Cast
Shah Rukh Khan (Don): Don was the most modern film of our time. I still remember the bow-tie, dotted shirt and the dialogues. It reminds me of my fondest memories from childhood and how I always dreamt of playing a part like Don, have a gun in my hand and girls on my side, and therefore, to be Don was to re-live the whole of my childhood.
I obviously can't question the greatness of old Don but what I have tried achieving is to make this Don a little more relevant in today's world. The world has become harsher and a lot grittier and thus the movie and the character are a lot more mean, cold and foxy. This means when you hit people - they stay hit, you knife people - they die, you take out a gun and it means business.
What actually was most exciting for me is that Don offered me to do some coarse action, that's something my son likes and also gave me a chance to prove to myself that I'm still as good as I was a few years back.
Shah Rukh Khan (Vijay): For some die-hard Don fans, the paan chewing Banarasi boy 'Vijay' was more memorable than Don himself. Farhan Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan understood that and made a concentrated effort to make him as novel and exciting as the one in the original.
Together, they have created an innocent, lovable and totally new 'Vijay', keeping in mind the difference in Bombay then and Bombay now. Everyone needs to have certain street smarts in this bustling city and Shah Rukh has added this new dimension to the character.
Priyanka Chopra (Roma): How did Don happen?? How does any movie initiate for that matter. A phone call then the regular meeting and you read the script.
But the moment I heard Don it was different. I am one among the thousands of fanatic Don lovers in India and to see the same movie being presented for the youth was exciting enough for me to hop onto the project.
Keeping the same plot in mind and yet presenting and packaging it in such a modernized way is a challenge in itself. And it was no different for my character Roma in our Don. She's already a trained martial arts artist and therefore, a lot more strict and aggresive.
The funny side to the whole story is, in real life, I get freaked out with guns or anything to do with violence and here I was playing Roma, a trained martial artist who is decided to go after the most feared criminals of all time - Don and that too single handedly.
But jumping around and falling down was fun and so was the whole experience.
Arjun Rampal (Jasjit): "Wonderful...but Jasjit in the original was 44." is what I thought when Farhan called me for Don. So I met up with him and little did I know of how well he had got the whole story structured in his head.
To limp was difficult initially, but the concept of a cane with Jasjit at all times was very interesting. More than a prop, it became a part of the character and so did the 'kada' and the 'family photograph' he carries with him in the movie. I always thought the character was more emotional than aggressive and the rage side to it was only an outcome of what he was made to go through.
It was a lot of fun, espcially when I had to walk the top of the Petronas skybridge. Looking down from that height, wow!
It was a fabulous experience and I wish all our attempts will be appreciated.
Ishaa Koppikar (Anita): Don was one of the projects which just felt right and needed no thinking. It sounded exciting from the word go and impulsive as I am, I just went with the flow. More than the character it was the movie I was attracted to but soon I fell in love with my part too.
Anita is just my kind of girl - "care a damn attitude love-doll". She lives in her own world and creates her own space. Little different than the original, she's louder with her actions and obviously her bad habits. Maybe a lot more spoilt...after all, that's what I love about it.
Boman Irani (DCP DeSilva): As a child, I would play cops and robbers and dress up like cowboys. I remember, the guns we used were terrible, they'll give blisters on your fingers and then today after so many years being a part of Don was like getting a chance to live your childhood dream.
Ritesh and Farhan told me they want me to play DeSilva, the role which was originally played by Iftiqar Sahab, and then the next thing I recall is me running on the treadmill, putting myself on a strict diet and doing everything possible to look fit for the part. I had married the character because after all these years of having being attached with comedy, DeSilva was a serious role, it surely was a challenge.
Om Puri (Malik): I have been working for the last 20 years and there have been only a handful of projects where it makes no difference as to how big a role you've been offered and I categorize Don as one of them.
Malik as a character is not too complicated and simple to approach. He as an officer is strict and professional yet believes that it would only be fair to give Don a chance to prove his innocence. But nobody has any idea what lies ahead...
On the whole it's the dignity attached to the project and the people who are associated with it. I have admired Farhan and his previous work and that was more than tempting for me to accept the role.
Kareena Kapoor (Kamini - special appearance): Experimenting is something that I have always loved and when I was asked to do a character role, something that I haven't tried before, I thought for a second. I thought about Don, the all time classic, Helen aunty, who's a legend in her own rights and then of the song - Yeh Mera Dil, one of my favorites and I said "I'd love to do something like this."
Kamini's role is breif but very pivotal. The story revolves around finding Don to avenge Kamini and her fiance's murder so this is where it really starts. She's also the first one to have come really close to having caught Don, but then "Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai."
To conclude, I feel totally honoured to be put in the same league as Helen aunty and I hope I have done justice to the role.
Source:
Official Don website
