SHANDE

Last weekend I went for trek to Ombattu Gudde at Kabinale Forest Reserve(Shiradi Ghats). This time it was with my colleague Harish and his friends Ganesh and Rohit, who are trekking freaks. Other people of Harish’s group didn’t join because of diwali. We decided to go with only 4 people on board as we wanted to be away from air and noise pollution.

The journey was unfortunately eventful. At Hassan, the driver realized that 'dim-n-dip' mechanism of headlight was not working properly. He decided to continue, but a person jumped into argument and forced driver to take bus into Hassan depot. He was arguing its dangerous to go in Ghat section with non functional headlights and was demanding change of bus. After some ‘tu tu main mai driver decided to carry on with same bus with some workaround.

The condition of NH-48 is horrible after Sakleshpur. I wonder how our driver was able to drive with workaround !!!. We got down 2km after Gundya (near Tata Cocoa estate) at 6am. After walking few 100 meters and crossing a bridge, we got a board on right side showing way to Kabinale Forest Range. From here our trek started. Initial 1 km trek was besides areca plantations and houses. We ignored any villager came across because they might scold and ask us to return because of risk.

After walking for 2km+ at 6:45 am, we heard sounds of elephant from distance and after a few minutes we heard 3-4 gun shoots. What’s happening have we put our life at risk ?. We thought of returning back and goto AmediKallu instead, but we continued lets by quoting ‘The Greatest Risk Is Not Taking One’.

The weather was very humid, my body started drenching with sweat. Also there were ‘part n parcel’ of trek – Leeches. I feel treks are incomplete without bites of this creatures :). One can’t be so generous for blood donation, we were carrying snuff(tobacco powder) to remove Leeches. While trekking we crossed many small streams and two medium sized streams. The forest was so dense that sun was hardly visible. It was densest jungle I had trekked so far.

Ganesh Crossing Kabinale

At 9:15 am we reached banks of river Kabinale and decided to have breakfast (bread butter, MTR ready to eat pongal etc). To continue our trek we had to cross this Kabinale river. The water was waist deep level. After crossing Kabinale we settled down at a rock next to river and removed all leeches attached to our shoes, legs …

At 10.30 am we continued our trek. After crossing some small streams we reached banks of another river Adhahole. Here we found traces of human activities. On the banks there was a sort of bamboo shelter and also of a face of a big bird ( donno which bird it was) placed on top corner. Some people would have eaten that bird as feast. Was it done by villagers, naxalites, forest officials … who knows ??. There were used bullet shells, all over the place. It might be of telescopic rifle.

To continue our trek Ombattu Gudde that we had to cross Adhahole. After R&D of 45 minutes we couldn’t find a way to cross Adhahole. Finally at 11:45 am we decided to return. Now our new plan was to go to Kukke in evening and next day to Dharmasthala. Ganesh was disappointed because it was his 2^nd unsuccessful attempt to scale ombattu gudde.

Rohit Boiling Potatoes

Then we came to banks of Kabinale river and decided to relax by getting into water. After that, we decided to have lunch. Ganesh was carrying a utensil to boil water. Rohit(Roti) took charge of lighting fire and boiling water. We used hot water to prepare cup noodles. Roti also made an attempt boil potatoes. He was partially successful, the boiled potato was not really eatable although I ate one.

At 3 pm left we crossed Kabinale and started our trek back to highway(starting point). After some brief rests on the way we reached highway around 6.00 pm. We had tea at hotel Durga Parmeshwari next to bridge. From here we took a jeep to Gundya. From Gundya we got a bus to Kukke Subramanya and reached there around 7.00 pm. We couldn’t get any accomdation at Kukke. All hotels had put ‘No Rooms’ board. Considering the situation we decided to leave for Bangalore same night. We got last row seats in 10 pm bus. After confirming tickets we went to temple for darshan. The crowd at temple was more than usual because of long weekend.

We left Kukke at 10 pm and were back in Bangalore at 6.15 am. It was end of incomplete eventful trek. Hope we will reach till Ombattu Gudde peak in next attempt.

