Sholay Movie (1975) Interesting Facts, Mistakes

Sholay Movie Story Summary

After his family is murdered by a notorious and ruthless bandit, a former police officer enlists the services of two outlaws to capture the bandit.

Sholay Movie Stars

Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan 

Sholay Movie Storyline

Sholay means embers in Hindi. In this particular movie, a Police Officer, who's family was killed by a bandit named Gabbar Singh, decides to fight fire with fire and recruits two convicts, Jai and Veeru to capture Gabbar. He approaches them in jail, puts the proposal in front of them, and they agree to bring in Gabbar Singh alive - for a hefty price. After their discharge from jail, they travel by train to the village where the Police Officer lives - now with only his widowed daughter-in-law. The three band together to fight one of the most elusive and dreaded bandits of all time. Will the two ex-cons be able to bring Gabbar alive to the Police Officer? 

Sholay Movie Interesting Facts

• Actor 'Amjad Khan' was almost dropped from the project because scriptwriter 'Javed Akhtar' found his voice too weak for Gabbar Singh's role.
• Initially, 'Dharmendra' was keen to play the role of Thakur Baldev Singh. He eventually relented when the director informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would get the heroine. Sanjeev Kumar had just then proposed marriage to Hema Malini. Dharmendra was in love with her and quickly went back to the role of Veeru.
• Sholay, despite being a huge hit, received only one Filmfare award (best editing: MS Shinde...The awards for the best film, the best dialogues, the best direction and others went to Deewar.
• This was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate a silver-jubilee (25-week) initial release at over 100 theaters across India.
• Jai and Veeru were named after Salim Khan's college friends, Veerandar Singh Bias, son of a jagirdar at Khajrana Kothi, Indore and Jai Singh Rao Kalevar, a Pindari warrior and vegetable farmer. Both have passed away.
• Actor Mushtaq Merchant plays two roles in the film. The first role is as the train driver in famous train scene. The second role is when Jai Veeru steal a Parsi mans motorcycle. He plays the Parsi man.
• The scene of killing of Thakur's family by Gabbar is an adaptation of the killing of McBain family by Frank in Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West .
• The film was shot extensively in Ramnagaram near Bangalore, India. There are huge rocks of granite in this town which formed the backdrop of Gabbar Singh's hideout. As a mark of respect, the people of Ramnagaram renamed a hamlet in the town as Sippynagar after the director of the movie, Ramesh Sippy.
• The famous overhead tank scene where Veeru threatens Mausi with suicide and Jai attempts at making a proposal of marriage was drawn from a real-life incident.
• Amjad Khan's calling one of his associates Sambha caught the fancy of not just moviegoers but also producers. Because of this, a producer promptly announced a movie titled "Sambha."
• This film was directly inspired by the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954), Bandidos (1967) among others. Some critics at the time even began calling it a curry western.
• The train robbery sequence took about 20 days to film on the Mumbai-Pune line, near Panvel.
• "Gabbar Singh" character was so famous that Britannia Biscuits made a commercial with Amjad Khan eating Biscuits. This was the first time that a villain character was used by a company to publicize its products. The advertisement was an instant hit in children and the sales doubled.
• While the original film was made with a budget of 3 crores, 25 crore were spent on the 3D version, which released in January 2014.
• Sachin received a refrigerator as remuneration for his acting.
• Although it is universally agreed that Sambha has only one line of dialogue in Sholay, he does speak at least once more. When Ahmed is riding away from Ramgarh, Gabbar's goons are seen playing a game of cards. Sambha says, 'Chal be Junga, chidi ki rani hai' to which one of the other goons replies, 'Chidi ki rani toh thik hai Sambha, woh dekh chidi ka gulam aa raha hai.'
• There was actually a dacoit named Gabbar Singh around Gwalior in the 1950's. Reports say, he used to cut off the noses and ears of policemen.
• Dharmendra did not use any make up for this film.
• India's second 70-milimetre, stereophonic-sound film. It premiered at Mumbai's Minerva theatre.
• Sharman Joshi's father starred in the film as one of Sanjeev Kumar' s sons.
• The flamboyant Shatrughan Sinha was initially cast for the role of Jai, but Amitabh Bachchan convinced the producers that he was suitable for the role.
• It was Javed Akhtar who had proposed Amjad Khan's name after having spotted him and his brother Imtiaz in the play Ai Mere Watan Ke Logo in 1963. Amjad had acted in a few films before but Sholay was his first major billing.
• Mac Mohan traveled 27 times from Bombay to Bangalore for the shooting of small role of Sambha.
• Was about to be removed from cinemas because of low attendance figures, but attendance started rising and word-of-mouth made it Indian cinema's biggest hit (until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)) with some theaters playing the film for several years.
• Initially a song called "Ke Chand Sa Koi Chehra" was recorded which is a qawwali, but the song was dropped from the movie owing to the length of the movie. One of the singers of the song was the lyricist Anand Bakshi while the others were Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Bhupendra.
• The comic scene in which Bachchan meets Basanti's (Hema Malini) mausi with Veeru's marriage proposal was drawn from a conversation Khan had with Honey Irani's (Javed Akhtar's then to-be wife) mother. Honey, eventually, married Javed. It was, in part, influenced by the famous Half Ticket (1962) scene in which Kishore Kumar paints a terrible picture of his own self to scare off a pandit who arrives with a possible alliance for marriage.
• It was Salim, known to the younger audience as Salman Khan's father, who recommended Amitabh Bachchan for Jai's character. It was met with some opposition, but a trial of Zanjeer convinced them to cast Amitabh.
• Danny Denzongpa, who was initially offered the role of Gabbar Singh, was busy shooting Dharmatma (1975) in Afhganistan. He could not accept the role, and the reluctant second choice 'Amjad Khan' got it instead.
