Diwali biggies 'Don', 'Jaan-e-mann' open to mixed response

Mumbai, Oct 20 (UNI) The much hyped Bollywood releases on Diwali eve - Farhan Akhtar's remake of 1978 blockbuster 'Don' and Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Jaan-e-mann' -opened to a mixed response today.

Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Don' faced imminent comparisons to the earlier version with many cinegoers feeling that the Amitabh starrer was better.

Salil Acharya, a college student who saw the afternoon show at Cinemax in suburban Mumbai along with his friends said, ''If you watch SRK's Don without the baggage of the orginal film, it is not that bad after all. But, I do not think it has a repeat value.'' Surpriya Joshi, a housewife felt performance wise, Jaan-e-mann had an upper hand. ''Salman is extremely good, while Akshay's performance is also credible. Debutante director Shirish Kunder is an ace editor and the magic can be seen in the film. Jaan-e-mann is well presented,'' she said.

Editor of trade magazine 'Complete Cinema' Kumar Mohan said the weekend bookings of both films were in the range of 70 to 80 per cent nationwide.

Mohan said 'Jaan-e-mann' was very entertaining in the first half, but it is not upto the mark in the second part. While 'Don' suffers due to the comparisons with the original. Amitabh's Vijay in the previous film comes across as innocent, but the spark is missing in SRK's portrayal as Vijay, he added.

But, box office trade is not willing to write off both the films.

''Both films will pick up gradually. This being a festive weekend and rates of tickets in multiplexes being high, many middle class families would prefer to watch movies at a later stage,'' trade sources added.

UTV has released 'Don' overseas with 350 prints, while 'Jaan-e-mann' has been released 220 prints.

'Jaan-e-mann' is a romantic musical, while 'Don' where SRK with three women - Kareena, Priyanka and Isha Koppikar - for company, is a thriller.

There is much curiosity about the two biggies with the media going gung-ho about who is the biggest Khan of the two leading men -SRK or Salman.

Shah Rukh Khan while talking to reporters here recently said such media hype with the clash of the two films would do good to both films.

''Don and Jaan-e-mann are of two different genres and there is space for all kinds of movies,'' he had said.

UNI MR KU LL HT1735