It's often difficult to be tolerant to someone who tries to imitate greatness! It was the same prejudice that preceded the arrival of the SRK starer Don in 2006, the remake of the 1978 classic by the same name with Mr Bachchan in the title role. Besides, it is inevitable for any remake to be compared endlessly to the original. Despite all odds the movie did considerably well on the box office primarily because of Farhan Akhtar's imaginative yet calculative movie-making. The new elements introduced into the plot also gave the movie a breath of fresh air. Also, it was the crucial role played by SRK, in making the movie significantly different than its precursor, who mustered all his courage and talent to conjure up an alter ego that offered a great contrast to Mr. Bachchan's portrayal in the original motion picture. Farhan Akhtar and his entire team worked meticulously to keep the movie free of any possible anachronisms, which are often unavoidable in such remakes. By the time the movie approached its climactic finale, it became quite obvious even to the most seasoned viewer that Farhan Akhtar's vision behind the remake far transcended the mere thought of imitating the classic. He had set his goals much higher with the idea of establishing a completely new franchise at its core. The half a decade hiatus after the 2006 remake can be attributed to Farhan's attempt at self indulgence, which got him completely disillusioned about his directorial prowess, to make way for the latent actor in him, as he strived to prove his acting mettle in movies like Rock On!! (2008),Luck by Chance (2009),Karthik Calling Karthik(2010),and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011). To Farhan's credit, he did succeed in getting the actor in him to get going on the celluloid.

Since the last few years, the grapevine had been rife with speculations pertaining to Akhtar's behind the camera return for the much anticipated sequel of Don with SRK reprising his role of the most decorated mafia kingpin in the history of Indian Cinema. The speculations were brought to rest as the makers finally confirmed the movie's 2011 Christmas release. The promotions for the movie started a bit late and strangely lacked the the usual hullabaloo that surrounds an SRK release. With Don 2, Farhan Akhtar takes the high stake battle between life and death to a completely new echelon with a screenplay that's as taut as it's exhilarating . Don 2 is a high octane extravaganza that presents an average viewer with everything that he possibly craves for—action, voyeur, thrill and intrigue. The movie is full of pleasant surprises and keeps the viewer interested throughout. The movie lulls the viewer into a perpetual frenzy, which a modern cineaste demands and deserves. The movie's heist-like setup makes it conducive to high speed car chases, vertiginous jumps, voyeuristic escapades, hand-to-hand combat, blood-cuddling shootout sequences, etc.

There seems a paradigm shift in the quality of movie making compared to the general trends in the Hindi Cinema. The actions sequences depicted in the movie are at par with the international standards. The highly punctilious team of internationally acclaimed stunt coordinator Wolfgang Stegemann seems to have inoculated the movie with an ineffable sense of realism that is often missing in Indian productions. The entire cast and crew have done a phenomenal job in bringing the movie and its vivid characters to life. SRK once again shines as the glacial, conniving, quick-witted, rugged, cool & calculative, perpetually smirked underworld kingpin Don. Don 2 is SRK's movie from inception to finale and it is his omnipresence that takes the movie a couple of notches up. In some scenes, his antics and mannerisms are highly reminiscent of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, but SRK carries himself with such poise that he seems quite natural at it. The viewer also gets the privilege of witnessing SRK in the new avatar of an Action hero, which he pulls off with same finesse. Some of SRK's most staunch critics might censure him for overplaying the part, but apparently the script demanded such high levels of intensity. During the course of the movie, SRK gets to depict a wide variety of contrasting demeanors as Don goes about his usual business, driving high on his ever reliable instinct, making new enemies, friends, patching up with old enemies, and once again making them into enemies. The opening action sequence and the classic car chase—the best chase scene ever filmed in Hindi cinema—remind a lot of the traditional elements of a Bond movie, but not without a 'Desi' tinge. Priyanka Chopra offers a nice contrast to SRK's part as a mobster's moll in the making, but fails to leave her signature on the movie. Almost everyone in the supporting cast has given a worthy performance with special mention of Boman Irani, Lara Dutta, and Aly Khan. Movie's cinematography, sound, editing and choreography are all state of the art.

Overall, Don 2 is an exhilarating ride for the Action movie enthusiasts as well as for all those whose primary aim is entertainment. All those who look for cinematic profundity or pristineness can also partially enjoy the movie, but only by slackening the screws of scrutiny. Don 2 has set the ball rolling for more movies to come in the franchise, while also setting a new benchmark for Hindi Cinema. A must watch for Heist and Action lovers. 8/10

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The first five minutes of Farhan Akhtar's shiny new flick "Don 2" is lists of media partners, brand partners, and other partners against a black screen, so one gauges there is going to be a vast amount of product placement. Then follow the names of German funding entities, and we realize that this is a German-Indian co-production—it's cool that Germany has taken to investing in Indian enterprises and offering tax incentives to film in the Fatherland. At that point, an impatient Sardarji yelled out in the dark: "Oy, that's enough – let's balle balle!" to much laughter in the house. Then the film began and for the next two hours raced at breakneck speed, pausing briefly every few minutes to blow something up.