• Salim-Javed sold two ideas to the producers Sippy's, Majboor and a four-line idea which later on went to become Sholay. Sholay was sold at a lesser price (Rs. 1.5 lakh) than the other Majboor (Rs 2 lakh). Majboor later was sold to producer Premji.
• Salim Khan discloses how Jai's coin-flipping trick was directly adapted from the Gary Cooper-starring Garden of Evil. In that film, Gary Cooper and Richard Widmark draw cards to decide who will leave and who will stay behind to fight off the Apaches.
• Dilip Kumar was considered for the thakur role which then Sanjeev Kumar did.
• Only four 70mm prints of Sholay were released initially: one for Delhi, one for Uttar Pradesh and two for Bombay-Maharashtra. The same 70mm print was screened at two cinema halls in Delhi, which had different show timings. It would be taken back and forth between the two halls in a car. It was exactly the same with India's first 70mm film, Around the World.
• On 15 August 1996 on 21st anniversary of the film Sholay was screened on Doordarshan for the first time on that day in many parts of the country the streets were almost empty while the film was going on television.
• Director Manmohan Desai was first approached by the writing duo of Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan with the story for this movie. He was busy shooting Chacha Bhatija (1977) and could not accept the project.
• Jagdeep's role of Soorma Bhopali was added once the film was completed. Salim Javed were very persistent the character of Soorma Bhopali be added in the film. They approaching Jagdeep and he refused. The first reason was the film was already completed and they did not consider him for Asrani's jailer role. The second reason was the producer G.P. still owed Jagdeep money from the film Bhramchari. Initially Salim Javed wanted Pran for the role. But they feared his Punjabi accent would be to heavy and the role would not suit him. Finally Jagdeep agreed with the agreement they would pay him his full market price for the small role.
• "Say You Love Me" Demis Roussos was the original inspiration for the song " Mehbooba Mehbooba". The song was also sampled from Michalis Violaris song "Ta Rialia".
• at the success party of Sita Aur Gita 1972 producer GP Sippy discussed with Ramesh Sippy that they should make an action film with Hema Malini and Dharmedra and that's where first root of Sholay was developed.
• in 2015 director Ram Gopal Verma was slammed with a fine of 10 Lakhs remaking Sholay as Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag 2007 which was a big disaster.
• Mac Mohan was to play his character Sambha for a movie scene in Athithi Kab Jaoge 2010 on the day of the shoot on the sets he was rushed to the hospital in a very critical condition as he was suffering from cancer,later Viju Khothe essayed his character of Kaalia for the scene.
• The family massacre scene by Gabber Singh is more or less the same as in Once Upon A Time In The West right down to the editing and camera angles to some extent. See YouTube video for the comparison.
• Many years later, Recently Amitabh thanked Dharmendera on the stage of a prestigious award function for recommending him to Ramesh Sippy for casting in Sholay.
• Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar's Thakur) is the name of Salim Khan father-in-law (wife Salma's father). A dentist by profession, he still has a clinic in Mahim, suburban Mumbai.
• Jaya Bachchan was pregnant with her daughter Swetha Bachan during the shooting of the film,while Sholay released she was then pregnant with her son Abhisheik Bachchan.
• Amitabh Bachchan signed the film before Zanjeer.
• Everyone is saying that Sambha had only one dialogue in Sholay, which is not true. He had total three dialogues in film.
• 1. Gabbar : Aare who Sambha, Kitna Inam Rakha hai sarkar humpar? Sambha : Pure Pachas Hazar
• 2. When Sachin (Son of Imam Saheb) was going for job. It was Sambha and Jagga who caught him. Sambha - Chal be Jagga,
• 3. Then they takes Sachin to Gabbar Sambha - Sardar.. Gabbar - Humm.. Sambha - Ye, Ramgadh ka chokra hai, station ja raha tha, humain raaste main meela
• Salman Khan's uncle,father Salim Khan's cousin, attempted to become a actor in the 1970's. He was the actor in Sholay that had the dialogue " Maalik jitna hain, sab laya hoon ". He was not able to find any stardom.
• There was a qawalli number in Sholay that was shot on Jagdeep who played Soorma Bhopali in the film.
• However when the film was complete it became a bit too long and the qawalli was chopped off on the edit table
• Salman Khan who is the son of the film's co-writer Salim Khan, in his movie "Andaaz Apna Apna" is asked whether he has seen the movie Sholay (1975), he says "Haan, dus baar (yes, ten times)", Amir Khan jokingly says "Iske baap ne likhi hai" (his father has written it).
• At the premiere of Sholay , a very drunk Salim Khan got into a verbal spat with Amjad Khan. The matter almost came to blows until Amitabh Bachchan pulled them apart. The next day Salim Khan apologized for his actions.
