Here’s why I will miss having Priyanka Chopra in Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 3
Was it a good morning today when we came across the news of Farhan Akhtar replacing Priyanka Chopra as a cop in Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 3? Well, in a way, yes, because the SRK fan in us couldn’t stay calm with news of a new film in the superhit franchise. But Priyanka’s admirers were equally disappointed and for all the valid reasons. As per reports in DNA, Farhan has taken a break from acting and channelised all his energy into developing the script for this film of the Don franchise. He has even locked the script and things are moving in the right direction. But the point to note here is that PeeCee isn’t being replaced by any other actress in the movie. The story line is such that it doesn’t need Priyanka’s character any more. It’s likely to feature a new cast, which will be locked soon. Alas, Priyanka as ‘junglee billi’ aka Roma will certainly not be a part of the film. It will be impossible for anyone to recreate her character and bring back the same essence that Priyanka did. She was such an integral part of the film! After starring in the original and later even its sequel, Priyanka’s character was as important to the movie as SRK, or so we thought.
As a true admirer of the actress, the news did shatter a few hopes I always had. The actress had a major role to play in the film’s success and calling her just the lead actress of the film will be an understatement. Matching up to Shah Rukh’s calibre and shining as bright as him on screen is not as easy as one, two, three…It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But Priyanka managed and how! The correct way to frame it instead will be to say that, she nailed her character. Eyebrows were raised when Priyanka Chopra was signed as Roma in the remake of 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer. She was obviously compared to Zeenat Aman. However, being as confident as ever, she managed to woo the critics with her performance and the character became more iconic than before. In fact, Zeenat was so impressed with Priyanka’s portrayal that she even recommended the actress’ name for her own biopic. This itself proves how much depth she brought to her character and why Don, as a franchise, will be incomplete without her.
The success of a franchise in particular, often relies on the retention of their iconic characters. There’s a reason why sequels of movies like Golmaal, Dabangg and Ek Tha Tiger were so successful at the box office. Their iconic characters were retained and the movie, thus, had a recall value. There’s no denial that Don 3 will have all the essential ingredients to make it a blockbuster but the junglee billi will be missed.
