A lot of planning was done by Excel Entertainment’s Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani so that they can announce Ranveer Singh’s entry in Don 3 in the lead role. There have been reports in the last couple of months that Shah Rukh Khan has left the franchise and hence the team decided to lock Ranveer Singh for the titular character in the third installment of the franchise.
Importantly, it was also the call of the changing times that a young actor replaces SRK in the lead as Don. Hence, all the preparations were made for the announcement on July 6 which happens to be the birthday of Ranveer. Even the announcement video was finalised and was shown to many big names from the insider group. Karan Johar and Ranveer made sure that the trailer of his upcoming movie Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani is launched two days before Ranveer’s birthday so this special date was kept open for the Don 3 announcement.
But at the last minute, the plan was changed and it is all because of Prabhas and Prashanth Neel’s Salaar. Despite Adipurush getting a lot of backlash and tanking at the box office, the hype around Rebel Star’s upcoming movie is very high. Post the massive success of KGF, Prashanth Neel has become one of the most successful directors in the country, and with Prabhas in the lead and returning to the big screen in his much-loved menacing avatar, any buzz or news connected to it is enough to steal the limelight amid other big announcements.
However, when Hombale Films announced that they are launching the teaser of Salaar on July 6, the Excel team decided to hold on to their big announcement. Moreover, apart from Salaar, there are strong expectations that the trailer and first few songs from Shah Rukh Khan and Nayanthara ’s Jawan will be released in July. To avoid conflict and losing ground to the massive anticipation around Salaar and Jawan, Ranveer and the team decided to put the plans for the announcement on hold.
Now, it is expected that they will announce the movie post the release of Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani to cash on the success of this Karan Johar-directed movie albeit if it becomes a big hit.