Finally we have confirmation that the sequel to the Shah Rukh Khan’s Don will be coming; however it is not soon. Director Farhan Akhtar has not only said that yes it is true there will be a Don 2 but that it will start shooting next year!

Farhan told IANS: “I will be working with Shah Rukh Khan for Don 2. We will begin shooting for it in the second half of next year.”

In May of this year producer Ritesh Sidhwani said that the film will continue on from the end of the last Don and revealed that not only SRK will be coming back, “Yes Priyanka has been signed opposite Shah Rukh in Don 2. It is a sequel obviously and when we locked the story and the screenplay, we knew that we needed Priyanka for the film. Similarly, we have also signed on Boman Irani and Arjun Rampal.”

But in that interview he would not give anything else away, “The story is indeed ready and everyone is pretty excited about the film. We will start shooting mid next year and we are looking for April 2010 release, so what’s the point talking about the film right now? All I can say is that the film will take off from where Don ended.”

Guess we will have to wait and watch and see what Farhan has planned for Don 2. We will keep you up to date so watch this space for more!

Onlangs bevestigde Farhan Akhtar de opvolger van ‘Don’ waarin Shahrukh Khan wederom de hoofdrol op zich gaat nemen. Of Priyanka Chopra een rol gaat krijgen is onduidelijk. De regisseur heeft aangegeven zich te focussen op zijn aankomende film ‘Rock On’ en zal volgende maand meer onthullen over het vervolg van de Indiase remake.

“Where are the actors?” he grouses. “All the big names have signed multi-crore deals with corporate houses. And even the lesser known actors are not available.”

Barot has worked on his script for over a year. The director was toying with the idea of casting Neil Nitin Mukesh.

“I had worked with his grandfather Mukesh. His father Nitin Mukesh is a good friend. But Neil is also too busy,” he sighs.

Barot has now decided to go ahead with a newcomer. “I made ‘Don’ and I know I can give the industry another star like Amitabh Bachchan. It is better to work with new names than chase after the big stars,” he says.

Reportedly, the film is a sequel to his ‘Don’ and is titled ‘Don 2 – The Return of the King’. But Barot denies this. He insists that Don is a Salim-Javed creation and only the duo can make another Don.

“Amitabh Bachchan’s character in the film doesn’t marry. So, the possibility of making a sequel with his son is ruled out,” he reasons.

Farhan Akhtar can sleep easy. Barot is not making Don-2. His film is only along the lines of the earlier blockbuster.

Shah Rukh, who is currently on vacation in London, has a packed schedule when he returns to India. He will start shooting for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as soon as he lands in Mumbai and then he will be busy with Priyadarshan’s Billoo Barber.

After the above two films are over, Karan Johar has booked Shah Rukh’s dates for My Name is Khan and then he will be busy with his own production Happy New Year which is to be directed by Farah Khan.

He will also be busy promoting his other venture that is an animation film titled Ravan. Insiders close to the project reveal that Shah Rukh really wants to do the film but to date, he has not found dates for Farhan. Farhan, on the other hand, really wants to have him in the sequel and so he is directing Voice from the Sky first and will then move over to the sequel.

Sources add that if the there is a major schedule crunch, then Shah Rukh will opt out of Don 2.

When contacted, Farhan was defensive while talking about the fate of Don 2. “Things are looking good for Don 2 and we hope to start in the beginning of 2009,” he says.
But the interesting bit came when we asked him whether Shah Rukh and Priyanka are a part of the sequel. “We plan to have some of the cast from Don in the sequel,” he adds.

We pressed him harder on the issue and he tells us, “I’m beginning with Voice from the Sky first. It is too premature to talk about all this now.”

We contacted producer Ritesh Sidhwani, who confirmed the news. He said, “Yes Priyanka has been signed opposite Shah Rukh in Don 2. It is a sequel obviously and when we locked the story and the screenplay, we knew that we needed Priyanka for the film. Similarly, we have also signed on Boman Irani and Arjun Rampal.”

However Ritesh is not willing to divulge any further. He added, “The story is indeed ready and everyone is pretty excited about the film. We will start shooting mid next year and we are looking for April 2010 release, so what’s the point talking about the film right now? All I can say is that the film will take off from where Don ended.”

In the final twist in Don, it emerges that the real Don is still alive, and was pretending to be Vijay who he killed and replaced while in the hospital. It was actually Vijay who had died in the hospital. In the end both Don and his girlfriend Anita (Ishaa Koppikar) escape, leaving the police bewildered. Critics believed that this twist was done to setup a possible sequel.

