DON2:REVIEWS pg 9(TOI) - Page 10

New Delhi: The exhausting promotions, the multi-city tours and the endless interviews have all led up to this moment. Having established his domination over the Asian drug world, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is back in the theatres this Friday reprising his earlier role as Don 2, the sequel to the 2006 remake of the Amitabh Bachchan classic, hits the screens.

The film has already been released in the UK where it has got mostly positive reviews from fans. Don 2 has Khan playing the antagonist reprising his role from the 2006 film 'Don: The Chase Begins Again.'

A lot was riding on the first film, directed by actor-director Farhan Akhtar, where Khan was not only pitted against acclaimed industry veterans such as Boman Irani and Om Puri but also expected to shine in a role made famous by Bachchan.

In the last big holiday weekend of 2011, the core team of Khan, Akhtar and producer Ritesh Sidhwani hope to recreate the 2006 magic with a sleek story that will hopefully keep the audiences engaged for the better part of two hours.

Sixty-seven cars were reportedly blown up during a chase scene. Expect high octane action, this time in 3D as the action picks up on the streets of Berlin. Hrithik Roshan fans can look forward to a short cameo role. Priyanka Chopra has toned up for the film while Lara Dutta is sizzling in a gold dress in one of the songs. Visually, this is a film that has the feel of an international crime thriller.

'Don 2' will be released with 3,000 movie prints in the domestic market and it will also have 3D release in another 550 screens. Written and directed by Akhtar, the film is co-produced by Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment and Akhtar and Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment. While Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Irani and Puri reprise their roles as Don, Roma, Vardhan and Malik respectively, the sequel has some new additions such as Kunal Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Aly Khan, Nawaab Shah and Sahil Shroff.

Akhtar roped in international stunt director Wolfgang Stegemann, who has worked on Hollywood films 'Inglourious Basterds' and 'Valkyrie', for the stunts. He trained Khan for daring fight sequences and also created a special fight style for him in 'Don 2'.

It is a negative role for Khan, but he says, "I am not glorifying badness in real life and these are just films and stories, but as an actor it is one of the greatest highs to play a villain's role."

Khan, in his over two decades in the film industry, has never acted in a sequel.

He has worked on his look for this film. While Don (2006) saw him donning suave dinner jackets, this time around he has gone for jailhouse grunge.

Shot in the Brandenburg Gate, the Olympia Stadium, the Gandarmen Market and the East Side Gallery, it is a breathtaking chase through Berlin's landmarks including a vertigo-inducing 300-feet plunge.

Made at a budget of over Rs 75 crore approximately, the film found itself in the midst of controversies for copyright infringement from the original makers. According to reports, Nariman Films, producer of the 1978 Amitabh starrer 'Don', has sent a legal notice to Excel Entertainment for copyright infringement saying they had only given the right to remake the movie and no rights to make a sequel. The film is the last big release of the year and its satellite right has reportedly been sold for Rs 37 crore to Zee TV.

Trade pundits are keeping their fingers crossed for the film to hit the bull's eye at the box office and allow the filmdom to enter the new year riding on the profits of the film. (With Additional information from IANS)