Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for giving Bollywood the original Don in 1978, passed away on Sunday, 20 July, 2025 at the age of 86. His wife, Deepa Barot confirmed the news and shared that he had been battling a lung condition, pulmonary fibrosis for the last seven years.
Barot was receiving treatment at Guru Nanak Hospital under the care of Dr. Manish Shetty. Earlier, he had also been admitted to Jaslok Hospital during his illness.
As the news of his passing spread, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar who revived the Don franchise in the 2000s and is currently directing its third part shared a touching message on Instagram.
“Saddened to learn that the director of the OG Don is no more. RIP Chandra Barot-ji. Deepest condolences to the family,” he wrote.
Chandra Barot’s journey to creating Don is a story in itself. The film came into being as an effort to help a close friend. Actor-producer Nariman Irani was in financial distress after his film Zindagi. Zindagi didn’t do well. Barot decided to direct a film that could help Irani recover from the loss. That film turned out to be Don.
He brought in the now-iconic writer duo Salim-Javed to write the script that had actually been rejected by big names like Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Jeetendra. But Barot saw its spark. With Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, Don became a massive hit and slowly earned its status as a cult classic.
Although Barot never made another film as successful as Don, he did go on to direct Aashrita in 1989 and Pyar Bhara Dil in 1991. Unfortunately, many of his other projects, including Boss and Neil Ko Pakadna Impossible, never got completed or released.
Still, his name remained etched in Bollywood history thanks to the Don franchise. In 2006, Farhan Akhtar remade the film with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role — a modern tribute to Barot’s original work. That version also became a hit and even had a sequel. Now, a third part is underway. This time Ranveer Singh and Kriti Sanon are stepping into the spotlight.
Chandra Barot may have directed only a handful of films, but with just one timeless classic, he created a legacy that continues to inspire Indian cinema.