Don (subtitled as The Chase Begins Again) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Farhan Akhtar. The film was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under their production company Excel Entertainment. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as the titular anti-hero and Priyanka Chopra as Roma, while Arjun Rampal, Isha Koppikar, Boman Irani, Pavan Malhotra, and Om Puri appear in supporting roles. Kareena Kapoor Khan makes a guest appearance. Don is a remake of the 1978 film of the same title, and follows the titular criminal's look-alike who has been sent on a clandestine mission to impersonate Don after he is wounded in a chase, and to gather intelligence on the drug mafia.
Akhtar sought to remake the film with a contemporary style, while paying homage to the original and cinema of the 1970s. After acquiring the remake rights, he developed the project as a modern reinterpretation of the earlier film. Akhtar co-wrote the screenplay with his father Javed Akhtar, who co-wrote the original script with Salim Khan. While retaining the basic plot, the remake introduced several changes, including an international setting and different climax. Principal photography began in Mumbai, and later moved to Malaysia, where most of the film was shot. The soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar.
Don: The Chase Begins Again was released on 20 October 2006, coinciding with Diwali. The film was a major commercial success, grossing worldwide against its budget of , emerging as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi films of 2006. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences, soundtrack, production design, cinematography, and performances of Khan and Chopra. The twist ending was particularly well received by critics and audiences, helping the film be viewed as a distinct reinterpretation rather than a remake of the original.
Don won Best Asian Film at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival. The film also received 9 nominations at the 52nd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor (Khan).
A sequel titled Don 2 was released on 23 December 2011.
Plot A booming illicit drug trade based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is operated by cartel leader Singhania, one of two lieutenants under a deceased kingpin named Boris, who made money by selling arms and ammunition to terror groups and used the same money to buy drugs in Asia and selling them in Europe, He is rumoured to be killed by Singhania himself when he wanted to hand over the business responsibilities to the other lieutenant, Vardhaan; who has long disappeared after the death of Boris, persumbably killed by Singhania. The drug operation is overseen on the ground by Singhania's ruthless manager, Don. An elite Indian police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) D'Silva is tasked with dismantling the cartel and apprehending Don as he briefs the Malaysian Police about the Syndicate.
When Ramesh, a senior member of the gang, attempts to leave the syndicate secretly, Don executes him. Seeking revenge, Ramesh's fiancée, Kamini, poses as a temptress to trap Don for the police, but Don discovers the ruse and kills her before escaping. Ramesh's sister, Roma, resolves to avenge their deaths and successfully infiltrates Don's gang by demonstrating martial arts proficiency. During a high-speed pursuit following a police raid in India, Don suffers severe injuries and slips into a critical coma.
Keeping Don's survival a secret, D'Silva recruits Vijay, a cheerful street performer in Mumbai who is Don's exact lookalike. Vijay agrees to the mission in exchange for D'Silva funding the education of Deepu, an orphaned boy under Vijay's care. D'Silva arranges for Vijay to undergo minor surgery to duplicate Don’s scar patterns.
Meanwhile, Jasjit, a former IT consultant and Deepu's father, is released from prison. Years prior, an unknown operative had blackmailed Jasjit into stealing industrial diamonds by kidnapping his wife. D'Silva had apprehended Jasjit, dismissed his story, and shot him in the leg—leaving him permanently disabled—while Jasjit's wife was murdered. Jasjit vows revenge against D'Silva.
At the hospital, the real Don supposedly dies of heart failure. D'Silva initiates the undercover operation, sending Vijay into the cartel masquerading as Don suffering from retrograde amnesia. D'Silva instructs Vijay to locate a valuable computer disc containing the cartel's financial network and operational secrets. Meanwhile D'Silva is revealed to be Vardhaan, alive and undercover who was supposedly dead, and decides to remain incognito until he retrieves the disc. Vijay recovers the disc, but Roma confronts him to carry out her vendetta. D'Silva intervenes, revealing Vijay's true identity to Roma.
Vijay delivers the disc to D'Silva. As D'Silva is about to kill Vijay, he stops as Vijay reveals that Singhania will be coming to Kuala Lumpur for a meeting. Soon after, D'Silva organizes a raid on Singhania's club, where D'Silva (as Vardhaan) poisons Singhania, who later dies. During the ensuing crossfire, Vijay is arrested, and D'Silva is seemingly killed in an explosion. With D'Silva dead—the only man who knew Vijay was an imposter—the Malaysian police prepare to try Vijay as Don. Simultaneously, cartel members discover Vijay is an undercover operative and attempt to murder him. Vijay executes a daring skydiving escape from a prisoner transport plane, and reunites with Roma to find the disc and clear his name.
Jasjit breaks into D'Silva's apartment and retrieves the disc. Shortly afterward, he receives a ransom call demanding the disc in exchange for Deepu, who has been kidnapped. Jasjit arrives at the exchange and discovers that D'Silva is alive and was secretly Vardhaan all along. Vardhaan had assumed a fake identity, blackmailed Jasjit years earlier, and killed Singhania so he could seize full control of the Asian underworld.
