Khaike Paan Banaras Wala from Amitabh Bachchan's iconic film Don, brought to life by the legendary Kishore Kumar's vocals is loved across generations.
But did you know Amitabh Bachchan actually burned the inside of his mouth while shooting the song because he had to chew paan repeatedly? The megastar revealed this himself on Kaun Banega Crorepati 17.
While chatting with a contestant, Big B shared, “Hum chaar din kiya tha vo gaana. Usme kam se kam 40-50 shot hua hoga. Har shot mein kam se kam 3-4 retake hua hoga. Har bar katha, chuna wala sasura paan jo raha, chaba-chaba kar halat kharab ho gayi hamari. [We shot that song for four days. There were at least 40–50 shots. Each shot had 3–4 retakes. Every time I had to chew that paan with katha and chuna, and my condition became terrible from chewing it again and again.]”
Amitabh Bachchan further added, “Kyunki woh director bole, ‘Sir, vo aapka muh chal raha tha pichle shot mein, isme bhi chalna chahiye. Thoda hoth laal aur kijiye.' Baar-baar khana padta tha usko. Mahina bhar humko laga muh saaf karne mein. Itna sab jal gaya tha. Chuna jo hai, muh me lagta hai to jal jaata hai. Lekin bahut mazaa aaya usko karke. [Because the director said, ‘Sir, your mouth was moving in the previous shot, it should move here too. Make your lips look red.' So I had to eat it again and again. It took me a month to heal my mouth. Everything had burned. When chuna gets into the mouth, it burns. But it was a lot of fun doing it.]”
In addition to Khaike Paan Banaras Wala, Amitabh Bachchan's 1978 hit Don also featured another timeless classic, Main Hoon Don. Directed by Chandra Barot, the film starred Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekhar and Om Shivpuri in key roles.