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Journalism of Courage
Quiz shah rukh khan on the image that comes to his mind when someone says Don and there is a moment8217;s silence. A puff later, he says, 8220;If you ask me now, it8217;s the dark glasses, head titled on the side and the cloud of smoke.8221;
Blame it on top of mind awareness but with all due respects to the original Don, New India8217;s average multiplex goer will echo SRK8217;s sentiment. While the purists can harp aloud terms like 8220;over-indulgence8221;, 8220;lack of authenticity8221; and 8220;mutilated copy of the superior original8221;, nobody can deny that Farhan Akhtar8217;s Don Reloaded is taking the box office by storm. Trade guru Amod Mehra says, 8220;Don took a fantastic 85 per cent opening in the pre Diwali days, traditionally not considered good for business. Though the film has dropped in the second week, it8217;s a safe film. Yet another hit to Shah Rukh Khan8217;s name.8221;
Today, he can analyse why his loyal fan base started gunning for him after KANK. 8220;The character of KANK did not fail, the actor did,8221; he confesses with sincerity. He had reservations, he now admits, about the flawed Dev but he felt that he would be able to pull it off. 8220;Maybe I just couldn8217;t portray him right. I8217;ve worked enough to tell the difference between good and bad.8221;
The success of Don is a pointed reminder of the power SRK yields on the box office. The joke in tinsel town is that every month, they write SRK8217;s obit but he manages to resurrect himself. 8220;I8217;m cool with all the debate and talk. This shows that either my films or me is important. And since I8217;m aware of that, I understand that all this will come for a price. So some amount of negativity is to be expected,8221; he philosophises.
But the generosity vanishes when he talks about the biting reviews Don got. 8220;Reviewers can tear the film apart but they can8217;t tell the audience to not to go and watch the film. They can say that the film fell short in various departments but they can8217;t make people8217;s decisions. I mean who are they?8221; he asks.
Considering he harbours such strong sentiments, no wonder then that Don8217;s post release publicity blitz8212;full-page ads screaming, 8220;Don ke critics ki galti yeh hai ki woh Don ke critics hain,8221;8212;has sparked a new controversy. 8220;It8217;s all about having a sense of humour,8221; says SRK. 8220;It8217;s like, if you think my film is not good enough, I think you are not good enough. We are still playing with the brand and this is how Don would have reacted,8221; he laughs.
SRK admits to being wary when approached for the role. 8220;I didn8217;t want to let the original down,8221; he confesses. But he decided to go for it when his son Aryan condescendingly told him that he wouldn8217;t be able to pull off an action role. 8220;Aryan didn8217;t think my kicks were good enough so I wanted to prove a point,8221; he laughs.
Today when he sees Aryan dancing on his Khaike8230;, he is glad he did the film. As to whether or not the original Don liked it, SRK humbly says, 8220;Well, I think Amitji liked it. He8217;s too much of a gentleman to say anything bad and just said, 8220;Sir, aapne toh achcha kaam kiya,8221; he imitates the famous baritone. So far so good. With the King turning 41 now November 2 was the happy birthday!, SRK wants to consolidate his empire. 8220;I just want to do lots of films. I8217;m feeling healthy so I want to make the most of it. I would like to do a kids8217; film next and maybe a comedy. It8217;s been a while,8221; he says.
