The idea for the film "Don" (1978) was conceived on the sets of this film to help bail out cinematographer Nariman Irani, whose film "Zindagi Zindagi" (1972) had failed and resulted in him running up huge debts. Seeing Irani's distress when they were all working on this film, Manoj Kumar's assistant director Chandra Barot, and actors Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman decided to help him out by working with him on a film. That film turned out to be "Don" (1978), which went on to become a big hit. Unfortunately, Irani didn't live to see the film's success. He died when a wall fell on him while shooting for another film at Rajkamal Studios. Some of the film's proceeds were directed to Irani's widow Salma, who was able to settle his debts.[1][2]
This film was remade in Telugu as "Jeevana Poratam" (1986).
The film's title was a phrase made popular by the Indian Prime Minister at the time, Indira Gandhi. Audio clips taken from her election campaign speeches were used in the film.
Song
Haay Haay Yeh Majboori - This song was supposed to be shot on Moushumi Chatterjee. However, she became pregnant during the film's making and Manoj Kumar shot it on Zeenat Aman instead.[3]
Mehangai Maar Gayi - The tune of this song and the basic idea of its lyrics were taken from a non-film qawwali recorded in 1967. The original song was composed and written by Verma Malik and sung by Yusuf Azad Qawwal. Verma Malik wrote new lyrics for the film version of the song.[4]
Mehangai Maar Gayi - Jani Babu not only sang a few lines for this song but also made an on-screen appearance for it.
