Chandra Barot's forgotten dream: Untold story of 'Big Daddy', India's first planned 3D film

When Chandra Barot passed away recently at the age of 86, obituaries rightfully celebrated him as the man who gave Indian cinema the cult classic Don (1978), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, and Pran, and based on a script by Salim-Javed.

- MURTAZA ALI KHAN

When Chandra Barot passed away recently at the age of 86, obituaries rightfully celebrated him as the man who gave Indian cinema the cult classic Don (1978), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, and Pran, and based on a script by Salim-Javed. But among the many fascinating chapters of his life, one unfinished dream stood out—a forgotten film project that could have changed the course of Indian cinematic history: Big Daddy, India's first planned 3D feature film, starring Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, and Shammi Kapoor.

The year was 1983. The country was still new to the concept of three-dimensional cinema. Hollywood had just tasted success with Friday the 13th Part III (1982), a slasher film that became notable not just for its gore but for its groundbreaking use of the Depix 3D camera system. That technology, developed by American inventors Alvin and Mortimer Marks, captured the left and right eye perspectives on a single 35mm film frame—an innovation that made stereoscopic 3D cinema more accessible than ever before.

In a bold and visionary move, Indian American filmmaker Tirlok Malik—then a young dreamer deeply passionate about cinema—sought to bring this very system to Indian screens. Malik had already begun conversations with Mortimer Marks, who agreed to collaborate and adapt the Depix technology for Big Daddy. It was a story of scale and spectacle—a heist action-adventure film infused with music, dance, and the unique charisma of its three superstars. And with Chandra Barot, fresh off the success of Don, agreeing to direct, the project was poised to become a landmark.