Exchanged ideas with Shah Rukh Khan for Don 3, chose Ranveer Singh as film needed ‘next generation’ actor: Farhan Akhtar

When asked why he chose Ranveer specifically, Farhan described him as a “charming guy” and said, “He is mischievous, just full of energy, which is what this needs and he is… I feel when it comes to this aspect of his performance, it’s still untapped. Like I don’t think he has done a role like this.” Farhan said that Ranveer has largely done loud characters “with the exception of Lootera” and added, “His characters, because of who he is, they have been written for him, for that reason, are very external. They are loud characters. They are big characters where he has the histrionics and everything. Don requires a very different kind of performance from him. There is a certain holding everything inside that is needed for this character which I don’t think he has done so I feel, for him also, it is a nice challenge to be able to do this. You will see him in a different way.”

Farhan said that Don 3 will give him a chance to do “action, dialogue baazi but the personality is going to be different from what he has played which I find interesting with him.”

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When asked why Shah Rukh Khan was not a part of Don 3, Farhan said that they discussed a few ideas but nothing really worked out. “There were a couple of ideas that we exchanged, wrote some stuff also but somehow… I mean either he was excited by something that I didn’t feel or then I was really excited by something that he felt was not… and that happens,” he said and added that after much back and forth, they decided to part ways on Don. “We said we have done two which are really fun and amazing together,” he said.

Don originally starred Amitabh Bachchan and was written by Salim-Javed. After the 1978 film, Farhan remade the film with SRK as the lead in 2006. He then made a sequel in 2011. Farhan has not directed a film since then.