'Don 3' update: It's official! Ranveer Singh takes the baton from Shah Rukh Khan

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh is all set to take charge as the titular character in his upcoming film Don 3. The actor will take the baton from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who played the iconic character in the two Don movies that released in 2006 and 2011 respectively.

Khan had taken the charge from the Shahenshah of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan. The megastar had played the role originally in the 1978 film Don, which also featured greats like Zeenat Aman and Pran in significant roles.

The news was confirmed by Excel Entertainment in a video shared online. The video begins with a man sitting on the floor of a room overlooking the neon-lit skyline of a city, which appears to be a composition of multiple cities.

The man slowly gets up, takes off his hood and lights a cigarette in style. "Sher jo so raha hai woh jaagega kab? Poochte hain yeh sab. Unse keh do ki phir jaag utha hoon main, aur phir saamne jald aane ko (When will the sleeping lion wake up? Everybody wants to know. Tell them, I am here.)," the man can be heard saying.

He then goes onto say, "Kya hai taakat meri, kya hai himmat meri, phir dikhaane ko. Maut se khelna zindagi hai meri, jeetna hi mera kaam hai (I'm back to show you what I'm made of)". The character concluded with the iconic dialogue made famous by Bachchan and Khan.

"Tum toh jaante jo mera naam hai. 11 mulkon ki police dhoondhti hai mujhe, par pakad paaya mujhko kaun. Main hoon Don," the man says towards the end. The confirmation came months after the announcement video of the film was released on X (formerly Twitter).

The announcement video garnered mixed reactions from the audiences. Soon after this, Farhan Akhtar gave us a sneak peek into Singh's bent of mind. Akhtar told BBC Asian Network radio station that Ranveer Singh is "really excited and really nervous" to step into the franchise.

He said that he believes Singh is "going to do a great job". "It really is about an actor coming in and owning the part and making it really like, giving it their style and their flare. And he has that, he has that in spades," Akhtar, who helmed the previous Don movies, noted.

The film is slated to release sometime in 2025. Don 3 comes after Ranveer Singh's latest film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani emerged as a hit at the box office. The film came after flops such as Cirkus, Jayeshbhai Jordaar, and 83, all of which bombed at the ticket counters.

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