Farhan Akhtar... About the new Don

To begin with, why did you choose to remake Don?
Don has been an integral part of my childhood memories. Memories of watching Hindi movies, of watching Amit uncle's movies and those that were written by Salim (Khan) uncle and my father (Javed Akhtar). As a kid, it was a lot more enjoyable than say a Deewaar or a Trishul.

I found it an extremely cool movie. So whenever I got the chance, I would end up watching Don.
I was traveling from Delhi to Dehradun for the recce of Lakshya. And I was listening to the background music of Don on my iPod. I loved the whole experience. And I started wondering why no one had remade this movie. And the more I thought about it, the more exciting the idea became.

Does a remake denote that there's a paucity of scripts going around?
(Grins) No, not necessarily. Sanjay Leela Bhansali remade Devdas. I won't even for a second think that he has a shortage of scripts or ideas. There are certain influences in your life, certain things that have excited you. And there comes a moment when you feel why shouldn't I show the world my interpretation of something that I've really enjoyed watching.

Was there a thought somewhere that you could better it?
No, it was not a question of better or worse but that I could do it differently. Because if I do it the way it was done earlier, then you might as well see the original. You'll find a lot of similarities with the old one but it's in a new perspective. Or so I believe. I don't think it's about better or worse. It's just about making it the way I would like to see the movie if it was remade.

But you've added a lot of dark elements to the story.
That's because Don is a sinister character. He kills when he feels like killing. He does whatever he feels like doing. In that sense he's very powerful and sinister. I didn't want him to become glamorous. I didn't foresee him as some hero. It's stifling when you see him on screen. I liked that about the character even in the original film. But obviously the styling then was completely different what with Don wearing big bow ties. That, I thought, somehow took away from the character. But I guess it worked for that time. Today it's amazing what you can do with light, with costume, with hair. I feel cinema is now becoming a lot more visual as a medium than just being dialogue oriented. It's important to create the right atmosphere. But I've retained the essence of the movie. I've just dressed it up differently.

Was your dad okay with changes you made in the original screenplay?
He pretty much knew I wanted those changes. His stamp of approval was his readiness to get us the rights of the film. It's very important for Ritesh (Sidhwani) and me that this movie be an official remake. It would have been easy to simply take the story and make it. But somehow it was important for it to be official and to be done with the consent and the blessing of people involved in the making of the original film. And I'm very grateful that the makers agreed to give us the rights.

What about others like Salim Khan and Amitabh Bachchan? Did you ask them?
Salim uncle was extremely generous. And was quite happy about his work being remade. I didn't directly speak to Amit uncle. Dad spoke to him. From my experience on Lakshya, he's an extremely easy person. And he's very supportive of young people making movies. It shows when you see him in their movies. He was quite happy that this movie was being remade. I don't know whether he'll still be happy after he sees it though.

You do realise that comparisons with the old Don are bound to be there.
Of course. Despite Lakshya being an original film, people compared it to Dil Chahta Hai. Your work will always be compared to either your previous work or to somebody else's film that's releasing on the same day as yours. The important thing for us was to focus and make the best possible film we could. The minute you say, "oh that film had this so let us do this," you lend yourself to comparisons. There are certain reasons why I wanted to make this movie and those reasons I've retained in the script. For instance, for me Yeh mera dil and Khaike paan are an important part of wanting to do this film. So it would have been a crime not to have these songs. I've retained what was crucial. The rest has been dispensed with.

Would it be fair to compare Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan?
I wouldn't compare them at all. In my mind, I see Don as a re-creation of a character by an actor coming from a completely different perspective. For instance, so many actors have done Shakespeare's Hamlet with their own vision. I somehow put the remake of a classic film in the same category. People keep asking how would you compare Dilip Kumar's Devdas with Shah Rukh Khan's Devdas. You don't do that. You just judge the performance for what it is. We all know that Amit uncle is legendary in the original film. And I'm very happy with what Shah Rukh has done. He has internalised the part. But I wouldn't get down to
comparing them.

The biggest point of comparison, if there's going to be one is the Khaike song. But not one of the people who've seen the film thought about the original song while they were watching Shah Rukh. That's when I realised that when you enjoy something, you don't compare.

Wasn't Hrithik Roshan your first choice?
First choice is a very loaded term. I wouldn't say first choice. I had approached him in the sense that I'd spoken to him about remaking Don. And had told him that if at all it works out well, then I'd meet him with the script. As I started writing it, the character became slightly older than Hrithik. For me, when I'm writing there are two things that influence me in casting. One is the way the dialogue is spoken, then you start imagining the actor saying the dialogue. That creates a kind of face for the character. And the other is the character's eyes. When you're writing a scene where he's supposed to be angry or has to say something romantic, the eyes are really important. So I wondered who could express it better. And it always was Shah Rukh. So I met Hrithik and told him that though I was doing the film, I couldn't visualise him in the role at all. And he was like "it's your film, please do whatever you want."

