How Amitabh Bachchan brought magic of maar-dhaad-boxingbaazi to a multiplex

Only Bachchan, whose spell over audiences transcends generations, could have recreated Saharsa's single-screen madness in Gurgaon

In 1978, when Amitabh Bachchan’s Don first came to cinema theatres, Saharsa was a tranquil little town at the heart of Bihar’s Mithila region, known for the creaminess of its milk, succulence of its sweets, and mellifluousness of Maithili, the local language. The majority of Saharsa’s population, not more than a few thousand, was engaged in agriculture, government jobs, and small trading. 

In 2022, as PVR brought Don back in theatres, Saharsa is not much different from how it was in 1978. It is still small and marred by illiteracy and poverty. A few things have changed,