‘I Will Always Be Remembered For Don’

‘Don
was
declared
a
flop
because
not
many
people
turned
up.’
‘Luckily,

Khaike
Paan
Banaraswala
became
a
big
hit.’
‘Word
of
mouth
publicity
led
to
the
film
becoming
a
big
hit
from
the
second
week
on.’

The
year
was
1967.

The
place,
Tanzania.

Like
other
African
countries
troubled
by
race
riots,
the
country
was
facing
a
politically
uncertain
future.

It
was
then
that
young
banker

Chandra
Barot
decided
it
was
time
to
say
goodbye
to
his
motherland.

Barot’s
father
had
moved
to
Dar-es-Salam
in
1930
and,
when
Chandra
grew
up,
he
got
a
job
at
Barclay’s
Bank.

Two
of
his
brothers
had
already
settled
down
in
England,
so
that
seemed
like
a
natural
choice.
But,
before
moving
to
London,
Chandra
traveled
to
Bombay
to
meet
his
sister,
the
singer
Kamal
Barot.
He
soon
forgot
about
moving
to
London,
and
got
involved
in
film-making
instead.

After
assisting
Director
Manoj
Kumar,
he
finally
directed
a
film.
His
only
Hindi
film.
Starring
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Zeenat
Aman,
it
was
called,
simply,

Don.

“I
have
always
loved
fast
cars,
women
and
action,
which
is
why
I
included
those
elements
in

Don,”
Chandra
Barot
told

Syed
Firdaus
Ashraf/Rediff
in
a
rare
interview.

This
interview
was
first
published
in
October
2006.

How
did
you
first
react
to
the
news
that

Don
was
to
be
remade?

To
begin
with,
I
didn’t
get
as
much
media
attention
while
working
on
the
original
film
in
1978!

It
has
turned
into
a
cult
film,
and
everyone
now
wants
to
know
more
about
it.

I
am
very
happy
that
Farhan
Akhtar
is
working
on
a
remake.
I
feel
as
if
I
am
being
rewarded
for
work
I
did
28
years
ago.

Did
you
like
the
promos
of
Shah
Rukh
Khan’s

Don?

Farhan
and
his
producers
took
a
no
objection
certificate
from
me
before
going
ahead
with
their
film.
He
told
me
he
would
give
the
film
a
new
look.

I
like
Farhan’s
work;
I
liked
his

Dil
Chahta
Hai.

People
are
expecting
too
much
from
the
new

Don
though.

I
am
sure
Farhan
will
make
a
good
film.
Filmmaking
is
all
about
storytelling
and
one
shouldn’t
discourage
those
who
want
to
try
something
different.

Compared
to
what
you
feel
now,
what
was
it
like
when

Don
was
to
be
released
in
1978?

Don
was
to
hit
screens
on
May
12,
1978.

Two
weeks
before
that
date,
Yash
Chopra’s

Trishul
was
released
and
became
a
big
hit.

We
had
no
money
to
promote

Don
because
Producer
Nariman
Irani
died
six
months
before
the
release.

There
were
other
films
out
at
around
the
same
time
—
including
Satyajit
Ray’s

Shatranj
Ke
Khiladi,
Raj
Kapoor’s

Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram
and
Prakash
Mehra’s

Muqaddar
Ka
Sikandar
—
and
I,
as
a
debutant
director,
was
a
dwarf
compared
to
them.

Moreover,

Don
was
the
only
Amitabh
film
with
him
as
the
lead;
his
other
projects
were
all
multi-starrers.
So,
I
was
obviously
nervous.

It
must
have
been
hard
releasing
the
film
after
the
producer
was
no
more…

In
fact,
we
made

Don
to
bail
Nariman
Irani
from
debt.

He
was
a
cinematographer
with
actor-director
Manoj
Kumar.
He
produced
his
first
film

Zindagi
Zindagi
with
Sunil
Dutt,
which
flopped
badly.

He
was
in
debt
so,
as
his
friends,
we
decided
to
bail
him
out.

Amitabh
Bachchan,
Pran,
Salim-Javed
and
Zeenat
Aman
came
forward
to
make
a
film.

It
took
three
years
and
six
months
to
make

Don.

There
were
tremendous
budget
constraints,
but
we
knew
we
had
to
make
a
good
film.

At
the
time,
Irani
was
shooting
for
a
film
at
Rajkamal
Studios
in
Mumbai.

It
was
November
and
there
was
a
sudden
cloudburst.
A
wall
fell
on
him
while
he
was
preparing
to
take
a
shot.
He
was
hospitalised,
but
passed
away
soon
after.

