FILM · 1978 · INDIA
Don
141 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (141)
- #001
At the start of the film, Iftekhar, playing DSP De Silva, names the fictional smugglers and mentions Haribhai Zariwala, the real name of the late actor Sanjeev Kumar.
- #002
"Khaike Paan Banaraswala" was originally written for Dev Anand's Banarasi Babu (1973) and was never planned to appear in that film. It was shot after filming was complete and added after the interval to balance the film's action-packed pace. Anjaan's son Sameer said this was wrong; the song was written in a hurry within 3 days. Amitabh had to leave the country within 5 days, and because the second half of Don was starting to dry up, a song urgently had to be recorded and shot. The song was written in a cowshed to truly feel Banaras.
- #003
Amitabh's look was inspired by a character Sanjeev Kumar played in Naya Din Nayi Raat. Sanjeev plays 9 characters in the film, one of them a paan-chewing masterji with greasy hair.
- #004
In the original script, the character Jasjit, played by Pran Sikand, was extremely agile. The only reason the cane was used (with appropriate adjustments to the plot) was that Pran Sikand had an accident off set and could not manage without it.
- #005
Producer Neriman Irani lost his life in an accident on the set of this film.
- #006
During the film's shooting, a large cloud burst, and the next day a light that had lost its support fell on Neriman Irani, killing him on set.
- #007
When Amitabh Bachchan won the best actor award for the film, he called Nariman Irani's widow to the stage to receive the award.
- #008
Although Amitabh played the male lead, Pran Sikand was paid more than Amitabh Bachchan.
- #009
While singing "Khaike Paan Banareswala," Kishore Kumar actually chewed paan and spat it onto a plastic sheet on the floor to create a natural effect.
- #010
The film was remade in 2006 under the same name, directed by Farhan Akthar and starring Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra; its climax was planned to continue in a sequel that premiered in 2011. The producers of the original objected, saying they had given the rights only to the original film and not to a sequel, but the sequel was released without any waiting period.
- #011
Director Chandra Barot came up with the idea of having Amitabh eat 40 paan from Anandji (of Kalyanji-Anandji fame). He ate so many paan that a red layer formed on his lips. They were not aware that chunna was not needed to have red lips, and Amitabh suffered for days as the chunna burned his lips.
- #012
Saroj Khan, then only a background dancer, went many times to a particular theatre in Bombay to watch the film just for the song Khaike Paan Banaraswala. The theatre authorities told her that she bought a ticket every day only to watch this song, and then asked her not to buy a ticket; instead, a seat would be kept empty for her, and she could come at that particular time and watch the song.
- #013
Actors such as Pran, Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman did not ask for any fee for the film, but after its success they were given their shares, and the remaining amount was given to the late Nariman Irani's wife so she could pay off his debts.
- #014
Amitabh Bachchan's release came a week after another of his box-office hits, Trishul (1978).
- #015
When the actor playing Raj Singh did not come to dub for the film, Chandra Barot had Deven Verma do the dubbing. Deven was already at the studio.
- #016
Don's background music was reused in the commentary track of the film Mr. X (1987). The commentary was done by Amjad Khan.
- #017
In the fight scene in Jagdeep's cage in Kurban, a picture of a girl in a red cut-off blouse and cowboy hat can be seen on the wall. It is the same picture used in the song "Yeh Mera Dil" in Don.
- #018
The 1980 Tamil version of the film Billa made Rajnikanth a star in the South.
- #019
Amitabh's films often feature mind games and tricks, as seen with the money trick in Sholay. This film contains more than one. The 'empty gun' trick is used twice, once with Helen and once with Zeenat Aman. There is another one in which he rashly gives a 'shoe' explanation for why he killed a former colleague.
- #020
Many critics felt that Amitabh Bachchan's lead character in this film never reached his most iconic catchphrase, "Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nhi namumkin hai," unlike the 2006 remake starring Shahrukh Khan, in which the character kills his double and escapes Interpol in an unexpected ending. In reality, Don was technically never caught by the police: DSP De Silva (played by Iftekhar) only ever reached Don's corpse, and even in his dying moments Don held De Silva at gunpoint inside his own police car, after escaping unnoticed amid the heavy police deployment in the area.
