Did You Know Amitabh Bachchan's Don Was Conceived During Producer’s Financial Crunch?

The Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Don is considered an iconic film. It was so popular after its release in 1978 that the film is talked about to this day. Shah Rukh Khan even starred in the film’s official remake. While the film was a super hit and etched its name as one of the greatest films ever made in Indian cinema, the story behind the film is very interesting.

It all started with producer Nariman Irani going into debt of Rs 12 lakh due to his first film tanking at the box office. It was then that Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Chandra Barot suggested he make another film to come out of his debt. He had met the three of them during the making of Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan as he was the cinematographer for the film. Barot was the assistant director and worked under Manoj Kumar. Amitabh and all the others who suggested that he should make another film assured him that if the film tanked, they would not charge any fees.

After Nariman agreed, things were going smoothly until they reached the storyline stage of the film. While the actors and director were all decided, Nariman struggled to find a good story. But thanks to his wife Salma Irani, he got the story of Don from Salim-Javed and started working on it. However, the story was given to Nariman for one reason, and it was that every other star had rejected it and the writer never thought they would see a film being made on it. Salim and Javed also assured Nariman that they would only charge him if the movie turned out to be successful.

When it came to the naming of the film, Salim and Javed both always called the script of the film the “story of Don film”. Nariman loved the name Don and everyone from Amitabh to Chandra liked the name too. Manoj Kumar was the only one who objected but Nariman went ahead and registered the film as Don.

Nariman had made a few changes to the script and while the making of the film was in progress, Chandra visited his mentor Manoj and asked him for possible improvements. Manoj insisted on keeping a light-hearted song as a part of the film in the second half since the movie was full of high-octane action sequences. Chandra took note and added the song “Khaike Paan Banaras Wala” which was composed by Kalyan and Anand.

While all of this started because of Nariman Irani, he died in an unfortunate accident much before the release. However, Chandra decided to continue shooting and finished the film in three-and-a-half years.

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