Don (1978 film)

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Don
Directed by Chandra Barot
Produced by Nariman A. Irani
Written by Javed Akhtar
Salim Khan
Starring Amitabh Bachchan
Zeenat Aman
Pran
Music by Anandji Veerji Shah
Kalyanji Veerji Shah
Cinematography Nariman A. Irani
Editing by Wamanrao
Release date(s) India April 20, 1978
Running time 175 mins
Country India
Language Hindi
Budget INR 50,000,000 (unadjusted for inflation)
IMDb profile

Don is a 1978 Bollywood action film, produced by Nariman Irani and directed by Chandra Barot, with music by Kalyanji Anandji and lyrics by Anjaan. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekhar, Helen and Om Shivpuri, Satyan Kapoo and Pinchoo Kapoor. It became a box office success.[1] It has gained cult film status in India.

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[edit] Synopsis

Don (Amitabh Bachchan) is the leader of an underworld gang until Police Officer D'Silva (Iftekhar) tracks him down and in an attempt to catch him ends up killing him. But Don's death is only known to D'Silva. So Officer D'Silva tracks down a lookalike of Don named Vijay. Vijay impersonates Don to take down the rest of Don's gang while the DSP promises him that he will give a proper education to his wards who are actually the children of Jasjit (Pran).

Meanwhile, Jasjit comes out of prison after serving his jail term, only to find Officer D'Silva having a red diary that would show Vijay's true identity. Officer D'Silva is killed by Malik who is introduced as the Interpol officer, but is in fact the real king of the underworld. It's now a race to retrieve the diary in which the DSP has documented the substitution of the real Don with the innocent Vijay.

[edit] Plot

Don begins, true to its title, as the story of one of the most powerful men in the business of crime, who in spite of being one of the most wanted on the list of Interpol, remains elusive to the police. Along with the police, Don makes a few other enemies through his merciless approach to running his organization, especially when he kills one of his own men, Ramesh, when Ramesh decides to leave the business. This introduces Don to two new enemies, Kamini (Helen), Ramesh’s fiancee, and Roma, (Zeenat Aman) Ramesh’s sister. When Kamini seduces Don and attempts to have the police arrest him, her plan backfires as Don outsmarts her and the police in his escape, and in the process Kamini loses her life.

A shattered, revenge-seeking Roma first trains in judo and karate, then enters Don’s gang after deceiving them into thinking that she too is on the wrong side of the law. Don is impressed with her fighting skills and allows her to work for him, without realizing her true intentions. Meanwhile, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at nabbing Don, the police finally succeed, but Don dies during the pursuit, botching Officer D’Silva’s plan to reach the source of all crime—the man Don reported to—through capturing Don alive. D’Silva buries Don’s body, ensuring that people believe that he may still be alive. As luck would have it, D’Silva remembers his chance encounter with Vijay, a simpleton trying to survive in the hustle and bustle of Bombay in order to support two small foster children, who bears a striking resemblance to Don. D’Silva hatches a plan to transform Vijay into Don and place him back into the crime nexus, but this time as a police informer.

Around the time Vijay "returns" to Don's gang as Don under the guise of amnesia, Jasjit, just released from jail, begins his mission of revenge against D’Silva and his search for his children Deepu and Muni, who had been saved and taken care of by Vijay. Roma, hellbent on eliminating Don in order to avenge her brother’s death, is suddenly introduced to the fact that Don is dead and the man she is trying to kill is actually Vijay.

Meanwhile, as Vijay learns more and more about Don through his discovery of his diary and Roma’s help, he announces to his colleagues that his memory is back and meanwhile hands the diary over to D’Souza. Celebrations ensue, as Don announces his return to the world, but things take a drastic turn when the police raid the celebrations, and Vijay’s only witness to his true identity, D’Silva, dies in the crossfire.

Tangled in a web of confusion where the police refuse to believe that he is Vijay, whereas his underworld gang realizes that he is indeed not Don, Vijay becomes not only hated by the police, but also by Don’s right-hand man, Narang, and the rest of his gang. To add to Vijay’s woes, Don’s diary which he had handed over to D’Souza—his last hope of proving his innocence—is stolen by JasJit in an attempt to track down his lost children, without realizing that Vijay is the one man who can reunite them. Vijay escapes the clutches of the police and the underworld with Roma’s help and returns to his old self though he struggles to prove his identity and innocence. The ending reveals a shocking twist in the tale where Vijay discovers who is truly on his side, and who is against him.

[edit] Cast

  • Amitabh Bachchan as Don/Vijay
  • Zeenat Aman as Roma
  • Pran as Jasjit (J.J.)
  • Iftekhar as DSP D'Silva (credited as Iftikhar)
  • Om Shivpuri as Interpol Officer R.K. Malik
  • Satyen Kappu as Inspector S. Verma (credited as Satyen Kapoo)
  • P. Jairaj as Dayal (Judo Karate Instructor)
  • Kamal Kapoor as Narang
  • Arpana Choudhary as Anita (credited as Arpana Choudhry)
  • Helen as Kamini
  • M.B. Shetty as Shakaal (credited as Shetty)
  • Mac Mohan as Mac
  • Azad as Azad
  • Yashraj
  • Devaraj

[edit] Awards

[edit] Behind the scenes

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 Rs12 lakhs and couldn't pay it off on a cinematographer's salary. When he was doing the cinematography for Manoj Kumar's major hit Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), the film's 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 Salim-Javed, 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.[2]. The film took three-and-a-half years to complete.[3] 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.[4]. Aman did not take any money for her work in the film.[5]. 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 action-filled film, and so "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" was recorded. The film was released without any promotion on May 12, 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 Irani's widow to settle her husband's debts.[6].

[edit] Remake history

[edit] References

  1. ^ BoxOffice India.com
  2. ^ Bollywood | Chandra Barot | Don - The Chase Begins Again | SRK
  3. ^ The Hindu : Friday Review Delhi : Don, down the decades
  4. ^ rediff.com: An exclusive interview with Chandra Barot, who made the first Don
  5. ^ Zeenat: I think Vijay is missing
  6. ^ rediff.com: An exclusive interview with Chandra Barot, who made the first Don
  7. ^ Feature Articles : Yugandhar to be remade
  8. ^ CineGoer.com - Nostalgia - Bhale Thammudu

[edit] External links