No SRK, no Don? Why all SRK fans need to stop being Narayan Shankars of Bollywood

In the Bollywood film Mohabbatein, Amitabh Bachchan’s character Narayan Shankar often says, “I don’t like change.” It was a defining phrase in the universe of the movie. Metaphorically, it also articulated the sentiments of the older generation when faced with the imminent rise of the new generation. But why am I delving into the discussion of ‘I don't like changes’ and intergenerational conflict? The answer is the recently announced Bollywood movie Don 3, where actor Ranveer Singh, fresh from the success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (RRKPK), steps into Shah Rukh Khan’s shoes to play the iconic Don, and the reactions of the older fans that followed.

Amitabh Bachchan’s blockbuster Don was remade by director Farhan Akhtar in 2006, and starred Shah Rukh Khan in the titular role. Akhtar followed it up with a sequel, Don 2, in 2011. Now, more than a decade later, Farhan Akhtar has decided to take the franchise forward with a ‘younger Don’ Ranveer Singh. But as soon as the announcement was made, “NO SRK NO DON” started trending on Twitter with several Shah Rukh Khan fans expressing their disappointment over the casting of Ranveer Singh. They were refusing to accept that Singh can or will replace Shah Rukh Khan, pretty much articulating what Mohabbatein’s Narayan Shankar had been espousing in the film. Commenting on Farhan Akhtar’s post, one user wrote, “Iss tune par koi kaise hi SRK ke alawa kisi ko imagine kar sakta hai?” (How can someone imagine anybody else other than SRK on this tune?).

Although fandom often defies logic, I can’t help but find it amusing to witness so many ‘Narayan Shankars’ echoing their “I don’t like change” rant when it’s a straightforward decision by a filmmaker to select the lead actor for his film.

This is also a déjà vu moment. I clearly remember when Shah Rukh’s Don (2006) was released, Amitabh Bachchan fans as well as film journalists tried to dismiss the new Don (2006). Shah Rukh Khan faced significant flak as well, with movie critics questioning the necessity of the remake and suggesting, ‘Let’s just leave Mr Bachchan’s films alone.’ Amitabh Bachchan’s fans believed that SRK would struggle to replicate Bachchan’s exceptional performance and magnetic charm, much like the ongoing scenario. The BBC review of Shah Rukh’s Don in October 2006 opined, “While Khan does his best split personality impression, his psychedelic-shirt-wearing Don and Vijay are nowhere near as cool and clumsy as Bachchan’s characters.”

Despite the criticism, SRK’s Don was a hit. Not as big a blockbuster you expect from SRK, but successful enough to indicate that audiences had embraced the new ‘Don’. Typically, people resist changes, often regarding status quo as the norm. But in Bollywood such changes have happened before. Many film franchises have transitioned away from their initial protagonists, and introduced fresh leads to continue the series or story forward.

Remember a movie called Jolly LLB (2013), a black comedy about a Delhi lawyer Jolly Tyagi played by Arshad Warsi. The movie achieved success, and with Jolly LLB 2 (2017), the makers wanted to up the scale. So a more saleable star Akshay Kumar was picked to play Jolly. Arshad Warsi, despite being keen on playing the role, had to accept the producer’s decision: “I was supposed to do Jolly LLB 2, but Fox Star Studios needed a bigger star, so they chose Akshay.” Arshad had admitted that he was slightly bothered, but added casting a star like Akshay is less of a risk for the movie makers. As expected, Jolly LLB 2 was a bigger success than its predecessor. Another example of such a transition was Salman Khan taking over from Saif Ali Khan in Race 3 (2018), which happened to be the only flop in the Race franchise. Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose were hilarious in the surprise hit Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006), a comedy about dating and relationships. However, in the sequel Shaadi Ke Side Effects (2014), Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar took over the roles previously portrayed by the duo. Regrettably, the sequel turned out to be a significant disappointment. John Abraham stepped in for Akshay Kumar and achieved success in Welcome Back (2015), the sequel to the highly popular Welcome (2007). So the outcome tends to be a combination of factors, largely influenced by the content of the film and the performance of the new star who has taken over from the previous lead actor.

Coming back to Don 3, Farhan Akhtar is believed to have had multiple discussions with Shah Rukh Khan on Don 3, but Shah Rukh wasn’t too keen to get back as Don again at this point of time. He wishes to do more massy films catering to a universal section of the audience. According to reports, Akhtar was well aware that the audience will resist accepting a new Don, but it was Shah Rukh who convinced him that even James Bond has gone through profile changes.