Jasjit rescues Deepu, and the pair rendezvous with Vijay and Roma. The group coordinates with Interpol officer Inspector Vishal Malik to corner Vardhaan. A climactic battle ensues at an abandoned high-rise, where Vijay defeats Vardhaan in hand-to-hand combat, allowing Malik to arrest him.
An injured Vijay is cleared of all charges. As he is loaded into an ambulance, Roma confesses her romantic feelings for him, and Vijay reciprocates. However, after the ambulance drives away, Roma realizes Vijay accidentally handed her the wrong evidence disc and recalls a signature idiom Vijay uttered that identical to one Don used when they first met.
A final revelation shows that Don never died. Don had regained consciousness in the hospital, overheard DeSilva’s scheme with Vijay, and swapped places with Vijay on the operating table after fatally dosing Vijay with diazepam, killing him. Don had been posing as Vijay posing as Don the entire time, while surrendering a duplicate disc to the authorities. With Vardhaan incarcerated, and the police convinced Don is dead, Don boards a private aircraft with his associate Anita, having secured uncontested dominion over the entire Asian drug cartel.
Cast
Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role as Mark Donald aka Don Vijay, Don's lookalike Priyanka Chopra as Roma Bhagat Arjun Rampal as Jasjit Ahuja aka JJ Isha Koppikar as Anita Sinha Boman Irani as Vardhaan/Fake DCP D'Silva Om Puri as Interpol Officer Vishal Malik Kareena Kapoor as Kamini Arora/Sonia (Special appearance) Pavan Malhotra as Narang Singh Rajesh Khattar as Singhania, Don's boss Tanay Chheda as Deepu Ahuja, JJ's son Satyajit Sharma as Mystery Man Nissar Khan as Haatim Qureshi Chunky Pandey as T. J. (special appearance) Sushma Reddy as Geeta Ahuja, JJ's wife (special appearance) Diwakar Pundir as Ramesh Bhagat (special appearance)
Production Development Farhan Akhtar conceived the idea to remake the 1978 film of the same name after listening to a remixed version of a song from the original film. In early 2005, media started reporting that Akhtar was planning to remake the film, but rather than confirming the news, he revealed that though he was writing the screenplay based on the film, he would take the final decision after completing the script. The director co-wrote the film with his father, Javed Akhtar, who had also written the original film with Salim Khan.
Akhtar revealed that the reason behind the remake was a desire to give a new treatment to "a fantastic film which he enjoyed watching as a child", and create an adaptation that he thought would suit modern times. He found the film a little ahead of its time because of the narration, dialogue, and the writing style, which he deemed modern for the time of its release. Akhtar said, "Don is the one film from that time that in my mind lends itself to being remade today. So today, when you adapt it, it fits very easily into a contemporary space. I think it fits into the modern sensibility of movie viewing." Additionally, he wanted to pay tribute to the stars and makers of the original film, the 1970s era in general, and the films made by Salim–Javed and Amitabh Bachchan.
In order to suit the modern sensibility, several changes were introduced. Akhtar changed a number of aspects of the climax as he felt the original ending was outdated for today's audiences. On the other hand, a number of elements from the original were retained in the new film, notably the background score, two songs, some dialogue, and some situations, all of which Akhtar believed were fine in the original, saying that not including them would be a crime.
Casting Akhtar initially wanted Hrithik Roshan for the titular character, after having worked with him on Lakshya (2004). However, Akhtar felt that the character required a more mature actor, saying he wanted "a face that had seen the world and roughed it out." The director said that Roshan's innocence was not right for the role, and instead cast Shah Rukh Khan for the part that had been portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan in the 1978 film. Akhtar believed that Khan was the most suitable for the role, saying, "He has the personality, the style, the flair, the larger than life persona, the sense of humour and the sheer magnetism that this character requires."
In July 2005, Priyanka Chopra was cast to play Roma, a role originally played by Zeenat Aman. Akhtar found Chopra to be perfect for the role, saying, "There is a docile sensuality about her which suits the character." When he offered the role to her, she was excited to play the character and immediately agreed to do the film. Later that month Arjun Rampal and Isha Koppikar joined the cast. While Rampal was cast as Jasjit, played by Pran in the original, after Akshay Kumar turned down the role for being secondary, Koppikar was cast in a completely new role that was not in the original film. In August 2005, Kareena Kapoor was confirmed to appear in the song "Yeh Mera Dil", which had been performed by Helen in the original film.
Khan, Chopra, and Rampal underwent extensive martial arts training from an expert from the Shaolin Temple. The principal cast received training in different kinds of martial arts. Khan revealed that he had always wanted to look the way Amitabh Bachchan had in his films, but he said he gave his own interpretation to the role. After signing to do the film, Chopra was very excited, but a few days later, she became nervous, wondering if she would be able to do justice to the character. Having seen the original film as a teenager, Chopra avoided watching the film again as she did not wanted to imitate Zeenat Aman's portrayal of Roma. She made a conscious effort to give her own look and style to the character.