- #021
Manoj Kumar said the film was very tight. He said the story was so gripping that it made toilet breaks difficult! So they included the song Khaike Paan Banaraswala.
- #022
Chandra Barot came to Mumbai from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in East Africa, and got the chance to join Manoj Kumar; when he made Don, he also took on Veeru Devgan, whom Manoj Kumar had introduced to him as action director on Roti Kapada Aur Makaan. Don is the only film Chandra Barot has released in roughly 38 years. Asha Bhosle won an award for Yeh Mera Dil. After Vinod Khanna returned to Bombay in 1985, Chandra Barot started a film in 1987 with Vinod Khanna, Jaya Prada and Danny, with music by Kalyanji Anandji, and this big film was completed over years but never released. The film was called 'Patron'.
- #023
Rajendra Kumar was willing to play the role of ACP D'Silva, but Chandra Barot settled on Iftekhar.
- #024
Manoj Kumar heard from his driver that Chandra was making a film called "Down." Fearing that no one in India would really understand the title, Manoj suggested to Chandra that he call the film "Mr Don." Chandra explained that "Don" means gentleman in Spanish. So calling the film "Mr. Don" would have been impossible.
- #025
Farida Jalal shot a 5-minute scene in the film. Her scene was at Bombay airport. She played the daughter of the real RK Malik (Pinchoo Kapoor). The fake RK Malik (Om Shiv Puri) threatens to kill her father if she does not go along with the plan (to happily greet and hug the fake RK Malik at the airport). Satyen Kappu begins to suspect the fake RK Malik and secretly follows him. The director and Salim-Javed felt that Farida Jalal's character added nothing to the film and only lengthened its runtime. They made the final, difficult decision to cut her role from the film entirely.
- #026
The background music used when Vijay meets Deepu and Munni at school appeared on the album "Bombay The Hard Way - Guns, Cars & Sitars."
- #027
Manoj Kumar saw the rough cut of the film and asked Chandra Barot, the director of Don and assistant director on all of Manoj Kumar's films, to add a song to the second half… and that is how Khaike Paan Banaraswala became a huge chartbuster.
- #028
Amitabh Bachchan won his second consecutive Filmfare award for Best Actor, having won the same category the previous year for Amar Akbar Anthony. He went up to accept it and dedicated it to Nariman Baba, asking his wife, who was still grieving the loss of her husband, to come up from the audience and receive the award. This was also Bachchan's 4th Filmfare award of the 1970s; he had previously won Best Supporting Actor for Anand and Namak Haraam.
- #029
A remixed version of Yeh Mera Dil appeared in the 2010 film Pusher (starring Mahima Chaudhary).
- #030
When Don comes to the staircase and praises Roma's fighting ability (with Don saying his famous line "Mujhe ormane billiya pasand hai"), they are not shown together. In reality, Amitabh Bachchan's and Zeenat Aman's parts were shot in different places, but they were combined in the final cut to show part of the same location.
- #031
Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman are paired together for the first time. They had appeared earlier in Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), but not as the lead pair.
- #032
During the fight scenes, stuntman Hussain doubles for Zeenat Aman. This helped because both had similar hairstyles.
- #033
During the credits, a fight scene of Zeenat Aman's that was not used in the film was shown.
- #034
Amitabh Bachchan limps in the song Khaike Paan Banaraswala. It was not a dance step; he had actually injured himself.
- #035
Shooting on Don (1978) began with the song Yeh Mera Dil, where there was a creative difference between the newly arrived director Chandra Barot and the experienced choreographer PL Raj. Chandra Barot wanted Helen to dance with a bottle of liquor, but PL Raj did not accept this, and differences began to arise, and the unit began to wonder what would happen if things were like this on the first day. In the end they decided to shoot the song in two versions and had Helen dance it twice, once with the bottle and once without, and after watching both portions PL Raj agreed with Chandra Barot's decision.
