International stunt director Wolfgang Stegemann trained Khan in some daring fight sequences and created a special fight style for him in Don 2 Shah Rukh Khan has Pathani blood coursing through his veins. And for the first time, he is bringing that side of him to the fore with some hard-hitting action sequences in Don 2.
Khan trained with international stunt and fight director Wolfgang Stegemann, who has worked in films like Inglourious Basterds and Valkyrie, and is known for his daring stunts and stylised action scenes. Wolfgang, who also plays a negative character called Karl in the film, created a special fight style for SRK. "These are powerful and effective to knock off Don's enemies. I had to analyse Mr Khan's motions and find the perfect fight style for him. It is a mix between martial arts, Krav Maga, Wing Chun and Trapping, which has not been practised in Bollywood. It helped him endure long settings of fights together," he says.
Adds Farhan Akhtar, the director of the film, "There is a lot of hard-hitting, edgy and gritty action in Don 2. We evolved the fighting styles we had established for Roma and Vardhaan in Don for the sequel. Throw into that an amazing car chase and a lot of things blowing up and it was like directing action scenes I had fantasised about growing up."
The sequences were tough, but SRK had a blast doing the stunts himself. He says, "This time around, Don is lean, mean, sexy, scheming and menacing. He does all the planning and scheming on his own, without the help of his gang, as this time he doesn't trust anyone."
Shah Rukh got the moves right rather quickly. As producer Ritesh Sidhwani says, "Action is usually associated with a muscular build, but the action scenes in this film demanded a lean body inspired by Bruce Lee's films. And though performing stunts requires rigorous training, Shah Rukh got a hang of the stunts in no time." He adds, "The action is authentic, like the ones in films like The Bourne Ultimatum or the James Bond series. It is not exaggerated or larger than life."
