Remember Sholay: The Landmark In Indian Cinema

Most of us loved this film for the everlasting bond between Jai and Veeru who’s friendship is stronger than blood.

Here are some unknown facts about the film which will blow you away:

1. The first draft of the film was written by Salim-Javed who were famous for creating classics like Seeta Aur Geeta, Zanjeer, and Deewaar, their scripts were rejected by multiple producers. Finally, Ramesh Sippy took their script and added some wild west elements in it.

2. Choosing Gabbar for Ramesh Sippy was a challenging task as Amitabh Bachchan was ready to take up the role as he was nicknamed as the Angry Young Man during those times. Amrish Puri and Danny Denzongpa also rejected the role despite being the iconic villains in Bollywood. Amjad Khan, who immortalized Gabbar on the silver screen was a newbie in the industry and he took it up as a challenge. Sippy suggested Amitabh portray Jai and Dharmendra Veeru.

3. Jai and Veeru had their lady loves Radha and Basanthi, well they are husband-wife in real-life too as Amitabh Bachchan was married to Jaya Bhaduri months before the film was shot. Meanwhile, Hema Malini and Dharmendra were married five years after the film released. Both the wives of Jai and Veeru are now currently part of politics.

4. The filming took place in Ramnagar which is located 54 km away from Bangalore and the location became eventually famous with the name Ramgarh as described in the film. There has been a steady rise in tourism because of it. The iconic Gabbar scene in the film was called Sholay Rocks in 2010.

5. The film was released on 15th August 1975 and you will be surprised to know that the film had flopped terribly in the box office because of its long duration. The film was even panned by the censor board because of the violent scenes. The film was re-edited once again and released with the edited scenes and the history was written.

6. The film happened to be the first film to be screened in DD 1 back in the 90s and later the dialogues of the film were frequently used in almost every film. It was later remastered in 2004 and released once again. In 2007, the film was attempted to be remade by RGV titled Aag which turned out to be a disastrous result because of poor execution. The film re-released in 3D in 2014.

Even though the times are changing but Sholay remains to be evergreen and ageless which has been making all generations laugh and cry with the scenes. There should be another film like this to cast the magic on screen for generations to come.