Zara Dil ko Thaam Lo and its Making Of.


Negative points:
Negative points? Hahahahahahaha! 

TRIVIA- The film's official website is highly interactive. You may even register and participate as an agent aiming to capture Don.- Don 2 is the first sequel in SRK's career. For Farhan Akhtar it has implied a return to directing after a five year absence. He had not experimented anymore behind the camera ever since he had filmed Don: The Chase Begins Again.- Don 2 was created in 3D with the help of Chuck Comisky, who has already participated as technical staff in Avatar and Sanctum.- Many of the phrases uttered by Don, in the first film, have become popular and gained cult status. One of these: "Capturing Don is not difficult, it is impossible", is already a catchphrase.
 During the promotion of the sequel, a set of videos under the title "Don Says" have been released, featuring the best lines from Don. My favorite? "Who says miracles do not exist Take a close look at me."  Don Says videos.
- To the delight of fans and marketing gadget lovers, producers have also planned the release of a comic book, Don: The Origin, which unveils Don's background as well as a video game for Playstation 3 and the Android platform.
- For a taste of the beautiful soundtrack, head to the following links: Hai ye Maya, Mujhko Pehchaanlo and Dushman Mera Don 2.
- To enjoy the scenic shot where SRK is launched from the roof of the Park Inn Hotel at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, click here.

Visit the Don 2 official website
Purchase the Don 2 soundtrack
Read about Don 2 in Wikipedia
Download Don 2: The Game Lite for Apple devices
Play with Don 2 on Facebook
Follow Don 2 on Facebook and Twitter



DON 2 
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Kunal Kapoor, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Aly KhanJabar, Sahil Shroff, Florian Lukas, Special Appearance - Hrithik Roshan 
Written by Farhan Akhtar, Ameet Shah, Amrish Mehta
Directed by Farhan Akhtar 
Produced by Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Shahrukh Khan
Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Lyrics Javed Akhtar
Choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant 
Distributed by Reliance EntertainmentYear 2011

Read More >>

RA.ONE: The Next VFX Generation - Review



Shah Rukh Khan's dream film is finally out after much expectation this Diwali 2011.

The story of Prateek, a young boy who loves to play video games and how one of these games is brought to life is a concept that, according to director Anubhav Sinha, was born six years back when he watched a commercial that featured two children using a remote control on a human being. The original idea and Shah Rukh's dream of making a film that would cross all boundaries through the bold use of VFX resulted in developing a script about a superhero that, as Khan has explained, "saves mankind from Ra.One's (a new era Raavan) torment".

Ra.One has mainly created buzz prior to its release not only thanks to its all star cast and star cameos (Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt and none other than the legendary Rajnikanth) but also because it features visual effects and stunts that are absolutely new to Indian cinema and is an ambitious project that has seen huge collaboration between Indian and international teams. A visible example to the audience is that of the Ra.One soundtrack, which was composed by Vishal-Shekhar and includes the participation of internationally acclaimed singer Akon for two of its songs, "Chammak Chalo" and "Criminal", in accordance with a sporadic crossover musical trend in Hindi films.





The marketing of Ra.One  has set a record as the "longest promotion in Bollywood history", having started as early as December 2010! One of the key elements in promoting the film has been keeping Arjun Rampal's avatar under tight wraps. The villain's skeletal look was only to be discovered late in promotions and this did create quite some expectation...


Part of the promotional strategies also included launching a Playstation 'G.One'  game based on the film and featuring original dubbing by the movie's actors. Apart from the Playstation game, a social game application named Ra.One Genesis was also launched and has encountered unprecedented success. All sorts of  collectibles have also been developed in accordance with the image of the film: G.One coffee mugs, T-shirts, watches, laptop skins, comics, video cameras and a collectible doll (similar to the Ghajini statuette, launched in 2009 by Aamir Khan).

Ra.One is the story of a father, Shekhar Subramaniam (Shah Rukh Khan), an un-herolike and Mr.Beany character who works as a graphics specialist in a video-game firm. Shekhar and his young wife, Sonia (Kareena Kapoor), have a son: Prateek (Armaan Verma). Prateek  admires villains and therefore his father creates a highly futuristic video game in which the villain, named Ra.One, is more powerful than the game's good guy and also has a mind of its own. Prateek bites the bait and excitedly begins to play with Ra.One, oblivious to what is to come next: Ra.One comes to life in this dimension and threatens to kill Prateek and destroy everything in its path. Shekhar consequently brings to life his game's good guy: G-One (also played by a blue-eyed Shah Rukh Khan) to destroy evil. The film stunts and special-effects its way through the story that antagonizes both forces.



