As Farhan Akhtar moves forward with the Don franchise over a decade after the release of the second installment, he shared an intriguing story about casting Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role for the first film, which premiered in 2006. During his appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast, Farhan recounted how he initially committed to offering the part to Hrithik Roshan.
Farhan mentioned, “Hrithik and I did Lakshya, and we had an incredible, wonderful time working together. So I reached out to Hrithik and said, ‘I’m thinking I’m going to remake Don.’ He said, ‘Sounds amazing, dude!’ I said, ‘Let me write it and I’ll bring it to you.’ So he said, ‘Cool.’” However, as Farhan began writing, Shah Rukh Khan started to come to mind as the perfect fit for the role. “When I was writing, the only person whose face is popping into my head is Shah Rukh, from what I knew him. We’d spent some time together, hanging out at a party here or a party there, with some common friends in Delhi. So the way he was, not his cinematic image, but him, his personality, his wit, the little sarcastic sense of humour he has, self-deprecating, he can make fun of himself. When I was writing, I thought this guy is the best actor for this part,” Farhan recalled.
“But I’d already given my word to Hrithik,” Farhan continued. “So I called up Hrithik and told him, ‘I’m writing the film I spoke to you about. But the more I’m writing, I’m feeling I should reach out to Shah Rukh for this film. I’ll never forget, he said, ‘Farhan, you’ve to make your film, and in the best way possible. If you think he’s the guy, please go ahead and call him. Don’t worry about me.’ That is a very gracious thing.”
Interestingly, Hrithik made a cameo appearance in Don 2 (2011) as one of the disguises of Shah Rukh’s character. After Don, Hrithik and Farhan acted together in Farhan’s sister Zoya Akhtar’s films Luck By Chance (2009) and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011). With Shah Rukh stepping down from the Don role, Ranveer Singh is set to take on the iconic character in the upcoming Don 3.
In the meantime, Shah Rukh is set to play a don in Sujoy Ghosh’s King, while Hrithik is currently filming for Ayan Mukerji’s spy thriller War 2.
