Tries to do too many things in too little time
When a film like ‘Don’ becomes a blockbuster, we get to know how low Tamil cinema has stooped to. Exactly like how ‘Comali’ had become a hit the previous year. It falls in the same template but may be not as irritating as ‘Comali’, thanks to Sivakarthikeyan’s presence, Anirudh’s numbers and humour. But otherwise, in the hindsight, the movie felt like a a disgrace to what ‘3 Idiots’ could achieve with three veterans. It was all fine till it was treading along the ‘Meesaya Muruku’ line but when it takes itself seriously, that’s when it falters.
The movie begins with a great build-up of him standing in rain in backshot. The build-up was so much that it felt like a spoof, but it ended up being a serious scene about him wanting to go to college for some event the next day. The entire film happens in a flashback mode. The whole of his journey through the forest with rains, elephants and imminent dangers and the director Cibi Chakravarthy thinking that he’s using them as metaphors was so lame. That’s how a third standard kid would write about metaphor as soon as he gets to know the meaning of the word ‘metaphor’ through his teachers.
Chakravarthy (Sivakarthikeyan) hates his father who wants him to always study and during his childhood he had vouched that he’d get better at something apart from studies but just like every kid in the block he’s forced to go to engineering college where he changes everything and gets the acknowledgement of the students, leading to the title ‘Don’. Can it get lamer than this? I think that’s why they were insisting repeatedly during promotions about the title and how it had to be taken in a funny tone as it’s not an action movie. At least if he had suffered for some time and then got to the status it’d have been a nice time pass but he’s always Don and afraid only of his dad.
In reality, Chakravarthy doesn’t stand a chance against Bhoominathan (S. J. Suryah) Even though the movie shouldn’t be analysed for its intricacies, a person like Chakravarthy succeeding against Bhoominathan in an everyday life is farfetched. Especially the Russian university scenes. In fact, in none of the clashes between them, there was a sense of continuity. Bhoomi first says that he’d be lenient and would be strict only against Chakravarthy, then reverses the rule, again fails, again reverses. So, no action of Bhoominathan was gripping. In the similar vein, Virus from ‘3 Idiot’s was a classic example of terror, whom none could break. Here Bhoomi’s character only shouts and tries to push the image of terror amongst us. That’s some weak writing.
Samuthirakani does the usual irritating father character but again doesn’t impact like his character in ‘VIP’ due to poor writing. Don’s sidekicks are of absolutely no use, including Sivaangi, who couldn’t bring her magic from TV to screen. Priyanka Mohan tries to be earnest to her character but like how Sri Divya got puffed up with additional makeup and made to overact from her first film to second film of Sivakarthikeyan , Priyanka Mohan too was made the same way. Got to feel for her. She was brilliant in ‘Doctor’. I in fact liked her in her very first movie, ‘Nani’s Gang Leader’ where she was effervescent.
Even though lengthy, and the film tries to do too much by going here and there, it was a nice sort of guilty pleasure till the climax. The third act was the one which completely spoils the films. The film takes a serious tone out of nowhere, he discovers his passion out of nowhere. Worst is that I don’t know why, when he’s said that he’s a good storyteller, I got reminded of the scene where Ranbir tells a story near a street food shop in ‘Tamasha’. The setting of it, with editing, lighting, is one of the best scenes ever made. Due to that, this scene irritated me even more. Last time it was ‘Hridayam’ and now this. Why does everyone has to pickup a camera.
Everyone whom the protagonist thinks as a villain become a good guy. S J Surya’s acting powers come out from that scene, where he says, “chi po da”. Wish he had gotten a role rather than being an eccentric caricature. Samuthrakani, tries to do Samuthrakani things which was again not convincing. Sivakarthikeyan has improved on his emotional acting skills and somehow it all comes to an end, especially his drive to college. It was taxing. They make a mixture of everything and package it a way and make it an edible dish in the end, somehow tasty too but when we try to concentrate on layers and making, its just a solid mess.
constantscribbles 