Dubai: He plays an elusive and deadly gangster in Don 2: The Chase Continues, but Bollywood’s superstar Shah Rukh Khan during his visit to Gulf News office on Thursday proved that he’s anything but a bad guy.
Chatting to the staff, signing autographs and reading Thursday’s tabloid! edition dominated by Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol coverage (“It’s good to see Anil [Kapoor] smiling on the cover”] were a part of an eventful newsroom visit that lasted for 40 minutes.
Khan was joined by the terrific trio from the action thriller — Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and producer Ritesh Sidhwani.
“I ran out of expressions and decided to pull out all the things I did earlier,” quipped Khan on what prompted him to take up an anti-hero role again in the Don sequel, which releases on December 22. Khan got his big break after playing a series of villain roles in films such as Baazigar and Darr.
“It’s one of those few roles where we celebrated making the film … He’s a bad boy – he has no repressed childhood issues and we don’t go into ‘he’s a bad guy because …’,” said Khan.
Chopra, who plays a kick-ass cop in the film pitched in.
“There’s no retribution or guilt, he’s just bad. Don makes bad look really good,” said Chopra. Clad in an all-black Armani suit, she painted a formidable picture but was no diva either.
“It was fun and I loved being jungli (wild). When we were making the first Don, I didn’t think there would be a sequel, but the way the people reacted to Don’s character, it was unstoppable,” said Chopra.
Director Akhtar, who is not acting in the film, says his Christmas release has all the trappings of a blockbuster.
“When you watch a film, there’s this obsession with the bad guy. He’s always more interesting than the hero who does good things,” said Akhtar. Meanwhile, Sidhwani producer of the thriller - which is renowned for its slick action and suave villains – indicated that Don is a franchise in the making.
“The character is somebody you love, people want to see what happens next with him so we made a sequel, so if people appreciate this, I’m sure you will see it [a franchise]. This time we have left a hint which I can’t reveal.”
They may be tight-lipped about the plot, but were more than happy to talk about all else. Read tabloid! to know about the daring stunts, their prized possessions, red-carpet appearance and more.