DON – the chase begins again, remake of Big B’s DON(1978) released in theatres today. I was waiting for this movie from last one month. A few weeks back I had read an article, in which it was mentioned that the remake has a different ending. So I decided to see movie as early as possible. The movie wasn’t releasing at my favorite theatre Urvashi and I had to see it at PVR. The advance booking for tickets at PVR started from Sunday itself. I intended to go for premier show on Thursday 10 pm so that I can see movie without even hearing/reading single review. Ande managed to get for 4 people (me, ande, ski and seena) for Friday morning show. I was disappointed because seats were second row from screen, but seeing the movie FDFS was more important.

The movie starts of in typical James Bond movie style with pre credits sequence which does not have relevance to actual storyline. The credits are in green black combination reminds of Hollywood sci-fi movie The Matrix.

The basic plot of movie is same as original. SRK as Don is good but role of Vijay doesn’t suit him. Priyanka Chopra as Roma (junglee billi) has given decent performance. Music of the movie though derived from original is good, especially signature tune is awesome which used as background score in major part of movie, is still lingering in my ears.

Comparisons with the original are inevitable. Lets discuss about some of the similarities and differences.

Similarities

• Story : 80-90% of story is same as original.
• Characters Names: Don/Vijay, Roma, De Silva, Narang, Malik, Jasjith, Kamini
• Songs: ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ and ‘Khaike Pan Banaras …’ with techno mix.
• Some Dialogues: “Don ko pakadna mushkil nahin, namumkin hai”

Differences

• Screenplay: In credits it is mentioned that screenplay is adapted from that of Salim-Javed.
• Climax: there is a twist in the tail. It makes overall story different.
• Ending: ending is like a Hollywood movie making scope for a sequel (Don: the chase continues ...)
  
• Songs: ‘Main hoon don’, ‘Maurya Maurya’, ‘Aaj Ki Raat’.
• Mobile Phones: Motorala phones are part and parcel of screenplay and each character has got a different model Don -V3 Razr Black, De Silva - L7, Roma - Pebel, Anita - V3 Razr Pink.
  
• Special Effects and Visual Appeal.

As of now I can mention only these points. If I see original and remake again, I will add more points.

There a few good scenes in the movie (may be lifted from some Hollywood flicks). These scenes good in style and technical angle but some are no so good when looked from perspective of substance.

• De Silva chasing Don. A ordinary chasing scene, but well presented by screen splits and nice camera work.
• The members Don’s gang rescuing Don from police by airlifting ambulance.
• Don/Vijay escaping from airplane by sky diving.
• Jasjith crossing Petronas Tower Bridge.
• Fight sequence between Vardhan and Don.

Minuses of the movie

• 17 reels is too much for a slick and stylish movie. Since this movie is a remake crisp editing was required to avoid boredom.
• Screenplay is not as engaging as the original.
• Characterization (see references).
• Flaws in the script (If I see the movie again by chance, I will elaborate on this).

To conclude I saw this movie without reading even a single review. First of all remaking a movie is a big risk and Farhan has done it by adding style and surprises. In my opinion it is watchable, paisa vasool movie, could have been better with deft execution.

So whats your opinion about the movie, please post it as comments (anonymous comments are allowed). Don't forget to mention your name because I will be moderating comments.

References :

• Taran Adarsh (indiafm) : (3 stars) : In short, sometimes a weak film weaves magic at the box-office. DON is one of those!
• Rajeev Masand(cnn-ibn): (1 star) : To paraphrase that line of dialogue from the film: Iss naye Don ko jhelna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai.
• Rediff: (2 stars): The original is a timeless thriller -- lean and low-fat, with no frills. Farhan's remake is more conventional, predictable and a lot more Bollywood, almost to spoofy levels.
• Don ko phir se banana mushkil nahi namumkin hai!!! : Don is not “Oh!Great Film”. But it is a very good action film, as long as you won’t compare it to the original one.
• Don Janeman connection
• My Don is not Bond-like... it’s more Don-like..!