How
did
the
rest
of
you
manage?
What
was
your
budget
like?

Don
was
shot
with
a
budget
of
around
Rs
25
lakh.

After
Nariman
Irani’s
death,
we
somehow
managed
to
wrap
the
film
without
any
money
for
promotion.
When
it
became
a
big
hit,
we
gave
the
money
to
Salma
Irani,
the
producer’s
widow,
to
settle
her
husband’s
debts.

In
those
days,
people
used
to
care
about
others.

There
were
values.

Today,
everything
is
about
business.

Films
are
now
released
with
800
to
1,000
prints
and
shown
for
just
two
weeks
before
being
declared
hits.

In
those
days,
we
released
only
120
prints.

We
cared
for
people
in
the
industry
and
loved
each
other
like
family
members.

Do
you
remember
the
day

Don
was
released?

It
was
a
big
disappointment
and
declared
a
flop
because
not
many
people
turned
up.

Luckily
for
me,
within
a
week,
the
song

Khaike
Paan
Banaraswala
became
a
big
hit.

Word
of
mouth
publicity
led
to
the
film
becoming
a
big
hit
from
the
second
week
on.
It
ran
for
50
weeks
in
all
centres
and
for
75
weeks
in
Hyderabad.

How
was

Khaike
Paan
Banaraswala
incorporated
into
the
film?

One
must
give
credit
to
music
director
Babla,
the
brother
of
Kalyanji-Anandji,
who
included
the
song.
Lyricist
Sameer’s
father
Anjaan
wrote
it.

I
must
also
thank
Manoj
Kumar,
who
told
me
a
song
was
needed.

When
he
saw
it,
he
said
the
film
was
too
tight.

He
said
it
made
taking
a
toilet
break
difficult
because
the
story
was
so
gripping!
So,
we
included
that
song.

Yeh
Mera
Dil,
filmed
on
Helen,
was
quite
a
rage…

It
was.
When
Helen
danced
for
that
song,
she
was
40.
She
did
a
brilliant
job.

That
song
happened
because
of
my
fascination
for
James
Bond
films.

I
have
always
loved
fast
cars,
women
and
action,
which
is
why
I
included
those
elements
in

Don.

Why
didn’t
you
make
any
films
after
this
one?

It’s
a
long
story.
After

Don,
I
had
52
offers
from
producers.
I
selected
two
films.

Before
working
on

Don,
I
worked
with
Manoj
Kumar,
whom
I
used
to
respect
tremendously.

I
worked
on
a
salary
of
Rs
457
for
nine
years,
and
learnt
a
lot
from
his
films.

I
did
try
making
films
after

Don,
but
couldn’t
complete
them.

I
started
a
film
with
Dilip
Kumar
called

Master,
and
another
with
Sarika
called

Titli.
The
first
wasn’t
completed,
and
Sarika
went
on
to
marry.
I
did
complete
a
Bengali
film
called

Aashrita
in
1989,
which
ran
for
69
weeks
and
made
Rs
3.5
crore
(Rs
35
million).

Don’t
you
regret
not
doing
more
films?

How
many
films
did
K
Asif
make?

Hardly
any,
but
he
will
always
be
known
for

Mughal-e-Azam.

Ramesh
Sippy
made
many
films,
but
will
always
be
remembered
as
the
maker
of

Sholay.

Mehboob
made
many
too,
but
will
always
be
remembered
for

Mother
India.

In
the
same
way,
I
made
one
film,

Don,
and
will
always
be
remembered
for
it.

Are
you
in
touch
with
any
of
today’s
stars?

I
don’t
drink,
smoke
or
attend
parties.
Despite
that,
I
have
been
able
to
stay
friends
with
some
people.
Jaya
Bachchan
is
like
family
as
is
Dilip
Kumar.

Thanks
to
Farhan
Akhtar,
people
are
once
again
showing
interest
and
want
me
to
direct
films.

I
have
a
couple
of
offers
too.

Will
you
be
able
to
direct
another
film
in
these
times?

When
it
comes
to
direction,
age
does
not
matter.

Raj
Kapoor
made

Ram
Teri
Ganga
Maili
when
he
was
over
60.

I
still
sleep
for
just
four
hours
and
watch
a
lot
of
films.
I
learn
from
them.
I
also
travel
a
lot
and
love
meeting
people.

I
don’t
think
directing
a
film
will
be
difficult
for
me,
even
today.