How to watch the Don and Billa Movies in Order: A Complete Streaming Guide
From Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, the titular role of the internationally wanted gangster Don has been reserved for some of Bollywood’s most dynamic leading men. With so many actors playing the titular role and many other remakes of the franchise, keeping track of the Don movies can be challenging. But we have got you covered with the definitive streaming guide to all the Don sequels and remakes.
How to watch the Don movies in chronological order
Watching the Don franchise can be confusing for it has been remade and rebooted several times but it’s easier viewing them in the same order as their release date.
Don (1978)
Don: The Chase Begins (2006)
Don 2 (2011)
Don 3 (upcoming)
The lore of Don began with the 1978 classic that starred Amitabh Bachchan in a double role as a charismatic gangster and his doppelganger Vijay, a police insider who impersonates Don after his apparent death. Written by Sholay’s acclaimed duo Saleem-Javed and ranking among one of Amitabh Bachchan’s best movies, Don still endures as a cult classic.
In 2006, Don screenwriter Javed Akhtar’s son Farhan rebooted the franchise with the same premise but on a larger scale with big-budget action sequences. Shah Rukh Khan filled Bachchan’s shoes as Don and Vijay with the movie even recreating its predecessor’s iconic songs like “Paan Banaras Wala”. The reboot was a commercial success and was followed by a direct sequel Don 2 (2011) that takes place a few years later.
With Khan straying away from the franchise after Don 2, many of the actor’s fans wished for him to return as the stylish criminal for a third time. But with Don 3’s casting announcement, the title of Don is once again up for grabs. Not much is known about the upcoming film but even with Farhan Akhtar’s contribution to the script, the film is expected to be yet another reboot with no connection to the SRK films.
How to watch the Don Tamil remakes in chronological order
Both Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan’s takes on Don inspired remakes in other languages, most prominently in Tamil. While the first remake Billa (1980) is a standalone watch, the correct order to watch the Ajith Kumar-led remakes is to watch Billa II (2012) before Billa (2007) as the former is the prequel.
The original Don served as the inspiration for Billa that found Tamil superstar Rajinikanth taking on the titular role of the gangster Billa and his identical double Rajappa. The 1980 hit was later remade under the same name in 2007 with Ajith Kumar starring in a dual role. The movie was followed by the prequel Billa II that traced the gangster’s rise to power in the 1990s.
Billa II was thematically and stylistically very different from the Bollywood Don movies as the prequel dealt with the turbulent Sri Lankan politics of the era and amped up the violence to a more graphic level.
How to watch the Don Telugu and Malayalam remakes in chronological order
Don and Billa were also remade in Telugu and Malayalam, each of which can be watched in any order as they are all standalone narratives.
Telugu:
Malayalam:
Sobharaj (1986)
Where can you stream the Don movies and remakes?
Amitabh Bachchan’s original Don is available to stream on ZEE5 while you can watch both the Shah Rukh Khan-led movies on Netflix and Prime Video. The modern Tamil remakes (Billa, Billa II) are available on ZEE5 and Sun NXT respectively although you can also stream Billa II for free on MX Player. The Telugu Billa is available to stream on ZEE5 and Sun NXT.
10
Sobharaj
1986
