Amid Don 3 delays, Farhan Akhtar explains why Shah Rukh Khan was the perfect Don: ‘SRK can be charming while being menacing'
Shah Rukh Khan stepped into the shoes of the legendary Amitabh Bachchan when he played the lead role in Farhan Akhtar's remake of the 1978 film Don. Released in 2006, Don starred SRK in the titular role and Farhan recently shared that SRK's 'personality was tailor-made for that part.' He spoke about traits of Shah Rukh's personality that perfectly fitted his own imagination of Don, and added that SRK was not scared of the comparisons that he might have to face.
At the Waves Summit, when Farhan was asked about casting Shah Rukh in Don, he said, 'Shah Rukh's personality was tailor made for that part. We became friends just after Dil Chahta Hai when we started spending some time together so from 2001 onwards, pretty much till 2005, when he said yes to doing Don, we had spent many evenings together. When I started writing it, I was convinced it had to be him. His sense of humour, self deprecating style… he can be very charming even while being menacing, all this was inherently in the character so I never even thought about going to anyone else.'
Farhan said that even for Shah Rukh, Don was a big deal as he too, was a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan. 'For him, Don is massive. He is a huge fan of the film Don. He is huge fan of Mr Bachchan so to step into those shoes, to step into that role was very exciting for him,' he said. When Farhan was asked about his alternate plan, in case Shah Rukh refused because of the potential comparisons with the original, he said, 'I don't think Shah Rukh is scared of things like that. I think he is very very confident in his ability.' He then shared that SRK had been expecting that Farhan would come to him with this role and shared, 'We had been spending so much time together. I had told him that I am writing this. He was very excited. Before I told him, he was prepared that I will go to him. I think he was ready.'
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Farhan directed the sequel of Don, Don 2, also starring SRK in 2011. In 2023, he announced Don 3, with Ranveer Singh replacing Shah Rukh in the lead role. However, the film's shoot is yet to begin. The film has been postponed many times, and recently, there were rumours that the film might get pushed further. However, the production house denied these rumours in November 2024. Farhan hasn't directed a film since Don 2.
In this conversation at Waves Summit, Farhan did not say anything about Don 3.
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