Director Chandra Barot is a well-known name among the die-hard lovers of Hindi Cinema, due to only one film alone, which is DON, the cult movie of 1978. And for all the fans of this classic trendsetter (like myself) who wished to know the whole scenario & thought process behind the making of DON, we now have a interesting book titled THE MAKING OF DON written by Krishna Gopalan, a renowned journalist & film buff.
The book holds its grip on the reader from its first few pages itself and has a very fine, well paced narrative revealing many unknown facts about the film for the first time, along with few rare pictures of its cast & crew. In fact with its each new chapter the book makes you realize, how tough it was for Chandra Barot to complete the film due to the regular hurdles coming his way while it was being shot. And then certain emotional facts related with its core team also showcase the human factor responsible for its completion after an unexpected tragic accident snatched away a dear friend forever.
The most interesting truth behind the making of DON remains that the film was not at all made to make any major breakthrough in the Hindi Cinema, but was just mutually planned to help Nariman Irani, its producer who was facing a big financial crunch after his last flop. So its basic foundation was laid out of pure love, trust and true friendship which probably became the hidden positive factor responsible for its major success at the box office.
The small yet impressive 160 page book takes you back in those four long years of its making and then discloses many amusing facts like how the film was conceived, how the songs were recorded and how few major sequences in it were shot even without its female lead. To further inspire you to read it as soon as possible, the book honestly reveals DON’s unknown link with many other films like NAYA DIN NAYI RAAT (1974), GODFATHER (1972), CHINA TOWN (1962), James Bond movies and other artists too like Sanjeev Kumar, Manoj Kumar & more. Also you will be surprised to know that how director Chandra Barot managed to shoot its few scenes on the sets of other big films & in the homes of few star’s too, taking a friendly favour.
Moreover, who can imagine that its script was lying unused after being rejected from almost every producer director who had read it. Plus it was Pran and not Amitabh Bachchan who was paid the most at that time and then later everyone readily reduced their fees to just half after the unfortunate demise of their producer friend, paying their honest tribute. In short, its quite hard to even imagine how the film went through all those tough stages of making from the day of its conception to the final release and that’s exactly what makes the book a must read for all Hindi Movie lovers without any doubt.
As a downer, I did find a few famous trivia missing in the book, like the story behind the song “Khaike Paan Banaras Wala” originally being written for Dev Anand’s BANARASI BABU (1978), the exact reason why Pran was given the stick to walk with a limp (after having an accident) and the mention of three more movies [apart from CHINA TOWN (1962)], based on the same theme made before DON, which were I. S. Johar’s MR. INDIA (1961), KALICHARAN (1976) and the English flick DOUBLE MAN released in 1967.
Anyway, ignoring these few missing points, THE MAKING OF DON still remains a great read and one can easily feel both the excitement and the emotions along with Chandra Barot, particularly while reading the last few chapters of the book talking about its release and the 3 Filmfare awards won in the following year. So do read it as a must if you are a true fan of the original DON and in case you have only watched its remake sequels made by Farhan Akhtar then you got to read this even more essentially to understand the actual thought responsible for the creation of this iconic character & the film.
Cheers!
(Bobby Sing)
Book : THE MAKING OF DON by Krishna Gopalan
Published by Rupa Publications in 2013.
(To go through two more articles written on DON before the release of this book, please click at the following links and enjoy!)
