The first remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don was made years before the Shah Rukh Khan version, and it did not star Rajinikanth either.
Recently, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar announced that he would be returning to the Don franchise with the next instalment – Don 3. However, this time, there will be a change of lead actor with Shah Rukh Khan making way for Ranveer Singh. Since the original Don was made in 1978 with Amitabh Bachchan in the title role, a number of actors have played the role in various remakes across several languages. Interestingly, contrary to popular perception, Shah Rukh Khan was not the first actor to reprise the role, and many say not even the biggest name to play Don.
The first remake of Don starred this superstar
Don, directed by Chandra Barot, was released in 1978. The crime caper starred Amitabh Bachchan in a double role is the titular gangster and his lookalike. The film was remade the following year in Telugu under the title Yugandhar. It starred the regning king of Telugu cinema and one of the biggest names in the Indian film industry – NT Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR. This was the first ever remake of the film and also starred Jayasudha and Jayamalini with music from Ilaiyaraaja. The film was a commercial success.
Don’s remakes in other languages
Yugandhar’s success began the trend of various Don remakes in other industries down south. The Tamil remake – Billa – was the first of the lot. The 1980 film starred a then up-and-coming actor named Rajinikanth. It was Billa that turned Rajini into the top star of Tamil cinema. Helen reprised her role from the Hindi film in Billa. In 1986, Don was remade in Malayalam as Sobharaj with Mohanlal playing the lead role there. In 1991, a Pakistani Punjabi film named Cobra was made with virtually the same story.
Don remakes after Shah Rukh Khan
In 2006, the franchise was rebooted when Farhan Akhtar made Don with Shah Rukh Khan. This inspired Tamil maker to remake Billa in 2009, starring Ajith Kumar in the lead. A prequel charting Billa’s rise to power was made in 2012 with Ajith in the lead again. In 2009, another Telugu remake called Billa was made, this time with Prabhas in the lead. Shah Rukh himself reprised the role i the successful Don 2 in 2011.
The third Don film had been discussed a few years after the release of Don 2 but could never be started due to the clashing schedules of Shah Rukh and Farhan. Eventually, Farhan greenlit the film earlier this year but Shah Rukh refused to return to the iconic role, paving the way for Ranveer Singh to enter the franchise with Don 3, which is slated for a 2025 release.