• The morning Amjad was to leave for Bangalore, he put the Quran on his head and prayed. Shaila was surprised. Amjad was a spiritual person but he rarely prayed. As abruptly as he had started, he stopped. He placed the holy book back in its place, said, 'I think I'll be able to do it,' and drove to the airport. The flight didn't reach Bangalore. There was a hydraulic failure, and the pilot was forced to keep circling over Mumbai. After dumping fuel for hours, the plane landed back in Mumbai. Amjad sat at the airport but didn't call home. After five hours, it was announced that the technical faults had been fixed and the plane was ready to take-off. Not many passengers had the stomach to get on that plane again Amjad was among the four or five who finally flew on it. He had to reach Bangalore. Through the flight, he wasn't thinking about his wife or his one month-old son. His only terror was: 'If this plane crashes, Danny gets Gabbar' (the first choice for the role but lost out to date commitments).Gabbar Singh was not having a good day. It was Amjad's first day of shooting. They were starting with the scene in which he is introduced. His first line was, 'Kitne aadmi the?' All his life had led to this moment. The years of theatre rehearsals, knocking on doors for acting jobs, sweating it out as an assistant - the Gabbar role had made all that seem worthwhile. His army fatigues, picked up from Mumbai's Chor Bazaar, had the right weathered look. His teeth were blackened. His face was appropriately grimy. He had lived the part for the last few months. But now, when it was time to deliver, he just could not get it right. Gabbar had to mince tambaku (tobacco) as he talked. The motion of one hand grinding against another added to his menace. It was supposed to be his habit. But Amjad could not make it look casual. He would grind the tobacco, speak a few lines, look around awkwardly and then return to grinding. He was nervous and it showed; his hands were stiff, his movements seemed rehearsed, and his dialogue delivery was shaky. There was nothing natural about his performances; Gabbar was a stranger to Amjad.Ramesh kept talking to him, trying to help him get his lines right. They struggled for two days. After forty-odd takes, both Ramesh and cameraman Dwarka Divecha decided the actor needed a break. Divecha told Amjad to keep his costume on and just sit on the sets. 'Tu apne aap ko season kar de (Season yourself).' Amjad cried that night. His father was in hospital fighting cancer. His son was only a month old. His family's hopes were pinned on this film. For the rest of the schedule, Amjad lived in the fatigues, trying to become Gabbar. He wrote often to his wife, but never shared with her the extent of his trauma. All he wrote was: 'I'm very impatient... I don't know... I hope I can do it.' Since he didn't drink, he would spend the evenings nursing endless cups of tea. Through the entire schedule, he didn't do a single shot. In the next schedule, Amjad was more prepared. He got it right in the first few takes. He was living his character, and would stay in costume even when he was not shooting. But some members of the unit, unable to forget his earlier awkwardness, didn't seem to think this was enough. Besides, Amjad was the only new face in a sea of superstars and slowly talk started in the unit that perhaps Ramesh had made a mistake. The murmurs grew, till it became impossible even for Salim and Javed, who had been the most keen to have Amjad as Gabbar, to ignore them. Anxious, perhaps, to not be seen as people responsible for ruining the film, they spoke to Ramesh. 'If you aren't satisfied with Amjad, change him,' they said. For a few days the unit was rocked by rumours that Amjad was getting the boot. But Ramesh finally put his foot down. Only Amjad would play Gabbar.
• Amjad found out about the rumours much later. But the incident sowed the seeds of misunderstanding between him and Salim-Javed. He could not understand why two people, who had ardently recommended him for the role, had then tried to get him thrown out. He saw it as a move to sabotage his career. The hurt stayed with him till his death. Salim-Javed gave birth to the Amjad myth, but they never worked with him again.
• Sholay's centerpiece - the massacre sequence in which Gabbar obliterates the Thakur's family - was shot in twenty-three days over three schedules. It was a complicated scene with several parts: establishing the family, Gabbar's arrival, the shootings, and then the Thakur's arrival on the scene after Gabbar and his men have slaughtered his family and retreated. Half the scene had been shot when the weather changed and the bright sun was replaced by an overcast sky. For two days, the unit waited for the sun to reappear. Then Ramesh realized that the dark clouds were a celestial signal: the overcast look was perfect for the scene. It underlined the tragedy and heightened the sense of doom. It also logically led to the point where the wind starts to build up and dry leaves are blown over the dead bodies. He conferred with Divecha. 'It won't just look good,' Divecha said, 'it will look very good. But what will we do if the sun comes out tomorrow?' Ramesh was willing to take he chance. 'Let's shoot,' he said.
• They shot furiously for the next two days. And then the sun popped out again. After a week of work, they had two versions of the same half scene, one against a bright sky and the other against an overcast one. But Ramesh was determined. It was going to be clouds or nothing. So they waited for the gods to do the lighting. With the sun playing hide and seek, there were days when they managed to get only one shot and some when they simply stared at the skies. Filming came to a complete halt. To speed up the process, Divecha asked Anwar to make a screen to bounce the light off. The screen had to be bigger than the house. Anwar ended up buying all the white cloth in the vicinity to create a seventy-foot-by- hundred-foot screen. He stitched it himself with strong canvas thread. With the huge screen in place, shooting was resumed, but there were shots for which the effect created by the screen wasn't good enough. The gods had to intervene and bring back the clouds. But it wasn't just the clouds. Nothing seemed to go right. As they neared the end of the sequence, the little boy playing Thakur's grandson, Master Alankar, had exams. He would lose an academic year if he didn't sit for them. Ramesh let him go. Then the propeller, which worked up an appropriate wind to blow dry leaves onto the dead bodies, decided to do its own thing. It wouldn't start when they needed it to. And once started, it would just keep going. Finally, an aeronautics unit near Bangalore built another propeller. It worked perfectly. The wind blew yellow-brown leaves onto the bodies and the white shroud off them, Thakur mounted his horse in a raging fury, ready to look for Gabbar.