It's your third film as a director, how would you evaluate yourself?
It's weird to say but I've been very comfortable both writing and directing since Dil Chahta Hai. Maybe this was my natural calling. So it's difficult to say whether I've come of age as a director. That only time will tell. But there's definitely been a bit of growth in terms of understanding the medium and preparing myself emotionally, physically and mentally. As you do more work, you also realise what else goes into making a film. I don't know whether you'll know enough. Because there are so many different ways of writing and creating a scene. And that, in a sense, is the most exciting part. That the next project is going to hold something different from the previous three.

Today when you look back, are you disappointed with Lakshya?
Yes and no. Yes, because if you've worked so hard on something and you're really proud of it, it feels sad when people don't understand or appreciate it. Face it, you want your work to be appreciated. (Laughs) Here of course, appreciation is directly proportional to box office collections.

No, because there must have been some faults with that movie. It gave me a good enough reason to sit back and think about what it is that people could not understand. And if you can realise what was missing or what was unnecessarily in there, it helps you with your subsequent work. It helps you understand what it is that you can do better or that you should not do.

I couldn't see anything wrong. I loved the film.
(Laughs) Oh what a coincidence. So did I. Seriously, people felt it was lengthy. This I'm saying from the feedback I got. Secondly, on a story-telling level, I feel now that I should have just focused a little more on Hrithik in terms of his personal development and the development of his relationship with Preity. Because that was what the first half really promised you. But somewhere the Kargil angle overtook his personal story. So people were confused as to whether the movie was about war or about Hrithik and Preity. It's important to understand what people didn't like because it helps you get a clearer voice. It leaves you with a little less space for ambiguity in future.

Okay I have to ask you this. Also because you've never spoken about it. What were those stories that you had a run-in with Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of Lakshya?
(Laughs) Actually when I came back from Ladakh, people weren't interested in the movie. They were only interested in what had happened between us. The truth of the matter is that nothing really happened between us. It's a rumour that spiraled out of control.

Funnily, I didn't hear about it in Ladakh.
I heard it in Mumbai. And my first reaction was to go and meet Amit uncle. I told him I'd heard this story and if I'd said something rude to him without realising it,

I was very sorry. He told me not to take these talks seriously. That such things would keep happening. I heaved a sigh of relief. But till date I don't know where it stemmed from.

Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, which your company Excel Entertainment is producing, ran into a spot of trouble. It seems the director accused Nikhil Advani of having lifted her subject.
No, no. It's really sad how any similarity between two movies is blown out of proportion. It's an amazing coincidence that both Nikhil's and Reema's films are about six couples. That's all it is. I don't think one is copied or lifted from the other. I don't see the chance of that happening. But it's always fun for news to be slightly sensational so that people read it.

Does it excite you that the industry thinks of you as one of the most exciting directors to work with today?
(Laughs) When you put it like that, yes it sure does. But it's not something you sit back and think about. Yet I consider myself extremely fortunate that every time I've approached actors for my film, they've said yes. It's quite an amazing thing when you desire a certain cast and they agree to work with you. The same is true for my crew members too. I find something somewhere working in my favour on that level and I don't want to question it.

If people think it's exciting to work with me, then I'm flattered by that and also extremely humbled. Because the bigger the star, the more frightening it is for you to justify why you want him in your film in the first place. So every time I work with somebody who has an amazing reputation, the pressure is that much more on me. Because I feel they should be happy when they see the film. For me, one of the most amazing things was when everyone across the board told me that Lakshya was Hrithik's finest performance. It was truly a weight off my shoulders. Probably it's such stuff that makes people excited about working with me or any other director for that matter.

Been there, don that
Don was first made by Chandra Barot in 1978. The next year it was remade in Telugu as Yugandhar starring N T Rama Rao and Jayasudha. Although some of the film's tunes were different than those in the original Hindi film, the tune for the Hindi song Khaike paan Banaraswala was exactly the same, and it was now titled Oh rabba yesukunna killi.

A year later, Don was remade again, this time in Tamil as Bhilla (1980) starring Rajnikant. This movie also had a version of the Khaike paan Banaraswala as Vethallaya pottendi shakthi konjam yerudhadi. This blockbuster film helped Rajnikant cement his superstar status. The movie was also remade in Malayalam as Sobharaj (1986) with Mohanlal.

Amitabh Bachchan won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his dual role. Asha Bhosle won the Filmfare Award for Best Singer for Yeh mera dil. Kishore Kumar too snagged the Filmfare Award for Best Singer for Khaike paan Banaraswala.

Don (1978)

At the beginning of the film when DSP D'Silva played by Iftekhar, rattles off names of fictional smugglers, he mentions Harihar Zariwala. That was the real name of the late actor Sanjeev Kumar.

The song Khaike paan Banaraswala was originally written for the Dev
Anand movie Banarasi Babu (1973).

The song was never planned in Don. It was shot after the movie was complete. It was added after the intermission to balance the pace of the movie which was full of action and chase sequences.

In the original script, the character Jasjit, played by Pran was perfectly agile. The walking stick was introduced (along with suitable adjustments to the plot) only because Pran had met with an accident and could not manage without it. The producer Nariman Irani died in a mishap on the sets of this movie.