When Onam releases of superstars hit the theatres, everybody became very curious about Dileep’s ‘Don’. The film was attracting lot of curiosity because, for the first time, Shaji Kailash was going to direct Dileep. Dileep was trying desperately to get rid of his ‘soft’ hero image and do some real action films.
Then the film made headlines when its heroine was abruptly replaced with Gopika.
But, when the film finally made its way to the theatres, everybody wonders what the fuss was all about.
The film runs in taglines.
18 years ago, on a rainy night, a gangster murders the parents of a ten year old boy, right in front of his eyes. The boy runs away and eventually ends up in Chitoor Palakkad, where he is adopted by a tea-stall owner and his wife.
There, he runs into his parents’ murderer on another rainy night. He picks up a gun and shoots him to death.
18 years later, in another day of July (we wonder why the obsession with July?), the man returns as Unnikrishnan. Trouble doesn’t leave him alone for long.
Lal plays the role of Baba, a local don who is the law of the land near Kochi’s Harbor. He sees to it that justice is done to the downtrodden. That eventful day, a poor old woman knocks at his door. She complains that the local DOSP’s son had raped her granddaughter. She seeks Baba’s intervention. Baba sends his close associates to look into the incident.
The DOSP Aniruddhan isn’t happy about it. He sends his men to kill Baba. Our hero turns up on time and saves Baba’s life. For some unexplained reason, Baba not only gives him shelter, but also changes his name to Salaam. Baba’s youngest daughter Zaheeda falls in love with him. Soon, Salaam becomes a very important member of the gang.
Trouble in paradise begins when an evil accountant, a baddy MLA and a drug smuggler decide to smuggle drugs into Kerala through Kochi. Baba doesn’t allow it. Soon Baba is killed by his nephew. The blame falls on Salaam and he goes back to prison.
In the prison, he meets some of his old buddies. And from Salaam, he reverts back to Unnikrishnan!!! And, needless to say, he goes about settling scores with the baddies.
The entire film reminds you of all the other Shaji Kailash films. He loves Sanskrit shloks and he just cant stop himself from using them in his films, even if the hero is named ‘Salaam’!!! Then, there are those Quentin Tarantino films, which seem to be his inspiration behind all those taglines. Why does our hero switch from Unnikrishnan to Salaam and back to Unnikrishnan? What does Navya Nair do?
The Good
• Cinematography
• Dileep’s performance in spite of the fact that the role had no scope to perform
The Bad-
• Repetitiveness of theme, style and presentation
• So many wasted and unnecessary characters who come and go
The Ugly-
• Lots of expectations and nothing fulfilled
- 08.09.2006
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