• Almost as time-consuming were the sequences of Radha extinguishing the lamps while Jai played his harmonica and watched. These sequences establish the gradual, wordless bonding between the widow and the thief - the sympathy and admiration slowly turning into love. Capturing the right mood was critical. These were two sequences, only about a minute each in the final film, and it took twenty days to shoot them. Ramesh and Divecha decided to do the scenes in 'magic hour', a cinema term for the time between sunset and night. The light that falls during magic hour is dreamlike in its warm golden hue. The director and cinemtograher wanted specifically the velvety dusk which arrives at the tail end of the golden hue. A shadowy darkness precedes nightfall, but it is still light enough to show the surrounding silhouettes. Essentially, they had only a few minutes to capture the shot. The preparations for the shot would begin after lunch. The lights and the camera set-up would be in place well before time. At around five in the evening they would rehearse the shot and the camera movements.Then between six and six-thirty as the sun started to set, there was total pandemonium. Everyone ran around shouting, trying to get the shot before darkness. sometimes they would get one shot, sometimes two and very rarely with great difficulty, a third re-take. But there was never any time to change the set-up. Ramesh wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection. Invariably there was always some mess-up. The sun set earlier than expected, a light man made a mistake, the trolly movement wasn't right, some object was lying where it shouldn't have been. There were times when Jaya lost her cool: 'Ramesh, no one can see me,' she would say. 'It's a long shot, no viewer on the planet is going to be able to see the mistakes in continuity.' The answer always was: 'No, no, one more take.' Ramesh dressed each frame. The Lady-of-the-lamps shot became a kind of a joke. It took several schedules to get it right. In fact, in terms of time taken, each sequence seemed to compete with the next. Ahmed, the blind Imam's son (played by Sachin), for instance, took seventeen days to die. It was a long and complicated sequence, and originally it also included the actual act of killing: meat is roasting in the foreground; Gabbar points a red-hot skewer at the boy and with a gleeful look tells his gang, 'Isko to bahut tadpa tadpa ke maroonga.' But this never made it to the final cut. Instead, the scene cuts from Gabbar killing an ant to Ahmed's horse carrying his dead body into the village.
• Sholay's initial theatrical release was 10 years, where it played in a Mumbai theater. This record lasted until it was broken by Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), which was still in its initial theatrical release as of 2015.
• The casting of Sholay was more or less finished even before the release of Zanjeer.
• Bumpy Capers (Donald Macarthur Edinburgh, Britain) song "Funky Gems" sampled "Sholay Title Music".
• Horsepower Productions (High Plains Drifter) Featuring Gold Spot Productions song "Sholay (Epic Mix)" sampled dialogs from the film.
• Asha Bhonsle was to sing the song Mehbooba O Mehbooba but after she heard RD Burman singing the song he said that he should only sing the song but concern was the song was pictured on Helen and male voice would not suit her hence the character of Jalal Agha was included.
• The Indo/American movie "Yeh Dosti"(2003) got its title from the song "Yeh Dositibh:" in the film.
• DJ Suketu did a remix called "Sholay Mash Up 2015". The remix consisted of dialogues from the film.
• Jagdeep who played Soorma Bhopali in this film has then again played a character of the same name in the film "Soorma Bhopali" (1988). He then also played a Bhopali in "Andaaz Apna Apna" (1994).
• The titles of Sholay say, "Introducing Amjad Khan". Amjad Khan was not being introduced in the movie - in fact he had already essayed an adult role as a Pakistani Air Force Pilot in the movie Hindustan Ki Kasam (directed by Chetan Anand) which was released a couple of years earlier.
• "The Clown (Episode C)" by Quasimoto sampled the song "Koi Haseena" and the Title music of Sholay.
• Kid Kishore remixed the song "Koi Haseena" and titled it "Oi Haseena".
• The album Dhol Blasters, originally released in 1991, had a cover version of the song "Yeh Dosti". The new version had a Punjabi flavor and was included in the song "Bhangra Mix"(UK) It was performed by Narinder Winnie, G.Mall,S. Rall.
• The film was re-released in 3D format on 3 January 2014.
• EWC (East West Connection ) song " Ankhian" by singer Saqi sampled the song "Jab Tak Hain Jaan". The album was titled Nachural Selection and was released in 1992.
• "Bombay Gangstarr" by Bollywood Freaks sampled "Sholay Title Music". From the International album Bombay Gangstarr .
• " MEHBOOBA MEHBOOBA" was remixed by Amit and San J of The X Zecutive . This for the album " Garma Garam 2 Asha Bhosle". This was the first remix ever done for this song. This was in 1991.
• Dialgue's of Sholay were remixed by Amit and San J of The X Zecutive. This was the first time Sholay dialogue's was remixed. This was for the album Garma Garam Amitabh. This was in the year 1990.
• "Yeh Dosti" was remixed by Amit and San J of The X Zecutive. This was the first time this song was remixed. This was for the album Garma Garam Amitabh. This was in the year 1990.
• Amjad Khan's dialog's were sampled in the album " Azmat: Power Packed 1 (Well Wicked) . The song's name was "Rave On". This was in 1991.
• "The Title Music" of Sholay had a cover version in the album "Jor" by Mani Rebel. The track was titled " Sambha's Backlash".This was in 1994.
• Danny Brown song " Dip" ( Sampolgy A/V Remix) sampled the song " Yeh Dosti".
• Subatomicmantra song "Gabbar Drum and Bass Remix" sampled dialogs from the film.
• Ravi Narine & Natty song "Drink With We" was a cover version of "Yeh Dosti".
• "Sholay 2000 Mix" by Bali Brahmabhatt was a remix album with dialogs and songs from the film.
• Bali Brahmbhatt remix album "Gabbar MIx" released in 1998, had songs and dialogs remixed from the movie.
• The song "Block Party" by Dj Sanj ft - Stereo Nation sampled the song "Mehbooba Mehbooba".
• The background music took a whole month to complete.
• Juttla sampled Amjad Khan's dialogue's from the film and titled it "Gabbar Singh" from the album Aliens, Angels and Assasins.
• Prem Nath was offered the role of Gabbar Singh before Danny Denzongpa.
• Dj Fede song "Bollywood Breaks "used the train sequence of the film for the music video of his song. It was from the album Back 2 The Boogie.
• Mehbooba song was sampled for the international song "MONEY" by ALI THE SON OF ABDUL from the album YEAR OF THE SATELLITE.
• The song Mehbooba and dialogues of the film were sampled in the song "Dance Or Die " by DJ HMD from the album "WTF ! Its Bollywood ?".
• Music producer "DJ Gabbar Singh" took his name as a tribute to the legendary character Gabbar Singh.