- #036
After the death of producer Nariman Irani, the team managed to complete the film without borrowing more money and cut back on promotion to keep its budget limited.
- #037
The film borrowed anti-hero elements from the Shakti Samanta classic China Town, which starred Shammi Kapoor.
- #038
Babla helped compose the song "Yeh Mera Dil." During a concert he gave in the Fiji Islands in the early '70s, he picked up a traditional Fiji drum called the "Lali." He used the Lali song in the sequence where Helen sways her hips down a long corridor.
- #039
Amitabh's stunts were performed by Manek Irani, Pran's circus act was performed by a woman, and Zeenat's stunts were performed by a man.
- #040
It was the third highest-grossing Indian film of 1978. Adjusted for inflation to 2023 conditions, the film grossed 2.7 billion INR at the box office.
- #041
Javed Akhtar stated that he deliberately avoided presenting a family perspective in Don. At the time this was unheard of. There was no mother in Don. Even the distance between Pran and his two children was kept to a minimum. Javed stated that he wrote the script this way to maintain momentum and pace. An emotional angle would have slowed the film down.
- #042
The pool scene featuring Amitabh and Zeenat was shot in Sunil Shetty's apartment building. As a teenager, Sunil Shetty met Amitabh on the day he was shooting in the swimming pool. Amitabh took the time to talk to the young Sunil Shetty and even gave him his home telephone number. This experience affected Sunil deeply, and years later he spoke about it on KBC.
- #043
The script was rejected by Prakash Mehra, Dev Anand and Jeetendra.
- #044
Leeroy's song "Lucile" sampled the song "Yeh Mera Dil" for the international album Bollywood Trip.
- #045
Leeroy's song "Nuclear Bomb" sampled the song "Yeh Mera Dil" on the international album Bollywood Trip.
- #046
Dr. Quandary's song "Don Returns" sampled dialogue from the film. It was released on the international dance album Quanny Sitar.
- #047
The album "AB Baby," composed by Bally Sagoo and sung by Amitabh Bachchan, included a cover version of the song "Khaike Paan Banaraswala." This was in 1996.
- #048
Nisha B's song "Dance Floor (Yeh Mere Dil)" is a cover version of the song "Yeh Mera Dil."
- #049
The film began production in May 1974.
- #050
Mix Master Mike feat. Rahzel's song "Slayboarder" sampled Don's theme music.
- #051
Kinsu's song "Tha Hop" sampled the theme from Together Brothers. This is the same theme sampled when Zeenat Aman helps Don escape from the hospital.
- #052
The Don theme premiered on the international dance album Bombay The Hardway; Guns, Cars and Sitars.
- #053
Silambarasan's Gori Thera and Sunitha Sarathy from the Tamil film Saravana sampled the song "Yeh Mera Dil."
- #054
4e Regiment's song "Kalyanji Anandji" sampled Don's title music. It was included on the international album Xperience Beats Volume 2.
- #055
The I'n'Stine/ALxI song "Indian Gangsta" sampled Don's title track.
- #056
Ifthekar had owned numerous police uniforms, having played a policeman in many films since the early years of his career, so Chandra Barot was advised to offer him the role of ACP Disilva, which saved the film the cost of a police uniform.
- #057
The film took four years to make and was produced on a very low budget.
- #058
Farida Jalal was to play the daughter of Pinchoo Kapoor, who played Mr. Malik, but the role was later cut from the film.
- #059
Filming on the film began with the shooting of the song Yeh Mera Dil.
- #060
The film's climax was to be shot in a real Catholic cemetery, but because the film's budget was low a set was built at the Chandivali studios in Bombay; on the day actors such as Pran and Amitabh Bachchan arrived on set to shoot the scene, it was found that the graves had no names, so the graves that came into the scene's focus were given the names of crew members such as the cameraman and assistants.
- #061
The film was remade as Dav Pech with Jeetendra, but in that film Don's second half became the first.
- #062
Khaike Pan Banaraswala was added to the film on Manoj Kumar's suggestion.
