"He's always game for the audacious. But the health problems really frustrate him, " says the director referring to the SRK's shoulder surgery this year.
But now SRK is all set to bounce back with a full-on actioner in Don 2.
And there's Priyanka Chopra for company again.
Bipasha Basu who has been eased out of Race 2 firmly believes leading ladies don't have a future in sequels.
But here's one to prove her wrong. Though Priyanka has apparently been left out of Dostana 2 she's very much a part of Don 2 which starts shooting, finally, in May 2010 in Ireland and Berlin.
In fact Don 2 will be the first Indian film to be shot In Dublin.
Says the producer Ritesh Sidhwani, "We're very much going ahead with the original cast Shah Rukh, Priyanka, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal and Om Puri.Only those who died in the original won't return, obviously."
Also, for obvious reasons, this time there won't be a double role for Shah Rukh. What he will be be doing is, some of the most heart-in-the-mouth stunts ever done by any leading man and certainly SRK's most audacious actioner yet.
For this Shah Rukh needs to recover from this year's back surgery.
Says a source, "This is why he allotted dates in 2009 to Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan. It requires very little physical exertion whereas Don 2 is a kick-ass role."
When the proposal to do the sequel first came up Shah Rukh was very sure it would have to go beyond the first part in terms of locales, action and drama.
Says producer Ritesh Sidhwani, "We're shooting Don 2 in Dublin.No Indian film has been shot there. We want to make sure that the sequel goes ahead of the first film. While the first part was a remake the sequel is an original script and would be much tougher to film for Shah Rukh and Farhan."