Shah Rukh has created niche for himself in ‘Don’ remake: Karan

Mumbai: Filmmaker Karan Johar today said Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has created a niche for himself in the remake version of ‘Don’ and today`s generation can identify with the reconstructed edition of the cult movie.

"If you see at Shah Rukh Khan`s `Don` it is brilliant, magnificent and different from what Amitji did. Shah Rukh has created a niche for himself. Today`s generation knows Shahrukh`s version of `Don` and they will always identify with it. It is different from the portrayal of Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) and his movie `Don`," he told reporters here. `Don 2: The King is Back`, which hit cinema houses yesterday, is directed by Farhan Akhtar, who also helmed the first installment `Don: The Chase Begins Again` (2006), a box-office hit and a remake the 1978 Hindi cult classic `Don`, starring Bachchan and directed by Chandra Barot. Johar is currently gearing up for his next home production, `Agneepath`, a remake of the 1990 film starring Bachchan as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. "Hrithik`s portrayal as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan and Sanjay Dutt`s portrayal as Kancha (the villain) are different from what was there in the original film. So there is no point in comparing Shahrukh`s character as `Don`, Hrithik as Vijay or Sanjay as Kancha to the original ones," he maintained. Hrithik will reprise Bachchan`s iconic role, while Priyanka Chopra will be the female lead. The character played by Mithun Chakraborty in the original has not found a place in the remake, which releases on January 26. Dutt, who plays the role originally essayed by Danny Denzongpa, is said to have shaved his head, bulked up and sported tattoos on arms for the role. The original `Agneepath` was directed by Mukul Anand and produced by Yash Johar, Karan Johar`s late father. "Everyone used to say you can`t touch original films ... films of legendary actors. But this remake trend is here. In Hollywood it is called re-adaptation or revising. "We have paid homage to original `Agneepath`. It is not that we thought of making it better or present it in a better way from the original one. We have paid tribute to the film that was produced by my father, we are paying respect to the magic of Mukul S Anand and Mr Bachchan`s sterling performance," Johar said. "A different world has been created by Karan Malhotra (director) for this film - the love story is different, Kancha`s portrayal of villain is different, Hrithik`s portrayal of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is different. The impact of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan that comes with the name has been diminished in this film,” he said. PTI