Don (film series)

Don 1978 Don 2006 Don2011

Producer and cinematographer Nariman Irani was in a financial mess when his film Zindagi Zindagi 1972 starring Sunil Dutt flopped. He was in debt for Rs1.2million and couldnt pay it off on a cinematographers salary. When he was doing the cinematography for Manoj Kumars major hit Roti Kapada Aur Makaan 1974, the films cast Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran and crew assistant director Chandra Barot decided to help him out. They all recommended that he produce another film and that they will participate in the film. They all approached scriptwriting duo SalimJaved, who gave them an untitled script that had already been rejected by the entire industry. The script had a character named Don. Bachchan would play Don, and Barot would direct the film. Aman and Pran would play key roles in the film. The film took threeandahalf years to complete. Before filming was completed, producer Irani had an accident on the set of another film he was working on, and died as a result. Barot faced budget restraints but he got help. Aman did not take any money for her work in the film. Barot showed it to his mentor Manoj Kumar, who felt that the film was too tight and needed a song in the midst of the actionfilled film, and so Khaike Paan Banaraswala was recorded. The film was released without any promotion onMay 1978 and was declared a flop the first week. Within a week, the song Khaike Paan Banaraswala became a big hit, and word of mouth spread, so by the second week, the film was also declared a big hit. The profits from the film were given to Iranis widow to settle her husbands debts.Eighty percent of the film was shot in Malaysia, and was filmed around the tropical Langkawi island as well as the Petronas Twin Towers and the Jalan Masjid India area, which is the little India of Kuala Lumpur. Shahrukh Khan was the first choice for the film and hence he was first approached and the first actor to be signed as the lead. Akshay Kumar was offered the role of Jasjit b

Source: Wikipedia