Don (franchise)
Don is an Indian media franchise, centered on Don, a fictional Indian underworld boss. The franchise originates from the 1978 Hindi-language action thriller film Don. In 2006, a remake series began, with the release of Don: The Chase Begins Again. Its sequel was released in 2011, entitled Don 2. A second sequel Don 3 has been announced. It has also been expanded to comics and video games. The original film was written by Salim–Javed, directed by Chandra Barot, and stars Amitabh Bachchan in the title role. The remake series was created by Javed Akhtar and his son Farhan Akhtar, with Shah Rukh Khan starring in the title role. Other actors who have starred in the remake series include Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, and Om Puri. Don is one of the highest-grossing Indian film franchises.
In the original film, the plot revolves around Vijay, a lookalike of Don who is asked to masquerade as him by a law enforcement officer. In the remake series, the plot revolves around Don himself. Don also has a number of South Indian remakes and spin-offs, including the Billa series, consisting of three Tamil films and a Telugu remake, as well as another Telugu remake and a Malayalam remake.
Overview
Don (1978)
Don, a wanted criminal, succumbs to his injuries in a police chase. Things take a turn when Vijay, a lookalike of Don, hired by DCP D'Silva, replaces him and tries to trace the details of his illegal activities.Don (reboot)
Vijay, a lookalike of criminal kingpin Don, is hired by DCP D'Silva in order to find Don's secrets. But after D'Silva dies, Vijay struggles to reveal his real identity.Don 2
After dominating the Asian underworld, Don sets his eyes on the European criminal market. Caught between the Berlin mafia and law enforcement, Don tries to escape treachery and betrayal.Films
''Don'' (1978)
The first installment of the series, centers on the fictional incidents. Don, a wanted criminal, succumbs to his injuries in a police chase. Things take a turn when Vijay, a lookalike of Don, replaces him and tries to trace the details of his illegal activities. Don was released on 12 May 1978, and gained positive response. The film grossed 7crore. Adjusted for inflation, its box office gross is equivalent to $ million in 2016. It was the third highest-grossing Indian film of 1978, and was classified a golden jubilee by Box Office India.''Don'' (2006)
Don is a reboot of the 1978 film of the same name, and follows the titular criminal's look-alike who has been sent on a clandestine mission to impersonate Don after he is wounded in a chase, and to infiltrate the plans of the drug mafia. The film was titled as Don, but then changed to Don: The Chase Begins Again and also the second installment in this series. The film is directed by Farhan Akhtar and produced by Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Isha Koppikar in lead roles and Kareena Kapoor in a cameo role. This was Chopra's first action role, and she was excited to the part, so she wanted to do all the stunts by herself. Don was released worldwide on 20October 2006 in 800 screens during the Diwali festive season, clashing with another Bollywood film Jaan-E-Mann. The film opened to excellent to very good response at the domestic box-office, with an occupancy of 90%.Mayank Shekhar from Mumbai Mirror gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and wrote, "The former was a character-driven, intimate film, albeit a fairly slick thriller, mostly for its screenplay." The film grossed over 7100million in India, becoming the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2006, and was deemed a "hit." It also grossed over $7.8million in the overseas territories and was declared a blockbuster. Worldwide, the film grossed over and was a major commercial success. The Home media was distributed by T-Series Home Entertainment domestically and Internationally by UTV, the film was released on DVDs on 5December 2006. The Blu-ray version was released on 27April 2011.''Don 2'' (2011)
A sequel, Don 2, was commissioned after the success of the previous film and was also directed by Akhtar, with both Khan and Priyanka reprising their roles and Lara Dutta in a cameo role. The film's story takes place five years after the previous film when Don, a powerful and ruthless crime boss, plans to take over the European drug cartel. Meanwhile, Roma has joined the Interpol to hunt him down. Don 2 was released worldwide 23 December 2011 on 3,105 screens in the domestic market, including 500 prints in 3D, and on 650 screens in 40 countries. The dubbed versions in Telugu and Tamil were released with the Hindi version. