The director also revealed his initial casting choices, expressing his intention to cast Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta in the lead roles
The south coast side went into the game second bottom in the league, having lost their first four fixtures and scored only once.
Their miserable run looked like it might continue as, after a goalless first half at the Vitality Stadium, the visitors took a surprise lead 10 minutes after the break when Solly March headed in his first Premier League goal from Pascal Gross's cross.
Chris Hughton's side were ahead for 12 minutes before Bournemouth's Jordon Ibe changed the game. The influential former Liverpool attacker found South African midfielder Andrew Surman in the middle of the box, who finished in the far left corner of the Brighton goal.
Ibe turned provider again little more than five minutes later, showing good control outside the area to hold onto the ball and play it through to veteran Defoe.
The 34-year-old did not need to take a touch as he span quickly and struck the ball low past goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to score his first goal in a Bournemouth shirt since he lined up alongside his now manager 16 years ago.
"He's an unbelievable professional. He sets the example. He wants to train every day, he doesn't want to be treated as a special case, he really wants to muck in and be one of the boys... He's got the finishing ability to score lots of goals for us," Howe told Sky Sports.
After securing their first ever Premier League win last week over West Bromwich Albion, Brighton found they relaxed too much after going in front against the run of play.
"(I am) incredibly disappointed. They have a lot of quality and move the ball well but we handled it well for a lot of the game," Hughton told reporters.
"It was two poor goals we conceded. We never looked like conceding before then. I thought it was a really good period for us just before we scored."
The two sides meet again at the same venue on Tuesday in the third round of the League Cup.
Following that, Bournemouth travel to Everton in the league next weekend while 14th-placed Brighton host Newcastle United.
The director also revealed his initial casting choices, expressing his intention to cast Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta in the lead roles
In the clip gone viral, Karan Johar posed a dilemma to Salman, asking him to choose between the two divas in terms of beauty
Being built on an island of almost 62 hectares, the resort will have 20 restaurants, some of which will be helmed by top chefs from worldwide
It's an unprecedented level of security, Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said
Pilot and crew evacuated, no casualties reported: Turkey's transport ministry
Former captain Shakib has not played a T20 since July 2023
The 2019 Open Championship winner teamed up with Rory McIlroy to win the recent Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event
He said that his son Rohan, a pilot, often jokes about the reactions he gets when making announcements as the First Officer