I skipped Farhan Akhtar's remake of the 1978 hit Don with Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman – why bother with it when the original is still kicking around? Don 2 is advertised as an original work – that's what attracted me. However, out of curiosity, I did look up the song done by Kareena Kapoor on YouTube, and, yup, Helen needn't spare a second thought about anybody wresting that "Peerless Danseuse of the Hindi Screen" title away from her. Poor Kareena, in her pudgy phase then, tried hard but didn't even come close to what Ms. Richardson so effortlessly gave us back in '78. Akhtar appears to have altered something in his remake, for when the sequel opens, the good Don is nowhere to be seen; the bad Don is still alive, having a blast, and now wreaking havoc around the world. He's gone global. Avenging angel Roma—the Zeenat Aman character—traipses in his wake, always a moment too late on the uptake and the crime scene. She's been given a hunky subordinate who throws her melting looks and frisks after her like an adorable puppy. Whenever tough chick Roma (Priyanka Chopra) girds her loins to do battle with Don (a full-time occupation for the entire police forces of India, Malaysia, Germany, perhaps Switzerland, too),he acts touchingly solicitous. In one of the twists in the tale, when Roma has to go on a rescue mission with Don, loverboy gets to snarl at Shah Rukh, "If anything happens to her…" and doesn't even complete the threat. Really, little man, really?

Shah Rukh has great fun striding around with a bad ass attitude, many tattoos, and in the first part of the film, designer stubble and a hybrid coif that's part corn-rows, part dreads—and excuse my saying—part greasy and unwashed. Still, he's Shah Rukh, and can pull off anything. He's a lean mean fighting machine, and for reasons known only to him, allows himself to be arrested by Roma and incarcerated in a chic Malaysian prison. There's not a trace of grittiness—the prison has a jolly orange and crisp white color scheme and looks practically wholesome. Good old Boman Irani playing a mean baddie Vardhaan, who impersonated an Interpol officer in the original, is Shah Rukh's prison mate. However nasty Boman tries to be, I always feel he'll revert to comedy mode, and cackle "Fooled you - just kidding!" Vardhaan and Don have a balletic knife fight, then break out of prison together, and team up to relieve the German Central Bank of its Euro printing plates. Why mess with small-time labor-intensive activities like running international drug cartels, when you can just print your own cash supply without offering anything in return!

Don is baddest guy on the block, but loses a little of his street cred and edge, when recently sprung from prison, he reunites with his new honey/admin assistant Ayesha ( a slinky sophisticated Lara Dutta) and a number of sexy girl and boy henchmen (henchpeople?) in a Vegas-style synchronized song-and-dance routine, which would have called for weeks of rehearsal. Uh-huh, that's exactly what the most dangerous criminal in the world would do to strike fear in the hearts of opponents. The jokey vibe persists through innumerable convoluted cons and double cons, crosses and double-crosses. It's engaging and fast moving, and whenever your attention wanders – wait, who's conning whom now? – there's an explosion to jolt you out of your reverie.

Everyone tries to out-do Don, but Shah Rukh always has the last laugh, delivers cheesy lines with panache, and demonstrates that sheer star power can transcend utter improbability. There are fights aplenty, matched with an abundance of shameless product placement: gangs of baddies and battalions of S.W.A.T. teams routinely synchronize watches, giving us 70mm close-ups of Tag Heuer time pieces; breathless chases with Hyundai, BMW, and Mercedes cars (a vehicle for every price point, you see) proving their endurance and longevity; and designer duds, jewelery, and sunglasses from various fashion houses schilled by Shah Rukh, Priyanka, and Lara.

This is a well-crafted popcorn flick, with excellent cinematography (Jason West doing his best work),slick editing (Anand Subaya),and world-class stunts and chases – Farhan Akhtar owes much to the Bourne and Bond series, for there is a similarity of look, feel, and pace. Apart from looking stern and indomitable (Priyanka) and smart, sexy, and efficient (Lara),the women don't have a lot to do. Kunal Kapoor is effective as a computer hacker brought in for the heist, but only gets to Tazer a single guy – Shah Rukh deals with everybody else in every single country we visit in the course of the flick.

Okay, Shah Rukh, we've humored you and ponied up our $$$ for Ra-One and Don 2; now we need a good ol' fashioned grown-up love-story from you, before Farhan Akhtar lobs Don 3, 4, & 5 like grenades at us.

Great movie seen in Bollywood as action, thrill, story line, direction, suspense all along. overall Power-packed performance by Shahrukh Khan. Truly the "KING IS BACK". People said that no-one could make a better Don than the man himself, Amitabh Bachchan. However, I would like to disagree. Shahrukh is the only actor of todays time that could ever make it better than the original. His style, charisma and witty remarks make it all the more appealing. Farhan Akhtar's superb directing made this film epic! There are no gaps, no over-the-top parts. As a director Farhan's best film ever. Film's background score is stunning. But the songs are not pretty good. The film's visual effects is better than MI-4, Ra.One, Robot, Krissh. It's stunning and well shot. The special effects add a special flavor to the film which makes it even more delicious. Each and every character in this film is perfect. But in some portion it remembers me Death Race2, specially in Jail. Anyway best movie of the year.