'Don' flops, dents Shah Rukh image

It seems Shah Rukh Khan'sirresistible charm and the incredible slickness and style used by Farhan Akhtar in 'Don - The Chase Begins'have not been able to save the film from biting the dust.

Just like Karan Johar's infidelity drama 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,' this action thriller has been given the thumbs down by the audience, going by the sharp drop in collections, since its release on Oct 20, a day before Diwali.

In the first few days, 'Don,' a re-make of the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan starrer of the same name, garnered profits, mainly due to its pre-release publicity and the slick television promos. Critics have since panned it as a weak film.

"Any film which has a good star cast and proper media hype does well in the first week. It happened with 'Don.' It had big names like Shah Rukh and director Farhan Akhtar and it was marketed smartly.

So the initial collections were good," said Deepka Gupta, a New Delhi-based media consultant.

According to a report on boxofficeindia.com, the film did exceedingly well in the first week in spite of discouraging reports. It earned hit status in Mumbai, Punjab, West Bengal and Mysore. The first week box office collections were 75-80 per cent. However, the eighth day registered a drop in collections at many centers and now stands at about 55 per cent.

However, Shah Rukh prefers not to take the critics seriously or the viewpoint of moviegoers, many of whom have not liked the modern 'Don' at all.

"It is a waste of money. I couldn't sit through the movie after the interval," said Kanat Jain, a 60-something movie buff, who wasn't floored by the film's slickness.

Many others found the film stylish, but beyond that they had nothing good to say about it.