Don Review

Many of Nagarjuna's films have been released during the end of December and proved hits. So the director, producer and the hero might have decided to follow the sentiment and gain from it and released Don on December 20. Moreover, the repeat of a successful combination of Mass film (Nagarjuna and Larencce) also generated considerable heat among the audience. There were many expectations on the movie as well. But the film failed to reach all those expectations to a considerable extent.

Suri (Nagarjuna) starts fighting for justice right from his childhood and becomes a man of the masses. He becomes the Don for several orphan boys. He saves them from ill-treatment of a goon. One among them, Raghava (Larencce) becomes very close to him and calls him as brother. Whenever there is a problem, people seek the help of Don and he resolves their problems. Raghava looks for a right girl for an alliance to Suri. Incidentally, Priya (Anushka), the daughter of Suri's right hand Murthy (Chalapati Rao), wins the heart of Don. Raghava also falls in love with Nandini (Nikhita). On the other side of the coin, there is an international mafia don called Stephen (Kelly Dorge), who wants to conquer Andhra Pradesh. He finds that the biggest obstacle in the State is Suri. Stephen first tries to convince Suri, but he does not listen. Even Suri kills two mercenaries sent by Stephen and presents him. Irked over this, Stephen with the help of Ratnam (Kota Srinivasa Rao) tries to create disturbances in the State. He explodes a bomb that kills hundreds of people. This irks Suri and he catches hold of Stephen's men. Meanwhile, Nandini lures Raghava and the latter finds that Nandini is Stephen's girl with the entry of Stephen. Suri predicts danger to Raghava and his premonition proves true. Raghava gets killed in the hands of Stephen and in the climax Suri kills Stephen.

PLUS: Nagarjuna personally has taken the entire responsibility to run the movie, as the story of the film is very delicate and based on screenplay. Anushka's glamour and Nagarjuna's performance are the only saving grace for the movie. There is no separate comedy track and Lawrence himself tried to provide some comedy. Giving a twist to the story with Nikhita role is unexpected. Camera work by S Gopal Reddy is good.

MINUS: Ragava Larencce, who proved a fantastic director with first three films, has miserably failed on all fronts in this film. Probably, holding too many departments besides a role in the film would be the reason behind this. He failed to concentrate on any of the department. Though it is a fight between a mafia don and a local don, there is no need for so much of action between them. The role of police was subdued miserably. It is not known how a local don maintains such a big network. The timing of songs is also improper. A huge set was erected for Don with over 33,000 bulbs for a song. Art director Ashok erected the set and a huge amount was spent for the purpose. A special song was choreographed on Nagarjuna and Anushka at this set. All this has gone waste.

REMARKS: As a whole, the film has miserably failed to reach any of the expectations, despite good spending by the producer. The only one who should take the blame is none other than Larencce and his overconfidence. Neither the hairstyle, nor the costumes, dances, elevation of image or the movement of the hero have gone for a six and several audiences were seen grumbling, as to why Larencce was so overconfident in holding so many departments. The film may not face the competition with any of the movies that are going to release in the ensuing Sankranthi season.

Cast: Nagarjuna, Anushka, Ragava Larencce, Nikhita, Kelly Dorge, Chalapati Rao, Jeeva, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Raghunatha Reddy, Vizag Prasad, Narasimha Raju and others

Credits: Dialogues – Abburi Ravi, Lyrics – Chinni Charan, Cinematography – S Gopal Reddy, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Art – Ashokkumar, Producer – ML Kumar Choudary, Story, screenplay, music, choreography and direction – Ragava Larencce.

Banner: Sree Keerthi Creations

Released on: December 20, 2007