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics., the film holds a 69% approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews, with an average rating of 6.68 out of 10. On its first day, Don 2 had 80-percent occupancy levels throughout India. In multiplexes its occupancy level was 75%-80% percent and 70%–75% in single-screen theatres. The film grossed from its Hindi version, in the process becoming the third-highest opening-day grossing Indian film and the highest opening-day grossing film on a non-holiday Friday. The second-week total of Don 2 was the second-highest of 2011, after Ready. By the end of its theatrical run the Hindi version of Don 2 grossed in India and regional versions added a further 60 million for a grand total of including Tamil and Telugu, making it the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011. It grossed $11.24 million on the overseas market and was the third highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas at that time, after My Name Is Khan and 3 Idiots.''Don 3'' (TBA)
A reboot, Don 3 has been announced with Ranveer Singh in the title role alongside actress Kriti Sanon. In January 2025, Vikrant Massey is confirmed to play the main villain.Characters
Don
Vijay
The protagonist of the 1978 original film, Vijay is a slum-dwelling simpleton trying to survive in the hustle and bustle of Bombay in order to support two small foster children. Vijay, the exact lookalike of Don, is trained by D’Silva to impersonate Don and place him back into the crime nexus, but this time as a police informer. A talented singer and joyful enthusiast of paan, Vijay struggles to prove his real identity and innocence after the death of D'Silva, the only one who knew about Vijay's undercover operation. When subjected to pressure, Vijay steps up and proves himself to be a force to be reckoned with, defeating Vardhaan's henchmen on multiple occasions before teaming up with Roma and Jasjit to provide the police with a diary that served as proof of Vijay's innocence and Vardhaan's true identity.In the remake, Vijay's character is similar to the one featured in the original. However, after being hired by D'Silva to serve as an informant, Vijay is killed by Don, who then takes his place.
Roma
A simple girl from town, Roma hates Don because he killed her brother Ramesh and his fiancée Kamini. In order to get revenge, Roma trains herself up and joins Don's gang with a secret desire to kill him. Unaware that the real Don is dead, she fights Vijay. But when she learns the truth, she befriends him.In Don: The Chase Begins Again, she discovers that Don is still alive and continues to hate him. Her pursuit for Don continues in its sequel where she joins the Interpol. In reboot Don, she falls for Vijay but by the end of the movie realizes he is real Don. In the sequel, she wants to seek revenge for his betrayal but when Vardhaan and Abdul Jabbar ask her to shoot Don or get shot herself, she chooses the latter indicating that she still has a soft corner for him.
Jasjit
A circus entertainer who used to work with Narang in the past, Jasjit is hired by Narang for one last heist. JJ refuses but is forced to accept because he needs money for his wife's medical treatment. He is arrested by DSP D'Silva, leading to his wife's death and leaving his children, Munni and Deepu, without a guardian until Vijay finds them and takes care of them. After his release from prison, JJ tries to kill D'Silva, but spares him when D'Silva offers to reunite JJ with his children. While waiting for D'Silva, JJ acquires a diary in the DSP's possession that contained information about Vardhaan's organisation. JJ attempts to trade the diary with Vardhaan in exchange for money, but finds Munni and Deepun and rescues them, eventually teaming up with Vijay and Roma to take down Vardhaan.In the remake, Jasjit is a security software worker hired by Narang to pull off a heist. Trapped and forced to accept because his wife is kidnapped by Narang, Jasjit's story is similar to the one featured in the original.
D'Silva
The local DSP who was assigned the duty of capturing Don. He does succeed in capturing Don, but the latter dies in the process. However, only he knows of Don's death, so he secretly hires Vijay, a look-alike of Don, and advises him to disguise as Don and give the police information about Don's gang. He is the only one who knows Vijay's secret. Vijay succeeds, but he is killed, leaving Vijay on his own to prove his innocence.In the reboot series, D'Silva survives and reveals himself to be Vardhaan.
Anita
Don's girlfriend. She, like the rest of Don's gang, is unaware that Vijay is acting as their leader who is dead. Because Vijay is attracted to Roma instead of Anita, the latter feels jealous, and eventually overhears Vijay's phone conversation with D'Silva, thus finding out the truth. Vijay however quickly manages to trap her, thus saving himself.In the 2006 remake, she is implied to be aware of Don's plans, rendezvousing with him at the end of the film.