SHOLEY- some interesting facts

Sholay was released on 15 August 1975 in the Bombay region. It was first 70 mm movie with stereophonic sound.

Within few days of its release the expensive film was called a flop. Almost every critic and trade magazine said “Sholay” was a great and costly mistake made. India Today, Filmfare, Film Trade Magazine and many more had the same opinion about the movie.

“Sholay” was just about to be removed from cinemas because of low attendance figures, but suddenly after a few days attendance started rising with word-of-mouth and there were long queues seen at the advance booking windows.

Actually it can be said that the film in 70 mm was so Grand in its look & style that it took time for the viewers to grasp it. And then “Sholay” went on to make history forever.

This was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate a silver-jubilee (25-week) in its initial release at over 100 cinemas across India.

There was a rumor that many Black Marketers bought new Flats and Taxis from their earnings due to the grand success of the movie.

An innovative trick by the music company

Even when the film was being called a huge success, somehow the music was not selling.

Polydor worked on the reason for this and found that the dialogues of the movie had such a strong impact on the viewer that they were hardly remembering the songs. People could be seen repeating the dialogues of the movie in as well as out of the theaters.

Keeping that in mind, for the first time ever Polydor released different dialogues EPs with different titles. Mainly “Veeru Ki Sagai”, “Soorma Bhopali”, “Hamein Jail Jaana Hai”, “Gabbar Singh” and more which were an instant success. Till date the dialogues of the movie are in regular circulation in the market.

Dual Climax

In the original ending, Thakur killed Gabbar. The Indian Censor Board did not agree with the ending, saying that its like ignoring the law and this could adversely influence the 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. (which can be seen in some versions of DVDs available in the market).

 Amazing Facts

“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 publicise its products. The advertisement was an instant hit in children and the sales doubled.

Hooked up by his character of “Soorma Bhopali”, years later Jagdeep himself made a film with the title “Soorma Bhopali” in 1988.

Viju Khote was renamed “Kaalia” forever after this movie.

Till date Asrani has to speak, “Hum Angrezon Ke Zamaane Ke Jailor” in his every TV and Stage Appearance.

Macmohan was so disturbed that his all scenes were deleted from the movie. But he may still wonder how only one scene and few words can be popular all over the world even after so many years. For a long time filmmakers kept using the name “Samba” in their films to gain popularity.

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.

The first scene to be shot was the one in which “Amitabh returns the safe keys to Jaya”.

 

Amitabh Bachchan was almost killed at the end of the movie when a stray bullet from 'Dharmendra' missed him by inches.

 

It was during the making of Sholay that Amitabh discovered he was going to be a father of his first born, Shweta.

The train robbery sequence took about 20 days to film on the Mumbai-Pune line, near Panvel.

 

The major outdoor scenes were shot at Ramnagaram near Bangalore, India. There are huge rocks of granite in the town which became the backdrop of Gabbar Singh's den. As a memento to remember, the people of Ramnagaram renamed a part of the town as Sippynagar after the name of the director, Ramesh Sippy.

 

The filmmakers had to build a road from the Bangalore highway to Ramanagaram for an easy access to the sets. Even to this day, a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where the movie was shot) is a key feature for tourists travelling through Ramanagaram (on the road between Bangalore and Mysore).

 

Mac Mohan who played “Samba” had to come many times from Bombay again and again to shoot for his part. Sadly only one scene of his was there in the movie, but he was destined to be famous with that scene only.

The film showcased two real life romances. Amitabh married Jaya Bhaduri, who played the widowed daughter-in-law, in 1973, during the filming. And Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980, five years after the release of the film.

Casting

Dharmendra was interested in playing Thakur Baldev Singh, but changed his mind when Ramesh Sippy told him Basanti was to be played by Hema Malini.

He was also informed that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru and then he would get the heroine, Hema Malini. 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.

 

Amjad Khan prepared to play the dacoit by reading a book titled Abhishapth Chambal, which was about the Chambal dacoits. The book was written by Taroon Bhaduri, father of Jaya Bhaduri.

It is also believed that Amitabh was more interested in Gabbar's role.

 

The director's original choice for Jai was Shatrughan Sinha at first, but as it couldn’t work out Amitabh then convinced the producers that he would be the right choice and got that role.

Dannywas the first choice of Gabbar but had to miss out because he was shooting for Dharmatma in Afghanistan.

 

Amjad Khan was almost dropped from the project because 'Javed Akhtar' found his voice too weak for Gabbar Singh's role but then he was definitely in.