Don: The Chase Begins Again

In mid-2000s, the illegal drug trade based in Kuala Lumpur is booming. The Malaysian authorities are called upon for assistance by their Indian counterparts. The Indian team sent to Kuala Lumpur is headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police DSilva (Boman Irani), who targets the illegal drug operations of Singhania (Rajesh Khattar). Helping him along the way is Inspector Vishal Malik (Om Puri), an Indian officer from Interpol. Both of them know that in order to put an end to the illegal drug trade, they must capture Don (Shah Rukh Khan) who manages Singhanias business in Kuala Lumpur.

Singhania was one of the two closest and most trusted men of Boris, a criminal who went underground and was presumed dead by the police. Boriss other lieutenant was a man called Vardhan, equally ruthless as Singhania, but his whereabouts are unknown. The police thinks that Singhania had killed Vardhan upon learning that Boris was about to hand over his drug business to Vardhan.Singhanias subordinate, Don, is known for murdering one of his close associates, Ramesh (Diwakar Pundir), who had attempted to leave the cartel. Rameshs future wife Kamini (Kareena Kapoor) decides to help the police arrest Don but in the process she is also killed.

Now, Rameshs sister Roma (Priyanka Chopra) plans to avenge her brother and his fiancé. She manages to infiltrate Dons gang.Don and his inner circle, which consists of Anita (Isha Koppikar) and Narang (Pawan Malhotra), travel to India for a cocaine transaction. An Indian police team led by DSilva follow them there and capture Don, who is fatally injured while trying to flee from the police. DSilva keeps this a secret from the department and media as he decides to track down an exact look-alike of Don named Vijay (also Shah Rukh Khan) from Mumbai, asking Vijay to pose as Don so the police can get to Singhania.

Vijay agrees when DSilva promises to admit Deepu (Tanay Chheda), a kid Vijay looks after, to a school in Kuala Lumpur.Meanwhile, Jasjit (Arjun Rampal), Deepus father, has just been released from prison. Jasjit is hellbent on killing DCP DSilva. Jasjits vendetta against DSilva began many years ago, when Jasjit, committing a crime in order to save his family from a gang of criminals, was arrested on the orders of DSilva, thereby preventing Jasjit from saving his wife from death. Jasjit does not know what happened to his son after Jasjit went to prison.

Vijay is admitted to the same hospital as Don by DSilva. Vijay soon gets all the scars and marks which Don has on his body. Suddenly, Don dies of heart failure and the masquerade becomes inevitable. When Vijay (as Don) re-enters the gang in Kuala Lumpur, he claims to have lost his memory, and the more he learns about Don, the more he claims to remember. Don has a disc containing some of the cartels vital information about deals and contacts.

As part of the plan, Vijay agrees to find and bring this disc to DSilva. When Vijay finds the disc, Roma (who is now a close associate of Don) decides to accompany him. When they arrive, Roma attempts to kill Vijay (assuming he is Don). However, DCP DSilva intervenes and tells Roma about his secret plan to reach to Singhania. Roma decides to help the police to capture Singhania and joins the two in their plan.

Vijay hands over the disc to DCP DSilva.Singhania comes to Kuala Lumpur for a meeting with his clients. There DCP DSilva murders him by adding poison to his drinks. Suddenly, the Malaysian police and Interpol arrive at the hotel. Vijay and the core gang members are all arrested by Interpol.

DSilva is apparently killed in shoot-out. This is unfortunate for Vijay because DSilva was the only person who could prove that Vijay is not the real Don. Now Dons inner circle turns against Vijay, having discovered his true identity. Vijay escapes from police custody and tries to recover the disc he gave to DSilva in order to prove his innocence.Jasjit secretly enters DCP DSilvas apartment in Kuala Lumpur and waits for DSilva with a gun, not knowing of his death.

There Jasjit finds the disc Vijay gave to the DCP and is shocked by its contents. He soon receives a phone-call saying that if he wants to see his son again, he will have to bring the disc to the men who have Deepu, his son, hostage. At this meeting, it is revealed that DSilva was alive all along and is actually Vardhan, Boris other lieutenant. In other words, Vardhan, posing as DSilva, used Vijay to get closer to Singhania and eliminate his competitor. Jasjit somehow manages to escape with his son from the smugglers.

Jasjit meets Vijay [now at large] and Roma and reveals that DSilva is really Vardhan. With this knowledge the three hatch a plot to help Interpol arrest Vardhan. The next day, Jasjit arranges a meeting with Vardhan in Langkawi, saying he will hand over the disc. The trio inform the Malaysian police and Interpol of the meeting and get Vardhan arrested. Vijay is badly injured in a final hand-to-hand combat with Vardhan, and is rushed to hospital.

Before he leaves, Roma confesses her love for him. In a final twist, it is revealed that Don was alive all this time, and was pretending to be Vijay the whole time. While in the hospital, Don recovered quickly from his injuries, overhearing DCP DSilvas conversation with Vijay. After Vijays operation, Don got up from the room while DSilva and Ashok were absent and went to the room where Vijay lay. He switched places with Vijay, taking Vijay off life support and causing him to die of heart failure.

It is also revealed that the disc Don gave to the police was fake. Now with both Vardhan and Singhania removed from his path, Don becomes the master of the entire Asian drug dealing ring.Don opened to mixed reviews. Mumbai Mirrors Mayank Shekhar gave it a rating of 4 out of 5, criticizing the treatment of certain scenes in comparison to the original. He questioned the need for the remake, saying, As adequate and astounding an echo it may be, Akhtars film can at best hope to share its space, a rack or two lower in history, to an original voice.

Let this be an ample aberration, and not a norm. We usually pay to watch films we havent seen. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India did not like a few casting choices. Khalid Mohammed of the Daily News and Analysis rated it 2 on a scale of 5, criticising the plot and saying that the prime justification for the films existence was Khan, who was a thousand notches above the material. Variety stated that the film could have been much better.