Untold Story Behind The Making of the Original Don Movie

Don was released in 1978

A script which was lying untouched for months.

A script no producer was interested in.

A character nobody believed would work.

The script was complete but was without a title. Again, Salim-Javed had a flawless script — perfect in every sense : Everything from story, screenplay, dialogues & characters was superb.

Salim-Javed would refer it as “Don wali script” to producers who would instantly refuse without reading it.

However, it was destined to be made into a great film. One of the best Bollywood films of 70s. Ahead of its time.

Cinematographer and producer Nariman Irani was in a financial mess.

On the sets of Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Where Irani was the cinematographer, Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman came to know about his poor financial situation and decided to help him repay his debt.

Amitabh Bachchan & Zeenat Aman agreed to star in a film produced by Nariman Irani.

But the problem was the script. To repay his debt, the film needs to be a hit. As another flop film would create more problems for him.

This is where Manoj Kumar suggested Irani to go to Salim Javed and look if they had any script.

A Salim Javed Javed script in those days was guaranteed to work at the box office. Such was their reputation after the success of Zanjeer, Deewar & Sholay, Andaz & Hathi Mere Sathi.

Salim Javed gave the script of Don to Producer Nariman Irani. And Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman & Pran was signed as the main leads.

Due to budget issues, the film took more than 3 years to complete.

It was finally completed and released on 7 May 1978 but received poor response in the first week. Then after Manoj Kumar suggested the film being tight after the interval and there is a space for one song. Seeing the merit of the suggestion, the song “Khaike pan banaras wala was added” which revived the films fortune.

The film became a blockbuster and has gained a cult status ever since.

Amitabh Bachchan fetched the Filmfare best actor award for don. The film was released during the peak of senior bachchan and was the third highest grossing Indian film of 1978.