Don: Why was the film stopped because of the name of the underwear?

The story of a strange misunderstanding about Amitabh Bachchan’s film Don that changed history.

When an underwear misunderstanding doomed a masterpiece

Did you know that Chandra Barot’s iconic film ‘Don’ almost missed out on reaching theatres?

The legendary filmmaker, who died on Sunday at the age of 86 after a seven-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis, faced a strange backlash over the film’s title.

“Dawn or Don?” – A confusion of a title

In 1978, distributors weren’t just hesitant – they rejected the film’s name altogether. Why? They thought it was named after a popular underwear brand!

“When Chandra and Salim-Javed announced the title ‘Don’, nobody wanted it,” Amitabh Bachchan revealed in a 2020 blog post.

“Everyone confused it with Dawn underwear, which was very popular at the time.”

When ‘Godfather’ made “Don” cool

This happened when ‘The Godfather’ was just starting to make its mark in film circles. “The word ‘Don’ was almost unknown by that time,” Big B explained.

The film that shattered expectations

Despite initial hurdles, ‘Don’ went on to become a cult classic. The film featured Amitabh in dual roles – as the criminal minded Don and his lookalike Vijay.

Zeenat Aman played Roma, Pran played Jasjit, Iftekhar played DSP D’Silva, and Om Shivpuri played Vardhaan.

A simple yet brilliant story

The story follows a wanted criminal who dies during a police chase.

As only one officer knows the truth, they appoint Vijay – who is an exact copy of Don – to infiltrate the gang and topple them from the inside.

Barot’s legacy after Don

Before sitting in the director’s chair, Chandra Barot learned his craft as an assistant director on films like ‘Purab Aur Pachhim,’ ‘Yaadgaar,’ and ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.’

After ‘Don,’ he directed ‘Aashrita,’ ‘Pyar Bhara Dil,’ and other projects.

Who would have thought that one of Bollywood’s most iconic films would get embroiled in an underwear misunderstanding?