• An instrumental cover version of the song "Mehbooba" was released in the international album Asha Bhosle & Kronos Quartet -You Have Stolen My Heart, Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood.
• High Plains Drifter vs Goldspot song "Sholay" sampled several of the films dialogues. This was releases in the international album The Roots of Dubstep.
• Amit's song "Daaku" was a remix of several Gabbar Singh's dialogue's. This was released in the international album The Parallel.
• The dialogues of the movie were such a hit when the movie released, that audio cassette of the whole movie was released, which people listened while doing their daily chores.
• Dev Anand starrer movie 'Warrant' released at the same time as sholey, as dev was a big star nobody was giving chance to sholey to succeed in front of dev's warrant, however once both the movies released warrant suffered losses as nobody was watching it in place of sholey.
• Sholay's train sequence background music was later used in the climax of Dev Anand's Warrant.
• Hema Malini affectionately addresses Veer (Shah Rukh Khan) as Veeru in "Veer-Zaara".
• In the scene where Veeru is teaching Basanti how to shoot a gun and Jai mocks Veeru by claiming that he is James Bond's grandson, the original dialogue had Jai saying that Veer us Tatya Tope's grandson. This was later changed to James Bond.
• The opening guitar music of Mehbooba was later recreated for the famous remix of Kaanta Laga. The part starts in the intro of the song .
• The song Jab Tak Hain Jaan was sampled from Googoosh song Jomeh.
• Dialogue of Gabbar Singh was used in the album Tape Fusion # 4 Once Upon A Time In Bollywood by Sovient Konduckta.
• Real bullets were used during the shooting of the climax and reportedly a bullet narrowly missed Amitabh Bachchan.
• Jaya Bachchan, who played the role of the Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law was pregnant with daughter Shweta during the shooting of Sholay and pregnant with son Abhishek during the premier when the film released.
• The scenes of Gabbar's hideout were shot in Ramnagram near Bangalore. A part of Ramnagram was renamed Sippynagar in honor of director Ramesh Sippy.
• Actor Sachin, who played the role of Ahmed received a fridge as part of his acting fee.
• People went into the cinema hall as Hema Malini fan or Dharmender fan or Sanjeev Kapoor fan or Amiabh Bachchan fan and came out as a Amjad Khan urf Gabbar Singh fan.
• Actor Habib was to play the role of Kaalia. But due to his commitment to Dharmatma he had to leave for Afghanistan. Ramesh Sippy really wanted him in the film so he have him the role of Hira.
• The inspiration for the Sholay scene with Jai and Mausi came from 2 films . Half Ticket and Dulhan Ek Raat Ki.
• Sanjeev Kumar insisted he play Gabbar Singh. He messed up his hair and stained his teeth to show Salim Javed that he was good for the job. But Salim Javed felt Sanjeev had the audience's sympathy due to his screen image .
• Salim Javed were toying with the title "Aangarey" for the film. But later decided on Sholay. That title was Salim Khan's idea.
• Actor Habib was the first choice to play Kaalia.But he was busy shooting for Dharmatma 1975 in Afghanistan hence couldn't make it and Viju Khote was roped in.Habib was then seen as Heera who supplies guns to Gabbar Singh in the song Mehbooba Mehbooba.
• The first week at Elite cinema in Calcutta the movie started off with a qawaali sequence. Gabbar Singh was shown to be in the army. He kills his superior officer and escapes from the jail. Many saw the film again when it was shifted to Jyoti cinema after a week (as Elite was booked by some other movie) and the song and Gabbar Singh sequence was removed.
• Reshma Pathan, who played body double of Hema Malini was seriously injured when the Tanga turned down.Ramesh Sippy was almost to edit her scenes but Reshma returned back to shoot within few days.
• Shatrughan Sinha was first choice for Amitabh Bachchan.But Dharmendra recommended Amitabh Bachchan.10 years later he played similar role to that of Amitabh Bachchan in Aandhi Toofan 1985.Which almost similar to Sholay.
• After 10 years of struggle Amjad Khan signed a film.While he was boarding a Bombay to Bangalore flight for the shoot it had to make an emergency landing on Bombay airport due to technical problem, leaving passengers in fear.But that didn't kill his hopes and he decided to stay on the airport until the next flight was announced.
• In Ramesh Sippy"s two first films Andaz & Seeta Aur Geeta, Salim-Javed were co-writer and in Sholay they were the main writers and the only writers.
• Ramesh Sippy came to see one of Amjad Khan's stage plays. Ramesh's sister Soni (Sunita) was also acting it it. Sippy was impressed with Amjad and promised him a good role soon. To prepare for the role Amjad Khan read what ever he could about real life dacoits. Including a book by Jaya Bachchan's father T.C.Bhaduri. After researching on dacoits, he realized there was a real life Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh had swore to cut off the the ears and noses of 100 people. He was shot dead when he reached 20. The first thing Amjad Khan did was consult Ramesh Sippy and tell him he did not want to wear the traditional,dhoti,kurta,pagdi,tilak that all screen daku's wore. The first thing Amjad Khan noticed was that real dacoits wore fake army,police,border security uniforms. This was done to fool villagers and trick them into thinking help was on the way. The villagers would then be attacked and raided because they would be unsuspecting of the dacoits.
