"Main Hoon Don" from the 2006 Don (translated into English)

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's much-hyped latest movie My Name Is Khan opens globally and in select theaters in America this weekend. The Indian-made drama about anti-Muslim discrimination, which filmed a sequence at the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose (a spot that's not too far from where I currently live), is getting a huge push from Fox Searchlight in the States. So because of My Name Is Khan's opening, I'm looking back at an earlier Khan vehicle. I'm posting (for those of us who don't understand Hindi, including myself) the English translation of the Hindi lyrics for "Main Hoon Don," a highlight of Khan's 2006 remake of the classic Amitabh Bachchan cops-vs.-gangsters flick Don. The translation was taken from the English subtitles on UTV's Don DVD. "Main Hoon Don" is called "I'm the Don" in the English subtitles on the Bollywood Entertainment DVD of the 1978 version, while the UTV DVD of the remake prefers "I Am Don."

The updated "Main Hoon Don," sung by Shaan and composed by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, is one of several numbers from the Don franchise that can be heard during A Fistful of Soundtracks' "Chai Noon" block on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon and early Wednesdays and early Fridays at 4am.

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"Main Hoon Don"

The people in this world...
have clutched their hearts again!
I have returned...
...bringing back with me
a lot of excitement!
Look who's here.
Back to rule your world.
Who's got you mesmerized?
For whom do you wait with open arms?
(Backup singers) Who is this charming man?
Recognize me.
I am Don.

(Instrumental)

I bid my life...
...and gamble with death.
I have no regret...
...nor do I care...
...who I make my enemy.
No enemy of mine,
will live too long.
I am very dangerous.
I am very dangerous...
...and forever cunning.
(Backup singers) Who is back to win the world over?
Recognize me.
I am Don.

(Instrumental)

Their eyes inviting...
...many women have wanted me for themselves.
But these two eyes
that are glancing into mine...
...have mesmerized me.
These eyes...
...tell me...
that they are hiding an intoxicating secret.
I am getting addicted to them...
I am getting addicted to them...
and my heart is falling under its spell
(Backup singers) Who is here that has fallen under this spell?
Recognize me.
I am Don.

(Instrumental)

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If Fox sends Khan to promote My Name Is Khan on one of its "news" channel's shows, what a train wreck that would be. Khan, who's no stranger to racial profiling in America because of an unfortunate case of life imitating art imitating life, would probably have to be subjected to a cavity search and comments like "Wow, the Star Trek sequel came out sooner than I expected."