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How ironic but, everyone in India has been chewing on Ra.One and Shahrukh Khan ever since it hit the screens in October, and most people even wrote Shahrukh Khan off saying that he’s reaching the twilight of his stardom. But tell you what, “The king is back” – and this time he looks unstoppable. Don 2, Farhan Akhtar’s sequel to his own remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Don’ has the “Baadshah of Bollywood” back in the shoes of the “Bad Guy” – remember it was his performances in negative roles during the early part of his career that got everybody to notice Shahrukh. 5 years after his outing as Don, SRK is back with a bang, once again!

If one remembers well, when Don came out five years ago, it didn’t open to such a good response although it eventually ended up being a hit. Enacting a legendary character that was made so popular by the Big B and trying to remake the very popular original were huge risks. Farhan Akhtar though, added his own mark and style with a super twist in the climax to the original and SRK did the rest. So, Farhan had to make sure that the sequel also carries forward the style and the twists. One has to agree that Farhan Akhtar has pulled it off!

The story of Don 2 starts with where the first part ends, with Don narrating his story of how he’s become the king of the Asian drug market. Now Don has his eyes set on the European market but, the European drug lords do not want Don’s domination over them and try to have him killed. Don escapes the attempt, and devises his own plan to get rid of the European bosses. Farhan Akhtar made sure that the story had all the twists and thrills of a thriller on the lines of MI, Bourne and Bond. The film is a perfect thriller, and the audience are sure to have a blast.

If Shahrukh Khan is the one responsible for pulling you to the theatres, believe me, you are not going to be disappointed. He is a pure joy to watch on the screen. He just gets into the skin of the character and carries of all the various looks in the film with extreme finesse. His one liners, the way he walks, talks and laughs as Don – simply brilliant. Shahrukh exudes such panache while playing the bad guy that he makes us feel it is in fact good to be bad. Not only Sharukh Khan’s fans are in for a treat but, movie going audience are just going to love what this charismatic Supertsar is going to offer.

Priyanka Chopra does not have a big role to play but she does her bit well. The same goes to Lara Dutta but she does her bit decently. Boman Irani is back as Vardhan, and as always he delivers a brilliant performance. Om Puri is retained as Malik, but the veteran does not have a lot of scope for performance. Kunal Kapoor is alright. Hrithik Roshan makes a guest appearance, and I would not want to reveal as to why he comes, because that would be a spoiler. His tango with Priyanka Chopra is good.

The film belongs to Farhan Akhtar as much as it does to Shahrukh Khan. Farhan, who is also the writer of the film has done yet another marvellous job. His dialogues are simple yet cheesy and are sure going to tickle your funny bone. The first half sets the pace for the film and the second half just kicks off from there. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is alright, although there is only one song in the film. This was to make sure that there were no hindrances in the screenplay. Action sequences have been very stylishly choreographed. The camera work is fabulous and the editing is crisp. As is the case with all Farhan Akhtar’s films, the production values are outstanding.

This Christmas weekend, movie loving junta are sure to have a blast, thanks to Don 2 . “The King is Back”! Go for it.