The entertainment industry is mourning the loss of yet another star, as veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot breathed his last on Sunday, July 20. After battling pulmonary fibrosis for seven years, he passed away at the age of 86, as confirmed by his wife to TOI. Though the filmmaker is gone, his legacy, his cinema, will keep him alive in the memories of generations to come. One of his most iconic movies, which raised the bar of cinema and to date is celebrated as a classic, is ‘Don’ starring Amitabh Bachchan. Released in 1978, the movie to date is unmatched. However, did you know that when the title of the movie was decided and presented to the producers, no one was ready to touch the film?
When no distributor accepted the title of Chandra Barot’s ‘Don’
According to PTI, in 2020, Amitabh Bachchan himself revealed this BTS tale in one of his official blog posts. He wrote – “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,” added the actor.
Amitabh Bachchan’s tribute to Chandra Barot
Chandra Barot not only gave Amitabh Bachchan one of his critically acclaimed films, but also a friend. Big B and Barot shared a beautiful bond, which was hard to put into words. The director’s demise left Amitabh Bachchan in grief. In his loving memories, Big B on his official blog shared, “Dear dear friend and my director of Don – Chandra Barot passed away this morning. It is difficult to put in words the loss… we worked together, yes, but he was more a family friend than anyone else. I can only pray (prayer emoji) (sic).”
‘Don’
The film ‘Don’ stars Amitabh Bachchan in two roles as Don and Vijay, with Zeenat Aman playing Roma. Further, there was Pran as Jasjit, Iftekhar as DSP D’Silva, and Om Shivpuri as Vardhaan, along with Satyen Kappu, P. Jairaj, Kamal Kapoor, Arpana Choudhary, and Helen. The story revolves around a notorious criminal known as Don. After a chase leads to Don’s death, only one police officer is aware of the truth. To apprehend the remaining members of Don’s gang, the officer enlists a simple man named Vijay, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Don.The movie’s songs and dialogues are to date recalled with utmost love.