• Amjad Khan filled the doorway. He was not a particularly large man, but his lumbering gait, thickset face and curly hair gave him the appearance of one. Director Ramesh Sippy was lying on the diwan with his back to the door. From the low angle, Amjad loomed larger. Something clicked. 'He had an interesting face,' says Ramesh. 'I felt very positive.' Panic had set in after Danny's departure. Shooting was less than a month away. And Gabbar Singh was no ordinary character. It was a pivotal role. The actor had to have both talent and charisma to hold his own against the galaxy of stars. Bad casting could destroy the film. Amjad was the younger son of character artiste Jayant. His home production, Patthar ke Sanam,which was supposed to launch him, was announced but never made. He had assisted K Asif in Love and God and also done a bit role in the film. The credentials were hardly impressive. But in theatre Amjad had a strong reputation. A few days after Danny left, Salim bumped into Amjad. Salim knew Amjad's father, and had been visiting their home since Amjad was a little boy. A polite conversation ensued in which Salim asked Amjad about work. There wasn't much, just bit roles and theatre.Salim had heard about Amjad's skills as an actor, and physically he seemed to fit the role. 'I can't promise you anything,' he told Amjad, 'but there is a role in a big film. 'll take you to the director. Agar aap ko yeh role mil jaaye, aap ki koshish se yea aapki kismat se (If you get this role, whether by luck or effort),I tell you, it is the finest role in this film.' Amjad seemed to fit the part, but he was unknown. Could he carry the film? He was asked to grow a beard and come back. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Salim-Javed pondered. Salim-Javed were convinced that Amjad was the right choice.A screen test was done. They shot pictures in the office garden. Amjad had grown a beard and blackened his teeth. His diction was right, his language was perfect. He was confirmed for the role. Amjad hurried ecstatically to hospital to break the news to wife Shaila. The date was 20 September 1973. His son Shadaab was born that afternoon. Amjad prepared for Gabbar. Normal life took a back seat; this was clearly the best role fo his career. Amjad devoured Abhishapth Chambal, a book on the Chambal dacoits written by Jaya Bhaduri's father, Taroon Coomar. He marked out the pages on the real-life Gabbar, insisting that his wife Shaila read it too. He rehearsed his lines and fleshed out his character. He remembered a dhobi from his childhood days who used to call out to his wife: 'Arre o Shanti.' The lilt in Gabbar's 'Arre o Sambha' came from his dhobi.Amjad was enthusiastic but insecure, and badgered his wife constantly: 'Do you think I'll be able to do it?' 'Of course,' she would say, 'you're a good actor. I've seen all your plays.' 'But this is a different ball game' 'So what? You've been part of 'Love and God'... your father is an actor...' 'All that dosn't matter. Do you think I'll be able to do this?'
• The 'Sholay' unit had a ten - to fifteen-day schedule in Bangalore every month, from October 1973 to May 1974. Each time they managed to get some work done, but not enough. The delays were further compounded because 70mm required that each shot had to be taken twice. After seven months work, hardly one-third of the film had been shot. 'Sholay' had been planned as a six-month project. Nobody imagined that eventually it would take so long that Macmohan, playing Sambha, one of the smallest roles in the film, would travel twenty-seven times from Mumbai to Bangalore.
• Ramesh retained his famous cool. He had a grand vision of 'Sholay' and wasn't going to let delays force him to make compromises. As the budget soared beyond the original one crore, G.P Sippy did make the occasional noise. 'What the hell is going on?' he would ask. But he never pulled the plug. He was a gambler going for the big one. The funds kept flowing.
• Yet, despite all the planning, things started to go wrong. The first schedule was ten days long, but very little work got done. Some days they managed to get ten shots right, and on others, none at all. In the November schedule, Ramesh completed only one scene. The No compromise resolve was set in stone. Ramesh and Divecha were like painters trying to perfect their canvas, with G.P. Sippy, a patron of the arts, bankrolling their dreams, budget and timetables took a backseat.
• The songs were as hard to execute as the scenes. They took several days over many schedules and involved hundreds of dancers, special camera devices, a tanga and even a train. As usual, Ramesh pulled out all stops. 'Yeh Dosti was a twenty-one-day endeavor. The song establishes the friendship between Veeru and Jai. Its easy camaraderie is the foundation of the film. The cheer of the happy version perfectly offsets the dirge-like version at Jai's death. It was decided that a motorcycle with a sidecar would capture the spirit of the male-bonding anthem. But to shoot the entire song from a moving vehicle was static and limiting. So they built a special contraption, which would enable the crew to use different kinds of camera movements. The contraption allowed for varied camera angles. Divecha could start on a tight close-up of one character, pull back, move around to include both and then turn almost 180 degrees to the other side. Shots like these would make the audience feel that they were traveling with Veeru and Jai. But they weren't easy to get. First the bike would be fitted onto the contraption, and then the whole paraphernalia would move along with the camera and tracks and a low trolley moving up and down. Coordinating the elements - reflectors, sun-guns, speakers - needed minute organization and the patience of a priest. There were frequent mechanical faults: the towing hook would come off, or the pulling vehicle would get so heated up that it woudn't start. None of which stopped Ramesh and choreographer P.L Raj from planning even more intricate moves. 'Yeh Dosti', they decided, would end with the sidecar breaking away, doing a short solo run and then coming together with the motorcycle again. It was a neat gimmick. If only they could make it work. The sidecar had to be pulled away from the motorcycle without making the pulling obvious. And then there was the toughest part: the two had to reunite after separating on the fork on the road. They attached the sidecar to the camera on a trolley and rehearsed the shot with Amitabh, who was riding the motorcycle. It all depended on his sense of timing, because he was on a moving vehicle while the camera was on a fixed trolley. Amitabh would have to time it to perfection - start at the right moment, and accelerate or slow down according to the movement of the camera. Amazingly, he brought in the motorcycle for a smooth, perfect docking on the very first take. It was a miracle. The unit broke into a spontaneous applause and even the normally reticent Ramesh jumped off the camera stand and hugged Amitabh.