- #063
Salim-Javed saw the commotion over the film and, more importantly, the commotion over the ceiling fan that ate the copy of DON, and sent Amitabh Bachchan a telegram congratulating him in Srinagar, where he was shooting for another film.
- #064
Don was shot on a budget of about 25 Lakh rupees. After Nariman Irani's death, Chandra Barot and his team somehow managed to complete the film without taking money for promotion. When it became a big success, they gave the money to the producer's widow, Salma Irani, so she could pay off her husband's debts.
- #065
The Australian band The Bombay Royale drew heavily on Don's music. It released an album titled You Me Bullets Love and had a song called "Monkey Fight Snake". The song was inspired by Don's title track.
- #066
After the film was completed, Manoj Kumar told Chandra Barot to add a song somewhere because the film had become heavy, so the song Khaike Paan Banaraswala was added and became a hit. Anjaan had been writing the song for many years but it had always been rejected.
- #067
Majboor, Don, Dostana, Zamana and Mr. India were ready scripts by Salim-Javed.
- #068
"Cannon" by DJ Drama feat. Busta Rhymes and T.I. sampled Barry White's Together Brothers theme. This is the same theme used for Zeenat's scenes in Don.
- #069
Uncle Luke's song "Scarred" sampled Barry White's Together Brothers theme. This is the same theme used for Zeenat Aman's scenes in Don.
- #070
The Sunz of Man song "Banksta'z" (featuring RZA and 12 O'Clock) sampled Barry White's Together Brothers theme. This is the same theme used for Zeenat Aman's scenes in Don.
- #071
Tha Hop (Radio Mix) by Kinsu sampled Barry White's Together Brothers theme. This is the same theme used for Zeenat Aman's scene in Don.
- #072
Uncle Al's song "Slip N Slide" sampled Barry White's Together Brothers theme. This is the same theme used for Zeenat Aman's scenes in Don.
- #073
"Police Woman", written by John Gregory and His Orchestra, was a cover version of Morton Stevens's "Police Woman" theme from the TV series. This is the same theme used for Pran in the film.
- #074
The American series American Dad used the Don theme music in the episode "Tearjerker".
- #075
Juttla sampled dialogue from Don for his song "Bombay HQ" on the album Angels Aliens Assasins.
- #076
Yeh Mera Dil was rearranged as Crazy For You on Hunterz's album The Streets of Bollywood 2.
- #077
Several scenes from Don were used in the music video for "Hardway" by Arling, Riley, Mondriaan and The Bollywood Mystery. The video is on YouTube.
- #078
The song "DON" by Arling, Riley, Mondriaan & The Bollywood Mystery is a cover version of the title music. The video is on YouTube.
- #079
Arling, Riley, Mondriaan & The Bollywood Mystery used several scenes from Don for the music video of their song "The Chase". The video is on YouTube.
- #080
Helen's dialogue was sampled for the song Bombay Rhapsody feat. RaVam from MALFNKTION's album Hindustani Rascal.
- #081
Don's title theme music was sampled by 4e Regiment on Xperience Beats Volume 2. The track is titled "No. 19 Sample de Kalyanji Anandji".
- #082
The song Yeh Mera Dil was remixed on the album B. I. G., released by Earl Ferns in 1997. The track was titled Hindi Mega Mix.
- #083
The independent group "Autorickshaw" (Autorickshaw Music) performed an instrumental cover version (Live) of the Don theme. It is available on YouTube.
- #084
A cover version of Khaike Paan Banaraswala appears on The Bartender - B Seventy, from the album B Seventy.
- #085
To start the film, Chandra Barot borrowed $40,000 from his sister Kamal Barot.
- #086
Zeenat Aman appeared in a completely different role with short hair. She also performed the action scenes.
- #087
The car chase clip was added to the film Rajoo Dada.
- #088
A clip of Khaike Paan Banaraswala was used in the film Do Shikaari.
- #089
The climactic background music was later used in the film Bhago Bhoot Aaya.
