Writer: Pairamaporn Buranakol

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Watch this if you liked: "Duplicate" and "Double Impact"

If you've never been a fan of Bollywood, this is probably one movie that will make you change your mind. Shahrukh Khan is back in "Don", which is a remake of the 1978 "Don" starring Amitabh Bachchan as the title character.

We've all watched a Bollywood movie or two in our time, and as usual, "Don" does not fall far from the formula of music and group dancing. But against all expectations, "Don" does not fail to keep you on the edge of your seat, and occasionally making you sit up straight with a jolt.

"Don" is about a man who is hunted by the Malaysian Intelligence and the Anti-Narcotics Department for his drug-trafficking business in Asia. Not only is he hard to pin down by the police, but he even escapes death from his rivals in the business. However, one day he meets his match in the Indian Narcotics Officer DCP De Silva, who instead of turning Don in, replaces him with a man who is a spitting image of Don, in order to infiltrate the drug organisation.

Posing as Don, Vijay manages to complete his task but before he can slip out of his role, De Silva is killed in a raid; destroying Vijay's link to proving that he is not Don. Vijay is now hunted not only by the police, but also Don's former comrades who know his real identity.

Full of twists and turns, the movie drags a bit - but that seems to be the norm for a Bollywood flick. Without the dancing and singing, the movie would have definitely been shorter than its original running time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. There's enough eye candy as well, with Priyanka Choppra, who plays Roma, Kareena Kapoor as Kamini, and Isha Koppikar as Anita.

Shahrukh Khan again proves he is more than capable of handling any role - even dual roles. Having appeared before in the famous Bollywood flick "Duplicate", with similar dual roles, Shahrukh makes you laugh with his portrayal of the bumbling yet likeable Vijay, while making you wish you were as cool as Don when he struts onto the screen.

Roma infiltrates Don's drug organisation to kill him in revenge for his murder of her brother, Ramesh and his fiancee Kamini, but ends up helping Vijay when she finds out his real identity. Priyanka, who represented India and won the 2003 Miss World event, takes on the role well, portraying the sexy yet seemingly dangerous Roma.

About 80 percent of the movie was shot on location in Malaysia, around Jalan Masjid India, the Petronas Twin Towers and in Langkawi. No matter what, you have to feel quite proud when you see the shots of Malaysia in the film - and the funny scene when both Vijay and Roma are taking refuge in a wedding crowd, you can see a makcik and a bunch of Chinese kids dancing to Indian music. That has got to be a classic scene.

So there's two ways to this - you can either like the movie, or you can dislike it. But as Don would tell you himself - it is not difficult to get rid of Don; it's impossible. This movie is here to stay.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008