Farhan Akhtar recently shared how Hrithik Roshan reacted when he replaced him with Shah Rukh Khan in his 2006 action thriller, 'Don'.
Farhan Akhtar-directed action thriller, Don: The Chase Begins Again, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra in lead roles, became a major commercial success of the Hindi film industry in 2006. The movie was appreciated by both critics and the audience for its storyline, cinematography, and cast performance. But did you know SRK wasn't the first choice as the film's hero?
Recently, Farhan Akhtar graced Raj Shamani's podcast, Figuring Out, and spoke at length about both his professional as well as personal life. During the conversation, the filmmaker-turned-actor shared that when he decided to remake Amitabh Bachchan's Don, he immediately thought of casting Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan did not even pop up in his mind.
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Farhan revealed that he was coping with the box-office failure of his 2004 war drama, Lakshya, starring Hrithik and Preity Zinta when he thought of remaking Don. However, once he started writing the story, the only name that kept coming to his mind was that of Shah Rukh Khan. He was quoted as saying:
"I reached out to Hrithik and I told him that I am thinking about remaking Don. He said ‘sounds amazing’ and I said ‘let me write it and I will bring it to you’. While writing it, the only person whose face kept popping into my head was Shah Rukh."
Further in the conversation, Farhan mentioned that SRK's personality, wit, and sarcasm made him perfect for the role, but he was in a grave dilemma as he had already spoken about it to Hrithik. The filmmaker shared that he called up the latter to tell him what was going on in his mind. He was quoted as saying:
"I called up Hrithik and I told him that I have been writing the film and I am just feeling more and more that I should reach out to Shah Rukh. He said ‘Farhan, you have to make your film, you have to make it the way you want to make it and if you are feeling he is the guy, please go ahead and call him, don’t worry about me’. That is a very gracious thing."
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Moreover, when Farhan was asked what makes Shah Rukh Khan a star, the filmmaker revealed that the latter is an extremely knowledgeable person who prefers to read a lot. Farhan also mentioned that SRK can give his opinion on anything and everything. In his words:
"He can talk about any topic and he will have his point of view on that. He is a good listener. He likes to have a nice time, and he doesn’t like the weight of things too much. He is fun guy to hang around. There is an inherent charm he has that is magnetic and it is both on and off the screen. He is easy, it doesn’t feel laboured, and that ease makes you feel comfortable. He works really hard, and that has kept him where he is."
What do you think of Farhan Akhtar's revelations about Hrithik Roshan?
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