- #090
The Don title music was sampled by Mix Master Mike in the song Slayboarder.
- #091
Yeh Mera Dil (Chicago Mix) appeared on T. S. Soundz's album Kick Back. This was in 1995.
- #092
It is the only film in which Amitabh appeared with Sharad Kumar.
- #093
It is the only film in which Amitabh appeared with Arpana Choudhary.
- #094
The car chase that leads to Don's death was shot with the help of a motorcycle due to a lack of funds; the driver also could not drive, and there was too much traffic congestion, so Amitabh's close-ups were added afterwards.
- #095
Pran performed his tightrope walk himself in a single shot, walking a rope on the fourth floor of a building; the visual effects expert turned off the lights in all the apartments to create a blue look and later composited the shot.
- #096
An instrumental version of "Are Diwano" (Main Hoon Don) appeared on the album Babla And His Orchestra (Film Instrumentals), which premiered in 1977. Amitabh Bachchan sang the song in his own voice during concerts in the early 1980s, and the album "Amitabh Bachchan with Kalyanji Anandji Live Tonight" includes a vocal version of the song by Amitabh.
- #097
A calypso version of "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" was sung by Amitabh Bachchan on the album Amitabh Bachchan with Kalyanji Anandji Live Tonight.
- #098
Rajnikanth's "Billa" was a remake of "Don". Billa was later titled "Main Inteqam Loonga" in Hindi.
- #099
Deven Verma provided the dubbing for the vagrant in Don's opening scene.
- #100
The film's dubbing was done at BR Studio, where it was one of the first films to be dubbed.
- #101
The background music of the car chase scene in Amitabh's Don was later used for the title music of Amol Palekar's Mr. X.
- #102
Shetty's voice was dubbed by a dubbing artist.
- #103
The background music in the Dharmatma scene where Feroz Khan takes the ring from his father's killer and tries it on Faryal's finger is similar to the background music in the Don scene where Ifthekar tears up Vijay's original police report. Both scenes share the same melody/music, but the guitar is reworked differently.
- #104
The scene in which Pran gets out of the van to commit the robbery was taken from the Hollywood film "The Getaway".
- #105
The album "Bidyut Bose Guitar" by Bidyut Bose included an instrumental version of "Yeh Mera Dil". This was in 1979.
- #106
The Black Star song "So Be It" sampled the Don Title Music.
- #107
Salim Khan recycled old ideas for the film. In Don, Amitabh hides from the police in Pran's house. The police ask Pran whether anyone has come there; Pran tells them no. As Amitabh leaves, thinking Pran has not seen him, Pran tells him to use the back door. In Toofan, Amrita Singh flees Raza Murad's men and hides in Sushma Seth's house. When Sushma is asked whether Amrita is there, she says no. As Amrita, believing Sushma has not seen her, is about to leave, Sushma asks Amrita why she lives her life as a pickpocket.
- #108
The scene in Pathaan in which Shah Rukh Khan climbs a hose and Deepika cuts the hose with a lantern was inspired by Don. In the scene in Don, Amitabh climbs a rope on the side of a building while Zeenat cuts the rope with a knife at the top of the building.
- #109
Amitabh eats paan in a scene in Namak Halaal. He looked very similar to Vijay in Don. He also refers to Ranjeet as "paajee" in Namak Halaal. This should not be confused with the word "paaji", which means brother in Punjabi. In Don, as Amitabh's Vijay states, "Yeh Sambu dholakia bada paajee hain". Amitabh uses the word again while harassing Shakti Kapoor at the climax of Mahaan. The Hindi word "Paajee" was used in Bollywood films only by Amitabh. It means "scurvy".
- #110
Although it is considered one of the biggest films in Indian cinema history, Don is one of the few Bollywood films that was not nominated for Best Film at the Filmfare Awards even though Amitabh Bachchan won the Best Actor award for it.
- #111
The opening music of Yeh Mere Dil was performed on a synthesizer played by Viju Shah.
- #112
Mix Master Mike's song "Human Torch Mix" sampled Kalyanji Anandji's "Theme From Don".
