Farhan Akhtar's 2006 film Don: The Chase Begins Again, starring Shah Rukh Khan, marked its 20th anniversary. The action remake of Chandra Barot's 1978 Don, also featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Om Puri, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal and Isha Koppikar, was produced by Excel Entertainment and became a box-office success.

Cinematographer KU Mohanan, in an exclusive interview, revealed this was his first mainstream commercial film after working primarily in advertising. Director Farhan Akhtar initially had concerns about whether Mohanan could handle such a large-scale production, but Mohanan accepted the challenge. Shooting high-octane action sequences presented significant difficulties, though Mohanan credited a skilled team including an action director from Australia who had worked on Hollywood films. Most action scenes were performed practically at actual speeds, with minimal VFX reliance, as visual effects technology was not widely available at that time.

Mohanan praised Shah Rukh Khan's commitment and willingness to perform dangerous stunts personally. During a car chase scene, Khan drove the vehicle while hitting obstacles, all performed without a stunt double. Most notably, Khan drove a car through a fireball in another sequence, filmed twice with a camera mounted on the vehicle to capture the actor. Mohanan described Khan as "the greatest star" he has worked with, noting his professionalism, warmth, and dedication. Their successful collaboration led to subsequent projects including Raees (2017) and Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017), plus numerous television commercials.

Mohanan highlighted the film's climactic twist as crucial to its box-office performance. He felt remaking the original without changes would be pointless, and Akhtar's revised ending provided genuine novelty. The cinematographer emphasized the team's vision to break established Bollywood patterns by creating an international aesthetic, drawing inspiration from European and Japanese cinema rather than copying Hollywood. They established a distinctive green colour palette featuring cool tones—blue, green, and black—with minimal warm colours except in one song sequence, a deliberate departure from the inconsistent colour schemes typical of Hindi cinema at that time.

Mohanan's work on Don initiated a lasting relationship with Excel Entertainment, leading to collaborations on Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012), Fukrey (2013), and Raees. He noted that most of his filmography has been produced by Excel Entertainment due to their quality focus and straightforward approach. Notably, Mohanan was not the cinematographer for Don 2: The Chase Continues (2011), as he was committed to other projects.