The Don (2006 film)

The Don is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Shaji Kailas from a story written by J. Pallassery. It stars an ensemble cast of Dileep, Lal, Saikumar, Bheeman Raghu, and Baburaj.

The Don was released on 5 September 2006. It received negative reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb.

Premise
Unnikrishnan becomes a trusted right hand to Kasim Baba after he saves him from a group of goons. However, when Kasim gets killed by his nephew, Sulaiman, Unni gets accused of the murder and is arrested. He decides to prove his innocence and avenge Kasim's death, by killing his murderers.

Cast

 * Dileep as Unnikrishnan (Salaam)
 * Lal as Kasim Baba
 * Saikumar as Advocate Subramaniam Swami
 * Maniyanpilla Raju as MLA Abdullah Kutty
 * Harisree Ashokan as Koya, Unni's friend
 * Gopika as Shahida
 * Chitra Shenoy as Baba's wife
 * Bheeman Raghu as Sikandar
 * Baburaj as Abutty
 * Lalu Alex as Jail Superintendent Vishwanathan
 * Kazan Khan as Sharon Bhai
 * Spadikam George as DYSP Anirudhan
 * Shammi Thilakan as Sulaiman, Baba's nephew
 * Subair as Koya Sahib
 * Sreejith Ravi as Vasu, Unni's friend
 * Anil Murali as Joji, Unni's friend
 * Augustine as Kabir Bhai
 * Sukumari as Devakiamma

Production
This film marks the first collaboration between Shaji Kailas and Dileep. Pooja was initially considered to be the heroine. However, the role went to Gopika.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Mohan Sithara.
 * "Chandanatheril" - M. G. Sreekumar, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan (lyrics by Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma)
 * "The Don (Theme)"

Release
The Don was scheduled to release before Onam but was pushed to the first week of September.

Critical response
Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff.com gave the film a rating of one out of five stars and wrote "The Don is simply a hotchpotch of many action-drama films, clumsily put together". A critic from Webindia123 wrote that "It may be better for Dileep to stop trying to become an action hero". A critic from Indiaglitz stated that "The screenplay of Pallaserry offers nothing new. And with the song which arrives an hour into the proceedings, the tempo slackens". Unni Nair of Nowrunning said that "The Don is not his [Shaji Kailas'] worst effort yet".

Future
Dileep and Shaji Kailas were reported to collaborate again for another film produced by Dileep which did not materialise.