Don
1978 film logo
Created by	Salim–Javed
Original work	Don (1978)
Years	1978-present
Print publications
Comics	Don Don: The Origin
Films and television
Film(s)	Don (1978) Don (2006) Don 2 (2011) Don 3 (TBA)
Games
Video game(s)	Don – The Social Mobsters Game Don 2: The King is Back Don 2: The Pursuit Don 2: Prison Break Don 2: Eliminate Vardhan
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	Don Don: The Chase Begins Again Don 2

Don is an Indianmedia franchise, centered onDon, a fictionalIndian underworldboss. The franchise originates from the 1978Hindi-languageaction thriller filmDon. In 2006, a remake series began, with the release ofDon: The Chase Begins Again. Its sequel was released in 2011, entitledDon 2. A second sequel Don 3 has been announced. It has also been expanded tocomics andvideo games. The original film was written bySalim–Javed (Salim Khan andJaved Akhtar), directed byChandra Barot, and starsAmitabh Bachchan in the title role. The remake series was created by Javed Akhtar and his sonFarhan Akhtar, withShah Rukh Khan starring in the title role. Other actors who have starred in the remake series includePriyanka Chopra,Boman Irani, andOm Puri.Don is one of thehighest-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 ofSouth Indian remakes and spin-offs, including theBilla series, consisting of threeTamil films and aTelugu remake, as well asanother Telugu remake and aMalayalam remake.

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.

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.

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.

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₹7 crore^[1] ($8.6 million).^[2] Adjusted for inflation, its box office gross is equivalent to $41 million (₹218 crore) in 2016.^[1][3] It was the thirdhighest-grossing Indian film of 1978, and was classified agolden jubilee byBox Office India.^[1][4]

Don is areboot of the1978 film of the same name, and follows thetitular 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 toDon: The Chase Begins Again and also the second installment in this series. The film is directed byFarhan Akhtar and produced byJaved Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar.^[5] The film starsShah Rukh Khan,Priyanka Chopra,Arjun Rampal,Isha Koppikar in lead roles^[6][7] andKareena Kapoor in a cameo role.^[8] This was Chopra's first action role, and she was excited to the part, so she wanted to do all the stunts by herself.^[9]Don was released worldwide on 20 October 2006 in 800 screens during theDiwali festive season, clashing with another Bollywood filmJaan-E-Mann.^[10][11] The film opened to excellent to very good response at the domestic box-office, with an occupancy of 90%.^[12]Mayank Shekhar fromMumbai 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."^[13] The film grossed over₹7100 million in India, becoming the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2006, and was deemed a "hit."^[14] It also grossed over $7.8 million in the overseas territories and was declared ablockbuster.^[15] Worldwide, the film grossed over₹1.06 billion (US$13 million) and was a major commercial success.^[10] The Home media was distributed byT-Series Home Entertainment domestically and Internationally by UTV, the film was released onDVDs on 5 December 2006.^[16] TheBlu-ray version was released on 27 April 2011.^[17]

A sequel, Don 2, was commissioned after the success of the previous film and was also directed by Akhtar,^[18] with bothKhan andPriyanka reprising their roles andLara 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 (Priyanka Chopra) 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 in3D, and on 650 screens in 40 countries.^[19][20] The dubbed versions inTelugu andTamil were released with the Hindi version.^[21] It received mixed to positive reviews from critics.^[22] As of June 2020^[update], the film holds a 69% approval rating onreview aggregator siteRotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews, with an average rating of 6.68 out of 10.^[23] 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.^[24] The film grossed₹147 million (US$1.7 million) from its Hindi version,^[25] in the process becoming the third-highest opening-day grossing Indian film (fourth-highest for the Hindi version)^[26] and the highest opening-day grossing film on a non-holiday Friday.^[27] The second-week total ofDon 2 was the second-highest of 2011, afterReady. By the end of its theatrical run theHindi version ofDon 2 grossed₹1.06 billion (US$13 million) in India and regional versions added a further₹60 million for a grand total of₹1.12 billion (US$13 million) including Tamil and Telugu,^[28] making it the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011. It grossed $11.24 million on the overseas market and was thethird highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas at that time, afterMy Name Is Khan and3 Idiots.^[29][30]

A reboot,Don 3 has been announced withRanveer Singh in the title role alongside actressKriti Sanon. In January 2025,Vikrant Massey is confirmed to play the main villain.^[31]

The protagonist of the 1978 original film, Vijay is aslum-dwelling simpleton trying to survive in the hustle and bustle ofBombay 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 ofpaan (betel-leaf), 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.

A simple girl from town, Roma hates Don because he killed her brother Ramesh and his fiancée (her best friend) 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 (who is then masquerading as Don). But when she learns the truth, she befriends him.

InDon: The Chase Begins Again, she discovers that Don is still alive and continues to hate him. Her pursuit for Don continues in itssequel where she joins the Interpol. In rebootDon, she falls for Vijay but by the end of the movie realizes he is realDon. In thesequel, she wants to seek revenge for his betrayal but when Vardhaan and Abdul Jabbar (a character played byNawwab Shah in Don 2) ask her to shoot Don or get shot herself, she chooses the latter indicating that she still has a soft corner for him.

