A film changed Bollywood
Oh Sambha, what a great man he was…almost everyone knows the answer to this question. If you ask a common Indian citizen to name the 5 cult classic films of India, ‘Sholay’ will definitely appear in the list. The film was released on 15 August 1975. The film did not run at the time of release. 4 days passed but very few people came to see him. Director Ramesh Sippy and writers Salim-Javed were worried why people were not coming to watch the film. Seeing this condition of the film, he felt that Amitabh Bachchan should be brought back alive. After that the preparations for the shooting started, but suddenly the news started pouring in that people started arriving at the cinema hall to watch ‘Sholay’.
The film, which did not run for 4 days, celebrated golden and silver jubilees in many theatres. The film became such a hit that each of its characters became famous. Jai-veeru, Thakur, Gabbar, Basanti, Kalia, Sambha, Surma Bhopali, Jailor of the British era, Aunty and Dhanno. Even after 49 years, ‘Chal Dhanno’ is seen written on the back of any auto or e-rickshaw. Kalia and Samba had only one dialogue in the film. Both are remembered even today. Let alone the boomers, the millennial generation also remembers his dialogues. Boomers and Millennials mentioned the film so much that even Gen-Z was forced to watch it. It means that ‘Sholay’ is being watched even after 49 years.
Best characters of ‘Sholay’
‘Sholay”s excellent characters and energetic performances of the stars win the hearts of the audience. Thakur- Strict officer. Jai- A thug with a sarcastic sense of humour. Viru – Drinker, easy talker. Basanti – A horseman whose speech competes with his chariot. Radha- A widow whose sad eyes sometimes show a faint glimmer of hope. Gabbar- A bandit with a murderous temper and a sarcastic laugh. There are many cameos in the film, be it Jagdeep as Surma Bhopali, Keshto as Khabri or Asrani playing a jailer who looks like Hitler.
Some memorable scenes from ‘Sholay’
‘Sholay’ leaves its mark on people’s minds in many ways. Gabbar’s terror shakes people. Let us associate ourselves with Thakur’s resolution. He sees himself in Jai-Veeru’s friendship. He finds Basanti’s chatter amusing. So the silence of Jaya Bhaduri, who is playing the widow Radha, leaves people numb. Talking about a scene in the film, when Gabbar kills Thakur’s entire family, director Ramesh Sippy ends the scene by showing him hanging empty. This very common scene scares people. Or the sound of Gabbar Singh’s footsteps on the stones creates a lot of fear. The direct conversation with Jai’s aunt about Veeru’s marriage is also being loved by the audience. If you don’t believe, watch this whole scene again. The way Veeru climbs the water tank and proposes marriage to Basanti in front of the villagers became an iconic scene.
How did the stars finalize?
Every scene of the film touches the audience even today. So the songs of this film are heard even today. Filmed on Jai and Veeru’s friendship, “Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todege” became an anthem for the friends. There are so many stories behind the making of this film that a book can be written on it and that book will become a hit. For example, Danny Denzongappa was supposed to play Gabbar. Hema Malani did not want to play the role of Basanti. Shatrughan Sinha was being considered for the role of Jai. Amitabh, who played the character of Jai, wanted to play the role of Gabbar. Earlier, Jaya Bhaduri had said no to the film. Dharmendra who played the character of Veeru wanted to play the role of Thakur. Dharam Paaji agreed to play the role of Veeru when Ramesh Sippy talked about the romance scene with Basanti. Amjad Khan was cast for Gabbar on Salim-Javed’s insistence.
‘Sholay’ was shot in South India
Both Sanjeev Kumar and Dharmendra were crazy about Hema Malani. Sanjeev Kumar proposed marriage to Hema before the start of the film, but she rejected him. Hence the scenes of both are negligible in the film. After signing the film, Amitabh-Jaya got married on 3 June 1972. Jaya Bachchan was pregnant during the shooting of the film. It was the first Hindi film based on dacoits to be shot in South India. It was shot at Ramanagaram, an hour away from Bengaluru. In the film, the name of Ramnagaram becomes Ramgarh. A film unit of 150 to 200 people was based in Bengaluru. There was a daily up-down journey by bus for shooting. After the movie became a hit, this place became a tourist spot for people. Now a part of Ramanagaram is also known as Sippy Nagar.
One dialogue and 40 retakes
‘Kitne Aadmi The…’ Gabbar Singh aka Amjad Khan had to give 40 retakes in the shoot of this three word dialogue. The impact of this effort is such that today this dialogue continues to be forwarded in the form of memes on social media. The names of some of the characters in this film are also real. Actually Salim Khan’s father Abdul Rashid Khan was in the police. He used to narrate to them the story of Gabbar Singh, a dacoit of the Chambal Valley. The name was derived from here. Two people named Jai and Veeru were friends of Salim-Javed. Javed Akhtar met a person named Surma Bhopali in Bhopal.
‘Sholay’ divided Hindi cinema into two parts
To celebrate the golden jubilee of over 60 theaters in India, Sholay director Ramesh Sippy gifted a Fiat car to cameraman Dwarka Diveja. Interestingly, Filmfare gave only one award to ‘Sholay’, which proved to be a blockbuster among people, and that too for film editing. Film critics at that time criticized ‘Sholay’ a lot. But today this film is called a cult classic. Director Shekhar Kapur even said that Hindi cinema can be divided into two parts. Before ‘Sholay’ BC. And after ‘Sholay’ in AD.
