A 2006
Bollywood film, and Farhan Akhtar's remake of
the 1978 film starring
Amitabh Bachchan. This version stars
Shah Rukh Khan,
Priyanka Chopra and
Kareena Kapoor. Follows the conflict between an Indian drug lord's lieutenant (a man known as Don), and his arch-rival; the cop DCP De Silva. After Don's death, De Silva replaces him with his lookalike Vijay in order to dismantle the drug cartel. Two other subplots involve Jasjit (who was screwed over by De Silva) and Roma (who was screwed over by Don.)
Many many action scenes ensue.
There is a sequel.
This film provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Roma.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original 1978 film, Interpol officer Malik was in fact the crime-boss Vardhaan, the ultimate Big Bad of the film. Here, Malik is not Vardhaan but a real Interpol officer, and arguably the Big Good of this film and the sequel.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original 1978 film, DCP D'Silva is a clear good guy and ends up killed by the Big Bad Vardhaan Makhija. In this remake, D'Silva is the Big Bad Vardhaan Makhija and is a genuinely vile bad guy.
- Air-Vent Passageway: Deepu and Jasjit pull this off.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: The criminal that threatens Jasjit's family. He follows through too, and kills Jasjit's wife.
- Arc Words: "I like wild cats." It's also the reason Roma figures out that Don is, well, Don. Don's catchphrase, listed below, arguably fits this trope, as well.
- Badass Driver: Several escape scenes qualify.
- The Baroness: Anita.
- Best Served Cold: Jasjit and Roma.
- Bound and Gagged: Kamini.
- Cane Fu: Jasjit often uses his cane as a melee weapon.
- Catchphrase: "It's not difficult to catch Don. It's impossible." True.
- The Chessmaster: Don and Vardhaan both. Don is the more successful of the two.
- Code Name: You never learn Don's real name.
- Combat Pragmatist: Don. He immediately tries to shoot Kamini in the head when it's revealed she's working with the police.
- Composite Character: In the original 1978 film, DCP D'Silva and the Big Bad Vardhaan Makhija are separate characters. Here, both are one and the same and D'Silva is his false identity.
- Deceptive Disciple: Roma, who is planning to betray Don.
- Detective Mole: De Silva, who is, in fact, Vardhaan and a rival drug lord to Singhania.
- Downer Ending: Unlike the original, Don kills his good doppelgänger Vijay, pretends to be him for the rest of the movie and gets away with it.
- Drunken Song: Vijay's high, not drunk, but it still counts.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: Many, many establishing shots of the Petronas Twin Towers.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Anita doesn't react well to Don's interest in Roma, despite knowing the truth of his plans.
- Groin Attack: Vijay does this to his assailant suffocating him in the prison transport plane.
- Handicapped Badass: Jasjit, despite having a damaged kneecap and requiring a cane to walk, can beat down D'Silva in an ambush and fight Vijay to a stalemate.
- Improbable Weapon User: Don kills people with exploding briefcases and golf balls.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Roma realizes Vijay has been Don all along when he says, "I like wildcats." Slight subversion because he fully meant for her to realize it and revealed this information when there was nothing she could do about it.
- MacGuffin: Don's CD of drug cartel contact info.
- Magic Floppy Disk: For all the high tech stuff going on, Don seems to not know about the existence of zip discs.
- Malaysia: Shot there, and it's sponsored by Tourism Malaysia.
- Mexican Standoff: Don and Vardhaan in their end battle.
- Mr. Vice Guy: Vijay chews paan, an addictive stimulant, and is forced to give it up when he becomes Don.
- Ms. Fanservice: The camera lingers on Roma during a Walking Swimsuit Scene, and her dresses in the musical numbers show off her figure.
- Neutral Female: Averted. All the main female characters aid in the action somehow.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Roma, as she realizes that her testifying that Don is Vijay led to him escaping from justice.
- Not His Sled: The original Don, released in 1978 and starring Amitabh Bachchan as Don, had Don actually die much earlier, in De Silva's car, so viewers remembering it may think, till the end, that it's Vijay doing all that... till the twist at the end. It was probably for practicality more than shock value - Akhtar is releasing a sequel in December 2011, which, given the original ending, would have been difficult - it was happy and resolved everything.
- Off with His Head!: Don really hates police informers.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Many plot points from the original movie are altered. Possibly to maintain the element of surprise
- Pragmatic Villainy: Don reunites Deepu and Jasjit before abandoning his disguise as Viljay.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Ramesh tries this, anyway...
- Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere: Happens to Jasjit, until he agrees to steal diamonds for an unknown criminal. Vardhaan was probably the one to set him up, but it's never fully explained.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: No one gets their revenge on Don. In fact, pretty much everyone is screwed over except for Jasjit.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Cynical. Very, very cynical.
- Theme Song Reveal:
- Aaj Ki Raat as Roma taunts Anita. In truth, Anita and Don are actually mocking Roma and it seems incredibly obvious on rewatches.
- All the songs serve this purpose to a certain extent, actually. Even Khaike Paan!
- Too Dumb to Live:
- Singhania.
- Probably Ramesh, too.
- Took a Level in Badass: Vijay, who goes from a bumbling comic character to being able to engage in badass fight sequences. While in the sky after falling from a plane. Subverted when it's revealed that Don knew about Vardhaan's plans from the start and had Vijay killed. The level of badass therefore makes sense for the character involved.
- Touch of Death: Don kills Kamini this way.
- Trick Twist: If you don't know the ending, don't let anyone give it away for you. Just watch the movie and be amazed.
- Unholy Matrimony: Don and Anita can be unexpectedly... adorable.
- Viewers Are Morons: Subverted. Akhtar wants the viewer to go "Wait, what?" and then have your suspicions proved correct.
- Villainous Crush: Don towards Roma. Crossed over with Villain Takes an Interest.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Vijay sings about Roma's enrapturing eyes during Main Hoon Don.
- Would Hit a Girl: In the first five minutes, Don kicks a rival's henchwoman in the face. He later takes hostage and kills Kamini.
- Wrongful Accusation Insurance: Vijay killing the henchman who falls out of the prisoner-transport plane is never brought up again.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Don is forced into this because of Vardhaan's plots.