- #113
The Ventures' "Police Woman" was the same theme sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #114
Tony Camillo's Bazuka - "Police Woman Theme" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #115
Henry Mancini's "Police Woman" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #116
Ray Davies' The Funky Trumpet and The Button Down Brass did a cover version of "Police Woman" on the album Fire Dog. This was the same song sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #117
The Rhythm Hustlers' song "Police Woman" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #118
The John Gregory Orchestra's "Police Woman" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #119
The Richard Gold Orchestra's song "Police Woman", from the TV Screen Theme music album, was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #120
The Pop Singers and Orchestra song "Police Woman" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #121
Police Woman by Jet Set Sweden sampled the same theme used for Pran's theme music.
- #122
The Daly Wilson Big Band's song "Police Woman" was sampled for Pran's theme music.
- #123
Amitabh arrived at the beach in a 1970 model Red Impala Caprice, in the scene where he flees from the police.
- #124
In Dharmatma, while chasing Hema Malini, Danny Denzongpa calls her "junglee billi". Three years later, Amitabh Bachchan would say "Mujhe junglee billi pasand hain" to Zeenat Aman in Don.
- #125
The album of Are Diwano Mujhe Pehchano presented by Kalyanji Anandji's Babla And His Orchestra included Babla's instrumental cover version (Film Instrumentals). The album premiered in 1977.
- #126
The screenplay of Akira Kurosawa's 1980 war drama Kagemusha resembled that of Don.
- #127
Amitabh Bachchan used hair oil in his hair for a few scenes in Parwana. He did this very rarely. He also did it in Namak Halaal, Don and Shahenshah.
- #128
Four of Amitabh Bachchan's albums were released back to back: Kasme Vaade on 20 April, Besharam on 28 April, Trishul on 5 May and Don on 12 May.
- #129
The music at 2:56 in the song "O Saathi Re" (vocal version) from Muqaddar Ka Sikander was recreated for the music at 2:45 in Don's song "Yeh Mera Dil". The slow melody was taken and recreated as a funk melody.
- #130
In an interview published in Screen India in August 1993, N. N. Sippy stated that when Subhash Ghai told him about Kalicharan, he immediately wanted Amitabh Bachchan for the film. However, when he realised Amitabh had played a similar double role in Don, he decided to go with Shatrughan Sinha.
- #131
Yeh Mera Dil Pyar Ka Diwana (Hip Hop) is a remix from Asha Bhosle's album Asha Once More. The album was produced by Biddu in 1997.
- #132
Don was remade in Telugu as Roshagadu with Chiranjeevi. Roshagadu was later titled Taqatwala in Hindi. Jeetendra's film Dav Pech was a remake of Roshagadu.
- #133
The Black Star song "So Be It" sampled Don's Title Music.
- #134
Many have noted that the theme music of the 1960s Fantastic Four cartoon TV series (by Ted Nichols) carries echoes of Don's Title Music. The Fantastic Four theme was later sampled by MF Doom for the song The Time We Faced Doom.
- #135
The Glass Beams song Orb sampled Don Title Music.
- #136
Tony Camillo's Bazuka - Theme from Police Woman / Walk Tall is a cover version of Police Woman. The Police Woman theme was used as Pran's theme in Don.
- #137
Button Down Brass (3) featuring Ray Davies' Funky Trumpet - Firedog! contains a cover version of the Police Woman Theme. The Police Woman Theme was used as Pran's Theme in Don.
- #138
The Daly-Wilson Big Band's album Big 'N' Brassy included a cover version of the Police Woman Theme. Police Woman was the same theme used for Pran's music in Don.
- #139
The Ventures' song Police Woman was a cover version of the Police Woman Theme. It was the same music used for Pran's theme.
- #140
John Gregory Orchestra* - Six Million Dollar Man / Police Woman was a cover version of Police Woman. It was the same theme used for Pran.
- #141
Since 1978, a span of 38 years, only 2 films have been released, 3-4 films have been shelved, and 1 completed film has yet to be released.
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