A circus entertainer who used to work with Narang in the past, Jasjit (a.k.a. "JJ") 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 (who were taken by Vardhaan as a leverage against Vijay) 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.

The localDSP 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.

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.

The real underworld boss, higher than Don. Vardhan masquerades himself as Interpol officer R. K. Malik. In the end, his truth is revealed and he is captured by police.

In the remake, Vardhan masquerades himself as DCP D'Silva, and his identity is not known to anyone except his gang members who pretend to be against him. Eventually, Singhania finds out that D'Silva is actually Vardhan, but is killed before the news can reach anyone. Vardhan, who knows that Vijay is not Don, reveals himself to Vijay, who eventually manages to defeat Vardhan and get him arrested. Vardhan returns in the sequel, playing an important role. He seeks revenge against Don for putting him behind bars from the previous film but Don makes a deal with him and both of them break out of prison. He and Don assemble a team to steal the euro-printing plates from J. K. Diwan (Alyy Khan) but turns on Don and is once again defeated by him and placed back in prison.

R. K. Malik is the Interpol officer. His identity is stolen by Vardhaan, who then works with DSP D'Silva. Vardhaan eventually betrays D'Silva by killing him, but not before revealing himself.

In rebootDon, Malik (now named Vishal Malik) is not Vardhaan. He later becomes an ally of Vijay (who, unbeknownst to him, is actually Don). InDon 2, he gives Roma the duty of capturing Don.

A new character created exclusively for the remake, Singhania is a former lieutenant of the criminal Boris. He is Don's boss until he is killed by his rival Vardhaan (the other lieutenant of Boris) inDon: The Chase Begins Again. He appears only briefly in the films.

Another new character created exclusively for the remake of the original film.

Boris was the kingpin even higher Vardhaan and Singhania. He was the boss of Vardhaan and Singhania until he was killed by Singhania who took over his business when he wanted to give it to Vardhaan.

This table lists the main characters who appear in the Don franchise.

The originalDon was a blockbuster. It won a few awards.

• Amitabh Bachchan won aFilmfare Award for Best Actor.
• Asha Bhosle won a Filmfare Award, for the song "Yeh Mera Dil".
• Kishore Kumar won a Filmfare Award, for the song "Khaike Paan Banaraswala."

Mumbai Mirror's Mayank Shekhar gave the remake a rating of 3 out of 5. He did criticise the treatment of certain scenes in comparison to the original, though.^[49]

The remake of the film in 2006 was titled the sameDon, was a hit. The sequel to the 2006 film was released in 2011 asDon 2 and it was also a hit.

Don, an 80-pagecomic book was published for the 2006 film.^[50]

In October 2011 a comic book based onDon 2,Don: The Origin, was published in Mumbai. A prequel, it details Don's past. About the comic,Ritesh Sidhwani said: "Don 2 takes off from whereDon: The Chase Begins Again left off. In these five years, many have forgotten the film and must be curious to know how Don came into being. This original story will help them understand him and also offer a background on other characters like Roma and Vardhaan."^[51]

Excel Entertainment collaborated with India's largest video-game company, Gameshastra, on a console game. The firm developed a third-person action-adventure console game in which the player performs actions similar to Don's in the film.^[52] A social game,Don – The Social Mobsters Game (developed by Mango Games), was launched on Facebook. It is available on Android and PSN forPlayStation 3 platforms. Sidhwani said, "This is the first time a game is based on an Indian film that will be launched on four platforms. For an iconic character like Don, I think this was the best way to keep the hysteria going amongst his fans."^[52]

APlayStation 2 game,Don 2: The King is Back, was released in India in February 2013 as the finalPAL game for PS2.

Mobile video games based onDon 2 were also made astie-ins during its release by Fugu Mobile and includedDon 2: The Pursuit (aracing game) andDon 2: Prison Break andDon 2: Eliminate Vardhan.^[53]

Don has a number of South Indian remakes and spin-off films.

Billa is a South Indian film series based onDon, including threeTamil films, as well as aTelugu remake.

• Billa (1980) — remake ofDon (1978), starringRajinikanth.
• Billa (2007) — remake ofBilla (1980), starringAjith Kumar.
• Billa (2009) — Telugu remake ofBilla (2007), starringPrabhas.
• Billa II (2012) — prequel ofBilla (2007), starring Ajith Kumar.

• Yugandhar (1979) — Telugu remake ofDon (1978), starringN. T. Rama Rao.
• Shobaraj (1986) —Malayalam remake ofDon (1978), starringMohanlal.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDon film series.

• Action film franchises
• Crime film series
• Films about lookalikes
• Films with screenplays by Salim–Javed
• Indian film series
• Thriller film series
• Films adapted into comics
• Films adapted for other media
• Films about Interpol
• Films about organised crime in India
• Films about the Narcotics Control Bureau
• Indian gangster films
• Films about the illegal drug trade

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