The Don franchise enjoys a dedicated fanbase thanks to Shah Rukh Khan. Following the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, the actor cemented himself as the new Don of the generation. So, it came as a shock when Shah Rukh Khan was replaced by Ranveer Singh in Don's third instalment. Now, director Farhan Akhtar, speaking to Raj Shamani on his podcast, revealed the reason behind picking Ranveer for Don 3. He said, "The kind of script that we were writing, what I wanted to do with it… It's too early to speak about it unfortunately so I can't into into details but it needed this next-generation actor in it."
Farhan Akhtar added, "He [Ranveer Singh] is mischievous, just full of energy, which is what this needs and he is… I feel when it comes to this aspect of his performance, it's still untapped. Like I don't think he has done a role like this. Don requires a very different kind of performance from him. There is a certain holding everything inside that is needed for this character which I don't think he has done so I feel, for him also, it is a nice challenge to be able to do this. You will see him in a different way.”
In the same interview, Farhan Akhtar also said why he didn't cast Shah Rukh Khan in Don 3. He said, "There were a couple of ideas that we exchanged, wrote some stuff also but somehow… I mean either he was excited by something that I didn't feel or then I was really excited by something that he felt was not… and that happens. Sometimes that synergy on a script doesn't happen. It didn't happen on this."
Don 3, featuring Ranveer Singh and Kiara Advani, is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment. The film is slated to release in 2025.