The effects will have you exclaiming "Wow!", heck, even the trailer had me exclaiming the same. Supernatural stunts, special effects and fellow action-movie inspired scenes set an electrifying tone. Technologically and novelty-wise it is undoubtful that Ra.One has what it takes to have viewers flock to the cinema. It bedazzles the audience with visuals and more visuals that are complex, modern and fiery, served at a very decent rhythm, particularly in the film's first half. The story is however no classic nor does it drive down a point of wisdom or a larger than life plot. Once the video effects are surpassed in the next decade or so, Ra.One risks not having the power of endearment generated by a graphically simpler Robot or Krrish. As an action film, Ra.One remains however a highly commendable incursion into a modern-day visual and promotional department, bringing expectations several notches up in India for films to come.



An action hero story this certainly is. However, as much as I want to believe the "hero with a heart" quote from the promotions, I have to stop and wonder... I sincerely remember feeling more emotional while watching Superman in the 80s (with sensibly less VFX) feel a quiet love for Lois Lane. Indian cinema had all the keys to bring in the necessary amount of emotion into the film but for some reason has not. As entertaining as Shah Rukh's presence can be and as pleasant as Kareena Kapoor is to watch on screen, I personally find the lack of emotions in the film a serious error, particularly coming from a trademark Indian film.

The story and game theme should be able to successfully make a mark among the gaming generation of youngsters. There is however an element that personally failed to engage me and was at odds (in my opinion) with what was promised in the promotional campaign: the film does have its good dose of below the belt, regionalist or even sexist humour, some of it even served by Armaan Verma (the little boy character!).  Prateek is also a boy who is more worried by appearing cool than by being kind to others. All of the above to my judgement would not be suitable for a full-fledged "family film"...

Be aware that the second half of the film may seem as if a plot that was nicely being built up started unabashedly fizzling out. Having handsome Arjun Rampal successfully incarnate the evil forces was a good choice, but letting Prateek's mom also become Ra.One at a given point did seem way too far fetched even for a fantasy film and sadly made this viewer absolutely lose interest in whatever Kareena Kapoor had to do in the entire subsequent story.

Watch for huge entertainment of the eyes, not that much for plot or letting go off your emotions while you observe the lethal war between the pure and dark forces of the gaming universe. Do not expect to understand the reason underlying Ra.One's profound wrath either. The point is: Give your eyes a Diwali feast with handsome people on screen and state of the art VFX without asking for much more. Enjoy Ra.One for the phenomenal technological work that went into it and you will be able to say that your ticket was paisa vasool.

Visit the Ra.One official website
Visit the official Ra.One YouTube channel
Follow Ra.One news in Blogger
Purchase Ra.One IPhone/IPad app
Purchase Ra.One soundtrack


Ra.One
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Writers: David Benullo, Kanika Dhillon, Niranjan Iyengar, Shah Rukh Khan, Mushtaq Sheikh, Anubhav Sinha
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal
Special appearances: Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan (voiceover)
Soundtrack: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani






Read More >>

SHAH RUKH KHAN: Living with a Superstar



The Discovery Travel and Living channel has been broadcasting the series 'Living with a Superstar' dedicated to Bollywood hero Shah Rukh Khan for the utmost delight of his huge fan following throughout the world. The lifestyle channel followed the star during an entire year and has launched the show last February, releasing several episodes for which we provide Youtube links. (A very special thanks to the dedicated Italian Cinema Hindi team for these updates). See the 1st part of episode number 1 here as well as a list of subsequent episodes.

Discovery Travel and Living is most certainly the definitive lifestyle channel on TV. The idea of the series format is both exhilarating and unique as it showcases aspects of my life that have seldom been seen in the public domain. I look forward to welcoming you all into my life.” Shah Rukh Khan expressed when asked about the series.



Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 8
Video 9
Video 10
Video 11 Part 1 of episode dedicated to 'My Name is Khan'
Video 12 Part 2 of episode dedicated to 'My Name is Khan'
Video 13
Video 14
Video 15 (in SRK's homes located in Mumbai and Dubai)
Video 16 (in SRK's homes located in Mumbai and Dubai)
Video 17 (the star introduces us to his staff)
Video 18 (the star introduces us to his staff)
Video 19 (MNIK sets)
Video 20 (MNIK sets)


You may bookmark this article for more broadcasting updates.

Read More >>