Don 2: The Chase Begins Again
Don 2 (2011) picks up where the 2006 remake left off, treating Farhan Akhtar's film as its sole parent. The 1978 original is set aside entirely; this is a continuation of a specific version of the story, and of a specific interpretation of the character.
Shah Rukh Khan returns as Don, now the undisputed head of the Asian drug trade. The film opens in Europe — shot extensively in Berlin and Amsterdam — and stays there for most of its runtime, a deliberate move away from the Indian locations of its predecessor. The European setting is not atmospheric dressing; the story turns on Don's attempt to steal printing plates for Euro currency from a high-security vault, placing it firmly in heist-thriller territory.
Priyanka Chopra returns as Roma, and Boman Irani as Vardhaan. Hrithik Roshan makes a brief cameo appearance. The film was written and directed again by Farhan Akhtar, produced under Excel Entertainment, and shot by Jason West. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy scored the film; the music was notably less prominent than in either preceding version, reflecting the heist structure's tighter dramatic logic.
The central twist of the 2006 film — that the man the audience believed to be an impostor was, in fact, the real Don all along — is not reversed or re-examined here. Instead it is the foundation on which Don 2 builds. The sequel has no equivalent identity puzzle; what it inherits from the remake is a morally uncomplicated villain-protagonist and the glossier, harder-edged register the remake established.
Released in December 2011, Don 2 performed strongly at the box office and was released in both 2D and 3D formats, one of the earlier major Hindi productions to do so. A third instalment has been announced at various points since, though as of the available record none has been completed.