• Entire sequences ended up on the Film Center Floor. Among the best that didn't make it was a comedy sequence that preceded the Soorma Bhopali section. Maruti, a popular comedian of the day, played a dhaba owner in it. Veeru and Jai eat at the dhaba, gargle and spit vigorously, and have a fight with Maruti when he objects to their doing quli in his premises. Mushtaq Merchant playing an eccentric Parsi gentleman had a scene in which Veeru and Jai steal his motorcycle. He was reduced to a figure ebbing into the horizon just before the 'Yeh Dosti' song. Saachin's death scene was also cut. Shinde kept the brutal lines of dialogue out, slicing from Gabbar killing an ant to the horse carrying Ahmed's dead body into the village. The edit fit with the overall tone of the film, in which violence is more often suggested than seen. The audience never sees Thakur's arms being hacked off. Like the cut from Gabbar raising the sword to an armless Thakur, Ahmed's unseen death had far greater impact. 'Sholay' was finally ready in July 1975. Two and a half years labour lay spooled in tins. Looking at the film, Ramesh thought he had turned the curve, that the hardest part was behind him. He did not know that the battle had just begun. Gabbar dies in 'Sholay' Or at least does in the original 'Sholay' that Ramesh had shot, Salim-Javed had written. The Thakur kills Gabbar with his feet, wearing shoes that the servant Ramlal has fashioned with nails fitted in the soles. The armless Thakur first crushes Gabbar's arms. Then they stand face to face, two armless warriors, two equals. And then the Thakur pounds Gabbar to death as if he were a venomous snake; he does not stop till the dacoit is a bloody mess under his shoes. Then he breaks down and cries. He weeps long and hard: his life's mission is complete, but all he feels is a vast emptiness. It is a a pyrrhic victory. Revenge begets loss.The Central Board of Film Censors hated this ending. The board objected to the suggestion that a police officer - even one who was no longer in service - would take the law into his own hands and commit a murder. They also objected to the film's balletic violence. It wasn't graphic, but it was so finely choreographed that it had far greater impact than actual gore. The audience wouldn't see Thakur's arms being chopped off, but the visual cut from Gabbar raising the sword to the Thakur standing with his empty shirt sleeves flapping in the wind was unforgettable. Ramesh had made violence aesthetic and attractive. If passed, 'Sholay' would open the floodgates for lesser filmmakers. There would be cuts in 'Sholay.' But first, the Sippy's would have to change the end. Ramesh was incensed. It was almost as though he was being penalized for being talented. Every nuance in the film had been carefully considered and crafted. Not a frame was superfluous. The board wasn't just asking for cuts, it was asking for a totally different conclusion - an ending that would have the police intervening at the crucial moment to prevent the Thakur from killing Gabbar. It seemed like a parody of what had been done in a hundred other films. It had none of the bleakness or tragedy of the original. With a conclusion so feeble, 'Sholay' would no longer be Ramesh's vision. It would become another film altogether.In the resolutely repressive environment of the Emergency, fundamental rights did not exist. Neither did artistic freedom. Compromise wasn't a choice, it was the only option. But Ramesh was adamant. He hadn't toiled for two years to cop out now. He wasn't going to change the end. Ramesh tried to reason with the members of the Board, pointing out to them the flaws in their own argument. But the Board would not budge. Increasingly frustrated, Ramesh did something most uncharacteristic of him - he raised his voice.The Sippy's called on every connection they had. G.P Sippy was a resourceful man with considerable clout. He worked the phone for hours, arranging high-powered meetings. Anyone who might have influenced the Board got a call. Father and son also had bitter rows. Ramesh argued as an artist who was watching his work being mauled, and G.P as a realist who knew that compromise was inevitable. At one point, Ramesh even considered taking his name off the film. But eventually the producer prevailed. G.P explained ground reality to Ramesh: If they were stubborn, the film woudn't get released. Being a lawer himself, he knew better than anyone else the futility of going to court. In an Emergency they had no rights. And at the of end three years of production, they had very little money. They couldn't afford to take the higher ground.
• Dharmendra's tank scene was inspired from a scene from "The Secret of Santa Vittoria".
• An Army officers family is massacred. He remembers 2 juniors who were court marshaled for juvenile behavior. But they were both very brave. The army general decided to enlist them to take his revenge. Salim and Javed sold these 4 lines and only these 4 lines , with out any treatment to producer Baldev Pushkarna. Baldev had just signed Manmohan Desai to direct his next film. But Manmohan Desai did not like the script. He wanted a light heated breezy comedy. Salim and Javed decided to sell him a lost and found comedy formula which ended up becoming Chacha Bhatija.
• Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Hema Malini reunited after Seeta Aur Geeta. This film is Hema Malini's third movie with Ramesh Sippy (she would appear in Shimla Mirchi which was released in 2020).
• With the super success of Sholay in 1975, it represented Dharmendra and Hema malini's 2nd straight blockbuster of the year with Pratigya making them the hottest and most saleable jodi of Indian cinema.
• While presenting Dharmendra the prestigious IIFA Life time achievement award in 2007, Amitabh Bachchan famously thanked Dharmendra for recommending him for the role of Jai which he bagged at the expense of Shatrugan sinha due to Dharmendra's influence. He said: "I will like to share a secret with you all. If it wasn't for Dharamji, I would never have been part of this great film Sholay. It was he that recommended my name to Mr Ramesh sippy & I really thank him for that".
• The iconic Sholay, which made a whopping 30 RS crore worldwide and 15 RS crore in India, a record for it's time.
• Viju Khote stated "When I arrived, I saw Amjad walking out. He told me, 'Viju, karle yaar bahut achcha role.'Months later, I learnt that Amjad had recommended me to the Sippys.I learnt that they had signed a stuntman, who was a good horse rider, for the role, as it was a very small scene.But it had not come out the way Rameshji (Sippy, Sholay's director) had wanted. That's why needed someone who knew acting."
• Ke Chaand Sa Koi Chehra Na Pehlu Mein Ho Initially planned as a qawwali, this song was later composed as a Chaar Bhaand - a folk music form in keeping with the Bhopali character who was supposed to sing the song. The vocals in the song were panned hard left and right to give the effect of a listener sitting in between the exchange. The song was recorded but never shot since the film was already longer than three hours.
• Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge (Happy)..The whistling in this song was by R.D. Burman's long-time assistant Manohari Singh..
• Mehbooba Mehbooba The song was supposed to be sung by Kishore Kumar. R.D. Burman, who had done the scratch recording for the song, decided to step in when Kishore Kumar got delayed for the final recording.
• This film was the best work of cinematographer Diverka Divecha and one of his best work.
• Kanti Shah remade Sholay with a all female cast as "Jung Ke Sholay".
• The Success of this movie was such that in 1990..Ramgarh ke shoolay released with Amjad Khan as Gabbar ...With all lookalikes and a C grade movie for Low Audience....but Was a sleeper hit and earned a lot more than ever expected
• In the original ending, the Thakur killed Gabbar. The Indian Censor Board did not agree with this ending, saying that its vigilante aspect undermined the rule of law and could adversely influence naive young minds. So, a new ending was created that showed the police running in at the last moment, arresting Gabbar, and specifically telling the Thakur that only the law has the right to punish criminals. The original ending was restored in the 204-minute director's cut.
• The original ending of Sholay showed Gabbar Singh being killed by Thakur. The Censor Board required to re shoot it and also some action scenes also redone because Censor Board found them extremely violent.
• The reactions of the test audiences towards Jai's death almost made the directors change the ending.
• Viju Khote who played Kaalia in this movie later appeared 19 years later with the film writer Salim Khan's son Salman Khan in "Andaz apna apna" (1994)
• In the end, the audience learn that Jai's coin was a fake. This was unknowingly hinted in the beginning of the film when the Jailer tells Thakur that Veeru and Jai are useless like fake coins.

Sholay Movie Mistakes

• When Basanthi is being chased by bandits, while crossing the wooden bridge she does a small stunt, she moves the horse cart and breaks down the bridge and moves ahead, so the bandits are forced to take a detour to catch her. Veeru follows them and also find the bridge broken and take a detour. Both Basanti and Veeru are caught by the bandits and Jai rescues them later. While returning after being saved by Jai from Gabbar's den, Veeru, Basanti and Jai are seen crossing the same bridge which is fully intact.
• Sanjeev Kumar (Thakur) upon reaching home and finding his family members killed on lying on floor, he grabs the white cloth to uncover and see his dead grandson. He releases the cloth and the cloth flies away in wind. In the very next scene as he hurries towards the horse, the grandson's body is seen nicely wrapped with the white cloth.
• Upon seeing his family members killed, as he hurries towards the horse, the horse in which he mounts on is black in color and has a white patch at its hoof, whereas the horse which his stunt man rides in the next scene is brown in color, and has no white patch at its hoof.
• When Gabbhar shoots his three henchmen, all three are facing him. Yet, when they're lying dead, one has a wound on the back of his neck and one has a wound on his mid-back.
• In the song "Yeh Dosti", there's a moment when the side attachment of the bike lifts after a bouncing off a small heap. Veeru is sitting on the side attachment, while Jai is riding the bike. In the next scene, shot from the behind, there's no one sitting there. Only Jai's stuntman is riding the bike.
• Thakur's daughter-in-law Geeta Siddharth is cutting vegetables on the day Thakur is supposed to come back home. She is cutting okra. In the next shot, there is cabbage/cauliflower in her tray and then carrots appear on the swing where she is sitting. When she runs over to her husband and all the vegetables are thrown on the ground, there is no sign of okra or carrots among the fallen vegetables.
• When Basanti goes to the temple, she was on foot. Veeru asks whether her mare ran away with cart. After Worshipping Lord Shiva, right before the song "Koi haseena", she rides her cart.
• Jai and Veeru are fighting the last encounter with the bandits. Jai is left alone to fight the bandits and he is using both the hands for holding the guns and pistols, keeps firing from them regularly. Later Veeru returns and holds Jai in his arms, during that period you can see Jai's both palms in open position, there are many shots and for many minutes that shows his open palm, but at the end Veeru is seen picking up the "Magic" coin from one of Jai's now closed fist.
• In the fight scene after the Holi song, the two dacoits who are shot dead by Veeru and fall of their horse are seen in the next scene still on their horse and again shot to death by Veeru.
• When Jai is running from the dacoits, he has a revolver in his hand. When he takes a tumble on the bridge, the revolver is missing. When he hides behind the large rock, the revolver is back in his hand.
• In the song "Koi Haseena" when Veeru does wheeling on his cycle, we see a man's hand and head while holding front wheel.
• The movie supposedly takes place somewhere in north India. In the first song, "Ye Dosti...." a roadside banner is seen written in Kannada, which is followed only in Karnataka in south India.
• When Thakur is chasing Gabbar for the first time, around 88 minutes into the movie, for a brief moment a paved road can be seen. Thakur is supposed to chase Gabbar through rough unpaved terrain.
• When Thakur's entire family is shot by Gabbar, no blood is visible on their body as they fall to the ground. Also when Thakur sees their dead bodies, there still isn't even a single speck of blood visible on any of them.
• In the fight scene after the Holi song, Veeru fires one shot from his gun but two of Gabbar's goons fall off their horse and die.
• As dusk approaches, Radha turns off all the lanterns in her house when dusk is the time to actually turn them on.
• Thakur's home does not have electricity, but the village has an overhead tank which needs electricity to fill the tank. Thakur being the richest person in the village does not have electricity, so how does the village have an overhead tank?
• During the fight scene at the end, Sanjeev Kumar's hand is seen slipping out from under his shirt shortly before his character, Thakur, smothers Gabbar's hand with his foot. Thakur is supposed to be armless.

Useful External Links

Sholay Movie on Wikipedia 

Sholay Movie on IMDB