SHAH RUKH KHAN sweeps Berlin off its feet

Bollywood's Shah Rukh Khan reached Berlin this month, together with co-stars Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta as well as 70 of the film's co-actors and other film staff from India for the start of the shooting of their latest movie, the sequel "Don 2 - The Chase Continues", directed by Farhan Akhtar, who previously directed the remake of 1978 cult film 'Don' in 2006 (the original 70s film starred none other than Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan).

Producers have described 'Don' as a Hindi version of James Bond, in which the hero of the film is however a suave and smart criminal!

The sequel will star the original cast of  Farhan Akhtar's first 'Don': Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani, but will also welcome new characters being played by Lara Dutta, Sameera Reddy and Kunal Kapoor.

Shah Rukh Khan, who plays the lead role mentioned that the inspiration to shoot 'Don' in Berlin came while he was visiting the German city during its 2008 film festival.

"I just love Berlin... It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I have been here for two weeks and I don't feel I am working," Khan told reporters at a recent press conference. The 44-year-old actor enjoys a huge fan following in Germany, where his films are dubbed and sold to the general German-speaking public with huge success.

While the star might feel as if he is not working, he not only started filming but dove immediately into doing a difficult stunt consisting of  jumping from the roof of the Park Inn Hotel on the Alexanderplatz in Berlin for a scene in which several gangsters are chasing him.

Apart from this difficult  stunt, the actor has also been preparing for more action-packed scenes: "Learnt scuba diving...base flying...fast driving (crashed also once)...gyming...old songs...PS3 (Play Station 3) soccer...Beat Boman & Ritesh (Farhan & me)...happy," SRK tweeted this week.

'Don 2' is an Indo-German production that has Germany hoping to attract millions of Indian viewers to travel to the beautiful city of Berlin by showcasing some of the town's most famous tourist attractions. Shah Rukh Khan himself sees this opportunity as a "great way to showcase this city to an Indian audience".

The Hindi version of the film seems to be scheduled for release in December 2011. It is still being debated whether the dubbed German version will be released simultaneously or at the Berlin International Film Festival to be held in February 2012.

Visit the DON 2 website.

Watch NDTV's video of the press conference in Berlin.

Check out the picture gallery of the DON 2 press conference in Berlin.