Amitabh Bachchan on 42 years of Don 'No distributor was willing to accept the title'

Amitabh Bachchan's cult hit "Don" was released 42 years ago on this day, and the veteran actor took to social media to reminisce about the film. He recalled why the distributors were not happy with the film's title.

The actor took to his blog to write about the Chandra Barot-directed film that was scripted by the hit writer-duo of the era, Salim-Javed. Big B had a double role, along with Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekar and Om Shivpuri in pivotal roles.

"When Chandra and Salim-Javed announced the name of the film as 'DON' .. no distributor was willing to accept the title .. they all thought it to be named after the DAWN underwear .. a popular brand during those times... The film 'Godfather' was just making a mark in film circles .. the word 'Don' was unknown till then," he wrote.

"But what a life the film has had and its music .. quite remarkable. Javed saheb sent me an sms this morning .. ' huzoor 42 saal ho gaye DON ko .. hadd ho gayee ..'"

He also shared a few stills from the film, including one from the sets of the evergreen song, "Khaike paan Banaraswaala".

The 77-year-old shared that he was working in "two-three shifts per day" on "different films" in those days. "I was shooting in the morning shift 7am-2 pm at China creek .. an outdoor location some miles our of the city." Amitabh shared he had to take anaesthesia injections to shoot for the song.

"It was an action sequence .. had injured my feet .. blisters all around .. and came to Mehboob Studios from China Creek to shoot this number .. had to dance bare feet .. blisters were impossible to walk on .. so what .. called the doc .. took anaesthesia injections in the feet and worked the four-five days that took to shoot it," he wrote.

The thespian shared he copied one dance step from his son Abhishek Bachchan for the number.

"Don" would go on to be one of Amitabh Bachchan's most significant and iconic roles. He essayed a dual role, as a mob boss named Don, and his lookalike village bumpkin who is groomed by the police, in a secret mission, to infiltrate the underworld after Don is killed in an encounter.

The film was a big success, emerging as the third highest-grossing release of 1978. Although Big B's antihero avatar was considered outlandish by many upon the film's release, over the years "Don" has gone onto acquire a cult status among fans. The film's music (Kalyanji Anandji) continues to be popular to this day. (IANS) 

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