37 years of 'Don': Amitabh Bachchan reminisces journey, shares trivia

Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s classic film “Don” has turned 37 today and the actor could not help but get nostalgic about its making and reveal some of its unknown details. Bachchan, 72, took to the social media to describe his feelings about the 1978 cult film, which was directed by Chandra Barot, and starred Bollywood diva of that time, Zeenat Aman. [caption id=“attachment_2205894” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  37 years of Don. Image Courtesy: Amitabh Bachchan’s Facebook Page[/caption] “37 years this day of my film “DON” … ! What a journey .. and still moving .. the film I mean ! And my digital team sends me this image of congratulations… DON ko pakadna Mushkil hi nahin namumkin hai!!” Bachachan wrote on his Facebook page, adding his famous dialogue from the film. The movie was produced by Nariman Irani. Bachchan paid a tribute to the producer on his blog. “37 years of ‘DON’ today. A film made by that gentle giant Nariman Irani, the DOP of extreme excellence. He was all heart. Never ever did I see or hear him in loud tones or anger. ‘Keys of the Kingdom’ he would address me… and I still have not figured what it meant. He passed away suddenly and dramatically. He was not supposed to leave us that soon. “He never lived to see the success of his film ‘DON’. That year of its release Filmfare gave me Best Actor. I went up to receive it and dedicated it to Nariman Baba, and asked his wife in the audience, still grieving the loss of her husband to come up and take the award… a poignant moment!” the actor wrote. Bachchan shared the film’s chartbuster “Khaike Pan Banaras Wala” was not originally included in the film and added on the suggestion of veteran star Manoj Kumar. “‘Khaike pan…’ was an after thought. Manoj Kumar saw the film rough cut and asked Chandra Barot the director of DON, and Manoj ji’s assistant director in all his films, to add a song in the second half… and that was it…” he said. The “Shamitabh” star revealed that choreographer Saroj Khan watched the film for several days without a break just for the song. “Saroj Khan, the ace dance director would much later tell me that she was in Dubai when the film was released, and after seeing the song she went every day for several days just to see the song. The theatre owners would eventually allow her in free, just because she would come at the time of the song and leave…” he said. Bachchan also remembered the day, the film’s writers Salim-Javed saw its rushes. “Salim-Javed saw the rushes of the film .. more importantly, the rushes of the pan eating duplicate DON, and sent me a telegram, in Srinagar where I was shooting for another film congratulating me. “It was a most encouraging moment for me I remember. I still remember the room in the Palace Hotel, when I received the message, and my inner feeling of great joy on its contents…” PTI