'The remake of Don is 100 % mine'
Diganta Guha speaks to Farhan Akhtar about his much-awaited film Don, which hits the theatres today. DON Special
Director Farhan Akhtar gets candid on his forthcoming Don-The Chase Begins Again—a remake of Chandra Barot’s Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don.
The film looks quite colourful —a green layer all throughout…
A constant tone defines the way the don sees everything as part of his world. For Don, there is no other world apart from his world. The use of colour helps me to subliminally imply this shift to a parallel fictional existence.
How many times have you watched Don?
Numerous times. Far too many times to remember. I guess the special memories would have to be Khaike paan, Amit uncle as the coolest villian ever and Pran saab in a body suit.
How much of
Don
is Farhan’s and how much is Chandra Barot’s?The remake of
Don
is 100 percent mine as the original was 100 per cent Chandra Barot’s. What we do share is the genius of Salim-Javed and Kalyanji Anandji.
If you were to change one thing from the original Don, what would that be?
Nothing. I love it just the way it is.
SRK as a don and Big B as a don — there would be instant comparisons…
Yes. But it a role that is re-interpreted by an accomplished actor of our time and that is exactly how we as an audience should perceive it. Shah Rukh is not out to better Amit uncle’s fantastic performance, but merely to re-create this character in his own special way. And he has succeeded.
How risky is it to make a remake?
I would think it is as risky as making any other film.
If you were given another option, which film would you remake?
Falling Down starring Michael Douglas.
Your films have been very youth centric…what about Don?
Don is about a young man, too. But his issues lie in a fictitious world.
Was SRK your original choice for the lead role?
Shah Rukh was the only one who could bring Don to life in the manner that I had envisaged.
Don’s music haven’t quite created a rage as expected? Are you disappointed?
That is not true. The music is doing extremely well. The music company T-series is very happy with the sales. So I can't really answer this question since there is no space for disappointment.
Do you think our audience is ready for the remake rage?
I would not call five films being remade a rage. And I think that our audience is ready for any film that has a story worth telling or a story that is being told well.
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