Amitabh Bachchan says people were ‘sceptical, annoyed’ with Don’s title: ‘Why should it be about undergarments?’

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has shared that when the title of his 1978 film Don was announced, many people in Bollywood ‘were quite unaware of the word’. In his blog, Amitabh recently revealed that at that time people were familiar with the undergarment brand Dawn. He also recalled that the ‘market was very sceptical and annoyed’ as to why the film’s team chose a title about undergarments. (Also Read | Amitabh Bachchan shares pic of ‘mile long’ queue at Don ticket window from 1978, recalls delivering five hits that year)

Amitabh on people’s reaction to Don’s title

Taking to his blog on Thursday night, Amitabh wrote, “Does it dawn .. dawn in the recognised morn of the day .. the day doth announce its presence .. or about its presence .. and the world of writing and writers hurriedly adopts the ‘dawn’ to their world .. ‘ it be the dawn of a new world’ .. they say .. or words to that effect .. effective, poetic and composite .. whether the dawn turns to the sunlit day or not irrespective .. or sets into another quiet unknown night for another dawn to re appear ..”

He also added, “Amusingly, when the film DON was announced with me .. many in the world of Hindi cinema were quite unaware of the word don .. what they were familiar with was a product known as DAWN .. the DAWN banyaan (vests) .. vests .. And the market was very sceptical and annoyed with the makers as to why a film title should be about undergarments .. !! Many still are .. (rolling on the floor laughing emoji).”

1978 film Don

Amitabh starred in Don, released in 1978, which was a crime action thriller directed by Chandra Barot. Apart from Amitabh, the film also starred Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekhar, Om Shivpuri, and Satyen Kappu in pivotal roles. It was the third highest-grossing film of 1978 at the domestic box office.

Don franchise

Farhan Akhtar held the remakes, of the original film, Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006) and its sequel Don 2 (2011), both starring Shah Rukh Khan. Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Isha Koppikar, Boman Irani, Pavan Malhotra, Rajesh Khattar and Om Puri, Kareena Kapoor also starred in Don: The Chase Begins Again. Don 2 starred Shah Rukh, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Boman Irani, Nawab Shah, Alyy Khan, Rajesh Khattar, Sahil Shroff and Kunal Kapoor.

Amitabh’s upcoming films

Amitabh will be seen in Project K which also stars Deepika Padukone and Prabhas. Helmed by Nag Ashwin, Project K is a bilingual film shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu across various locations. He will also be seen in Ribhu Dasgupta’s next courtroom drama film Section 84. The film also stars Diana Penty, Nimrat Kaur and Abhishek Banerjee in the lead roles. The official release date of Section 84 is still awaited.