Story: Damsel in distress moves into bad neighbourhood and is bailed out by a golden-hearted, lovelorn don. Of course, with a few lessons in ‘bhai-ology’ and romantic chemistry.
Review: Bhai-log and
behno, here’s another ‘Don’ film and it’s daringly different. Yes, it has un(don)e the deadly Don and given us an all new, improved, purified soul.
Bole toh, a
bhai with a big-heart; who does more
bhaichara than
bhaigiri. He has a sense of ‘humours’ (
bhai style), says
‘ladies first’ (chivalrous, alright) and is a master in
‘bhai-ology’.
Meet Jayantabhai (Vivek), a small-time Mumbai gangster, who’s more Munnabhai than Jayantabhai, really. While JB tries to win over his big boss Altaf
bhai and become his right-hand hench, he bumps into his friendly and feisty neighbour Simran (Neha) - struggling to find a foothold in big, bad Mumbai. Over
anda-bhurji and endless banter in
bhai-bhasha (refer to dialect dictionary for Dons) he falls in love with his pretty ‘English Vinglish’
padosan. Simran grapples with ‘single-girl-in-big-city’ issues like
roti and
makaan; as far as
kapda goes, she’s somehow impeccably dressed at all times (huh!). They develop an endearing bond (with lovable chemistry); and Don suddenly turns into
dilwala, and a new chapter on
luv-shuv is introduced in
‘bhai-ology’.
movie
Vivek is cool, confident and in his ‘
fulltoo’ element. He’s donned the
bhai role several times, but Jayantabhai is total
jhakaas. He adds zest to his character, with ‘donnisms’, punctuating it with bang-on comic-timing. Neha is a delight onscreen; looking stunning as ‘bubblegum’ or ‘babe’. She shows immense spark, performing with spunk and style.
Vinnil Markan’s ‘feel-good’ goofy ‘gangsta’ story is told with simplicity and modesty. It’s not a slick, stylized gang-fest with shootouts and shenanigans, but an uncomplicated story of a good-
goonda who wears his heart (instead of his gun) on his sleeve.
The screenplay is average and it waits a while to take-off. And we wish it had a bit more
‘Ram Leela’ (read: drama in
bhai lingo), but overall it entertains.