Shahrukh Khan has worked in a movie made on the script of Don and the movie sequel has been under plan but the actor Shahrukh Khan will have to wait for some more year to make a sequel of the movie Don as the original Don Amitabh Bachchan is preparing to work in a sequel of the Don that was made in 70’s.

The sequel of the movie Don was predicted by the movie goers’ after watching the end of the movie in the initial version of Don.

The new Don called Don 2 lead casts has been decided and again Priyanka Chopra and Shahrukh Khan will be in the lead roles in the sequel of the movie Don.

Says Farhan, “Most of the characters and cast from the first part will recur, including Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal and Om Puri.

For me the challenge is to create an ongoing series for a hero who is the anti-hero.”

And now comes Farhan’s third acting assignment.

“It’s to be directed Abhishek (Gattu) Kapoor who directed Aryan recently” reveals Farhan. “It’s about four young guys coming of age.”

Not unlike Farhan’s own directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai.

“You can say that,” chuckles Farhan. “The film is called Magic When Abhishek came to me with the script I said I wanted to produce it. It’s true, it’s in the same genre as Dil Chahta Hai. It’s about four friends who meet up after ten years….quite similar to Dil Chahta Hai from the outside but the content is very different. So Zoya’s and Abhishek’s films are my two starring roles.”

Farhan says he enjoys acting. “I had a great time doing The Fakir Of Venice. That’s currently in post-production.It had its first screening in Venice Film Festival. In addition I’m also writing the dialogues for Zoya’s film. Zoya’s film is my top priority.

So is my associate Reema Kagti (Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd ). She’s making a detective thriller. After these I’ll decide what to direct next….The gamut of films that are being made these days is so wide. Films like Honeymoon Travels, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Bheja Fry are working.

Audiences are getting tired of 3-hour films. The shorter-film formats suit the younger filmmakers with a limited budget.”

Farhan is challenged by the thought of directing Don 2. “Most of the characters and cast from the first part will recur. For me the challenge is to create an ongoing series for a hero who is the anti-hero.”

What do you think of Rajpal Yadav spoofing Don in Partner?
I’ve no issues with that. The more people do to keep both the Dons alive, mine and Mr Bachchan’s, the happier I am.

Which Don do you prefer?
The old one. It’s my love for the old Don that made made me do my version of Don. If today someone asked me which Don I’d like to watch I’d opt for the version with Mr Bachchan.

What about talk of you doing a sequel to Don?
Yes there’s something I am working on with Shah Rukh. Let’s see when it materializes. I am very fascinated by the character of Don. I want to see where he goes in a sequel.

If I can carry him forward and make him more powerful than in the first part, then I’d go ahead and make it. He’s a very interesting and magnetic flamboyant larger-than-life character who thinks he can get away with anything.

Will it have Shah Rukh and Priyanka?
Only Shah Rukh is so far a pre-given in the cast.

Will it have Mallika Sherawat?
No.

Are you writing Don 2?
Well… the first part was written by my dad and Salim Saab. This time the writing would be entirely mine. I didn’t want to divert too far from the original in Don 1. In Don 2 I’ll write on a clean slate with no rules to follow. The journey from a remake to a sequel should be interesting.

You seem more charged now than ever before?
There’s more emphasis being placed on the writing. There’re lots of talented young writers around.I get a lot of exciting scripts to read these days. We always said we wanted to bring in new writing and directorial talent right into our production house from the time I made Dil Chahta Hai.

From that time six years ago to today, there’s a sea change in the kind of script that are coming to us.

Did you remake Don because there was an aridity of script-writing talent?
No. Even the script that I’m going to direct with Irrfan Khan in the lead called Voice From The Sky was something I wrote immediately after Dil Chahta Hai. At that time I didn’t feel it was the correct time to make it. Since I’ve to direct children in it I had to be mentally prepared for the challenge.

Today the film market has changed. Now is the right time to make Voice From The Sky. If I had made it right after Dil Chahta Hai it wouldn’t have found the right outlets. There were no multiplexes back then.

Dil Chahta Hai was quite a trendsetter.
I don’t know about that. I really don’t know how far the trend is imbibed consciously. There was a character in a film called Wayne’s World who was totally infatuated by Wayne though he couldn’t bear to be around her. That must have remained in my mind when I did a similar character Deepa in Dil Chahta Hai.

But yes when I saw Apoorva Lakhia’s Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost I did recognize elements from Lagaan in it. I’m sure films do influence our minds in ways that we do not always understand.