Don 2 is a 2011 Indian action crime film directed by Farhan Akhtar and co-written by him along with Ameet Mehta and Amrish Shah. The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani,Shahrukh Khan and Farhan Akhtar. It is a sequel to the 2006 film, Don: The Chase Begins Again and stars Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Boman Irani andKunal Kapoor while Hrithik Roshan appears in a cameo appearance. The plot of the film continues from the end of the first one, starting in Malaysia and moving to Europe where Don, now the king of the Asian underworld, aims to take over the European drug cartel. The film marks Farhan Akhtar's return to direction after a gap of nearly three years. It was filmed in India, Thailand, Germany, Malaysia and Switzerland.
Prior to its release, Don 2 faced controversies regarding copyright concerns. The release of the film was carried out on 23 December 2011 by Reliance Entertainment, in both 2D and3D formats, which included the dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu. Upon release, Don 2received positive to mixed critical reception in India and a generally mixed reception overseas. Don 2 has been widely appreciated for its action, direction and cinematography with Shahrukh Khan receiving accolades for his performance, though criticism has been generated regarding its pace and music.[3] It was showcased at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.
The film fetched several awards at popular award ceremonies including two Filmfare Awards for Best Sound Design and Best Action.
Cast
- Shahrukh Khan as Don
- A drug lord and the narrator of the film. He has established his dominion over Asia and sets his sights on conquering the mafia community of Europe. Khan reprised his role from the 2006 film Don: The Chase Begin Again. Contrary to the first film, he doesn't feature in a double role. The film marked his return to playing villainous characters since his earlier films like Darr and Baazigar.[4] Additionally, the film is the first sequel in Khan's two-decade long career.[5] For the film, he experimented with a variety of looks, including long unkempt hair andstubble. He also bulked up for the film by developing a six pack and decided to perform all of his stunts, including a dangerous 300-feet jump for a scene filmed in Berlin.
- Priyanka Chopra as Roma
- Now an Interpol officer, Roma continues her mission to pursuit Don in order to avenge her brother Ramesh and his fiance Kamini's death which happened in the previous film. Since the film had been announced, there has been a great deal of speculations regarding the actress who would essay the leading role. However, in an interview with Rediff, Chopra confirmed her presence in the film. Chopra learned martial arts and prepared her body for more than two months and requested the action choreographer to let her perform her own stunts.[6]
- Lara Dutta as Ayesha
- Don's trusted companion, she helps him in his plans to rob the German Central Bank. Dutta was cast after Koppikar – who essayed the role in the first instalment – dropped out of the film. She was recommended to Akhtar by Khan, since she has been part of his earlier production, Billu (2009). In an interview with The Hindustan Times she said that it was a exciting for her to play an new character since there would be no predecessor to match up to.[7]
- Kunal Kapoor as Sameer:
- An expert computer hacker hired by Don to execute his bank robbery. It was originally reported that Kapoor was cast as a replacement for Arjun Rampal (who played the character of Jasjeet in the original), however both the producers and Kapoor himself denied the reports.[8]
- Boman Irani as Vardhaan:
- The main antagonist. Vardhaan was a notorious underground criminal who pretended to be a police officer named D'Silva. He is framed by Don and arrested afterwards in the first film. Now he is working with Don on the robbery but has secret motives for revenge. Irani decided to lose 12 kg for his role and also grew a beard because it made the character look "cold, cunning and deceitful". Irani felt that playing a villain was "a big stretch" for him as an actor.[9]
- Om Puri as Vishal Malik, the head of the Malaysian Interpol.
- Alyy Khan as J.K. Diwan, the vice president of the DZB (Deutsche Zentral Bank = German Central Bank)
- Nawab Shah as Abdul Jabbar, an assassin hired by Diwan to kill Don. He is however forced to work with the latter, but teams up with Vardhaan to kill Don soon.
- Sahil Shroff as Arjun. He is Roma's friend, ever since she joined the Interpol.
- Florian Lukas as Jens Berkel
- Rajesh Khattar as Singhania. Don's boss who was killed by Vardhaan in the previous film, but appears in flashbacks for this film.
- Hrithik Roshan as Don in disguise (Special Appearance)
The bosses of the European drug cartel meet in the French Riviera to discuss a new threat emerging from Asia. Don (Shahrukh Khan) is jeopardising their business because he is able to sell drugs at a much lower price to their customers. The bosses send word out that Don must die. Don has been living in Thailand for the past five years and goes to a remote settlement to pick up a shipment of cocaine. Instead of normal transaction, Don has to fight his way out because the European drug dealers want him dead. He then inexplicably goes back to Malaysia where he surrenders to Roma (Priyanka Chopra) and Inspector Malik (Om Puri). Don is sentenced to death and sent to a Malaysian prison where he meets his old rival Vardhaan (Boman Irani). Don offers Vardhan his friendship, Vardhan agrees - they escape the prison by poisoning all the inmates and go to Zurich, Switzerland, where Don meets his trusted companion, Ayesha (Lara Dutta).
In Zurich, they retrieve the contents of a locker only Vardhaan could access. The locker holds a tape that shows J.K Diwan (Alyy Khan), the vice president of a Euro printing bank called DZB (Deutsche Zentral Bank = German Central Bank), sent by Fabian Cole to bribe Singhania (Rajesh Khattar) to kill a competitor. Don blackmails Diwan into giving him the blueprints to the currency center so that he can steal the printing plates. Diwan gives him fake information and hires an assassin Jabbar (Nawab Shah) instead. Don manages to escape and forces Jabbar to work for him. Diwan, left with no choice, hands over the real information.
Don and his new team plan a bank robbery and carry out their plan by using hostages. After stealing the printing plates, Don is betrayed by Vardhaan and Jabbar but manages to escape. However, one of the members, Sameer (Kunal Kapoor) calls the police and Don is captured. Don threatens Sameer for informing the police. Unable to enter the bank and free the hostages, the police are forced to work with Don to get back into the bank in exchange for immunity in Germany.
Don and Roma manage to reach Vardhaan and Jabbar but Roma is shot because she refuses to kill Don when told to do so. This gives an idea that Roma still has feelings for Don, even though he killed her brother five years ago. Vardhaan and his thugs fight and Don manages to defeat them, Jabbar gets killed in the process. He then gets his immunity papers and surrenders the disc (containing the information about his associates) and the plates. He takes Roma to an ambulance. Don and Roma exchange one glance at each other before the ambulance doors close. He later detonates a bomb he planted earlier in Diwan’s car. It is revealed that Don actually still has one of the money plates, which the police believe is destroyed in the explosion. It is also revealed that Sameer was loyal to Don and giving his information to police was just a part of Don's plan. The police cannot do anything as Don has immunity and do not know that Don has a plate. Don also gives the police a disc of all his associates but it is really a disc with the names of the European drug cartel. All the members of the cartel are arrested and Don already being the king of the Asian underworld also becomes the king of the European underworld.
Sources : Wikipedia and YouTube
