The Don

Cast: Dileep, Gopika, Lal, Lalu Alex, Shammi Thilakan, Sai Kumar, Bheeman Raghu, Babu Raj, Augestine, Maniyanpilla Raju, Spatikam George
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Malavika Productions
Director: Shaji Kailas
Producer: Chandrakumar
Camera: Sanjeev Shankar
Story: M.Ranjith
Screenplay: Joy Pallassery
Dialogue: Joy Pallassery
Lyrics: Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma
Music: Alex Paul
Distribution: Manjunatha Release
Year: 2006

Dileep seems to be in the notion that graduating into an action star is the only way to stay in the superstardom in Malluwood. Someone needs to tell him immediately that what we loved in him was the next-door youth image that he displayed in a variety of his hits and those like Chanthupottu and Meesa Madhavan that he worked out into perfection.

Dileep had a long cherished dream to work with the action film supremo of Malluwood Shaji Kailas, but what he bargained could never be this. The film does not do anything good for him. Moreover the most unmatched casting in the film could definitely be Dileep himself as his lead role is reduced to a prototype of what an action hero is supposed to be. Shaji Kailas falters here in receiving the energy and appearance from his hero in Dileep and many sequences that could have received applause remains as nonstarters. He seems to have forgotten that he is playing with a hero with little experience in delivering punch dialogues or histrionics ala Mammootty or Suresh Gopi, his favorites in the genre. The plot which reminds of a 70's bollywood revenge saga is told in episodes separated by English taglines all through the movie.

A child wakes up one July morning to see his parents brutally murdered by, a psychopath, but manages to escape from him with the killer's gun. The second phase as listed, is the kid realizing the murderer on a rainy night and killing him with the same gun that he carries with him. In the Phase three, on another July morning after 18 years, the boy becomes a man- Unnikrishnan (Dileep) and is shown praying in a temple. There arrives someone you realize a character straight out of Godfather or even Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, in Quasim Baba, who pushes the film on shoulders till interval.

Quasim Baba is the the uncrowned king of the port and the peripheral areas in Kochi. Baba, the savior of the poor and downtrodden believes in instant justice and sends his men Sikandar (Bheeman Raghu) and Abdutty (Baburaj) to deal with every wrongdoing and set it straight. In a devilish plan to  assassinate him, our Unnikrishnan arrives in the nick of time to save Baba with his valorousness, after an elaborate fight sequence with flash cuts and freeze frames that seldom brings in claps. Baba takes a liking for Unnikrishnan and bring him home and rechristian  him to Salaam to suit an orthodox family. Salaam in no time, climbs up Baba’s crime syndicate to become his most trusted right-hand man.

And now is the time for baddies - lead by Subramanyam Swamy (Sai Kumar) a scheming accountant, who always quotes Sanskrit slokas and Hindu scriptures ala every villain of Shaji's movies. MLA Abdullah (Manianpillai Raju) and a drug peddler Sharon (Kasan Khan) with terrorist links are the others in the gang of wrongdoers who want to smuggle drugs into Kochi but Baba believes that it will spoil our youth. Soon Baba is killed by his nephew (Shammi Thilakan) and the blame falls on Salaam! The phase four titles don't come up when Salaam is sent to prison in charges of murder. I seriously surmise that the editor has forgotten to brand the phase. Here he meets his old pals from the juvenile home days -  Anil Murali, Harisri Asokan and Srejith Ravi. They agrees to play the field generals for Salam, who  once again becomes Unnikrishnan and goes on a revenge spree killing the entire gang of Baba's enemies using his brain and muscle power! The second half looks very similar to Dileep's own revenge drama Chess. More than that, Shaji Kailas has once again borrowed liberally from his own earlier films, scenes from some Hollywood, Bollywood and other South Indian flicks like Nayagan, Samrajyam and Chinna Thambi. 

The screenplay of Pallaserry offers nothing new. And with the song which arrives an hour into the proceedings, the tempo slackens, The only silver lining is Sanjeev Sankar's camera, mixing by Ajith George and the background score by Rajamani who once again proves that he is the best for BGM. Donmax once again go back to his flash cuts as usual, which sometimes with its loud sound effects causes disturbances in viewing. It is high time, he recognize other etiquettes for sloppy editing than flashy interferences. Shaji Kailas once again give his credits under the title Shots, but this time his contribution just got laid back in making better shots and nothing more. And with a lead artist who is a definite handicap in straight action movies, what can he do more?

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