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Sholay has always been the number one Bollywood movie. Despite the fact that this Ramesh Sippy-directed film will be completing 50 years of release this year, people still talk fondly about this all-time classic and no other movie has come anywhere closer to the level of popularity that Sholay has achieved.
Sanjeev Kumar was ready to shave for Gabbar Singh
While no one can think of anyone else doing the role of Thakur apart from Sanjeev Kumar in Sholay, the actor himself was keen on doing the role of Gabbar Singh. And to impress director Ramesh Sippy he was even ready to shave off his hair and blacken his teeth.
Not Amitabh Bachchan but Shatrughan Sinha was the first choice for Jai
Shatrughan Sinha was the first choice for the role of Jai which was later on played by Amitabh Bachchan. But both Salim Khan and Dharmendra wanted Amitabh to play Jai. To convince Ramesh Sippy, a trial show of Zanjeer was arranged which left the director with no doubt about who would be perfect to portray Jai’s character.
Dilip Kumar regretted not playing Thakur
The role of Thakur Baldev Singh was first offered to Dilip Kumar but he rejected it. Later on, however, he felt bad that he said no to such a good character which was played superbly well by Sanjeev Kumar.
Jai-Radha's scene took 20 days to shoot
There is a one-minute scene where Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) plays harmonica while he looks at Radha (Jaya Bachchan) extinguishing the lamps. To ensure that the exact moment of sunset is captured all through the shot, both the director and the cinematographer Dwarka Divecha gave it ample time and shot the tender scene in 20 days.
Gabbar Singh does not have a big role but..
Gabbar Singh played by Amjad Khan features only in 9 scenes of Sholay. But his impact is so powerful that the audience finds his shadow lurking behind every scene in the movie.
A real bullet almost killed Amitabh Bachchan
For some shots, the team of Sholay used real bullets. Incidentally, during one scene Dharmendra’s shot missed Amitabh Bachchan just by inches or the superstar would have been killed on the spot.
Javed Akhtar wrote Veeru's tank scene on the hood of a car
While the scene of Veeru getting drunk and creating drama by reaching the top of a water tank was a part of the movie, it was not scripted initially. When the need came, Javed Akhtar wrote it during his journey to Bangalore on the hood of a car.
This iconic moment from Sholay was inspired by a Hollywood film
The coin-flipping scene that ultimately decides who will die in Sholay was inspired by the famous Gary Cooper’s Hollywood movie Garden in Evil. In this film, Garry Cooper and his onscreen friend Richard Widmark used cards to decide who would stay behind to fight Apaches. Replacing it with flipping of coin was the desi touch added by Salim Javed.
Soorma Bhopali’s character was not part of the original script
Jagdeep became very famous for his role as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay. However, his role was not a part of the original script. But the duo of Salim Javed watched the rushes of the film, they felt that there was a need for a comic punch in the film. That is why the scenes with Jagdeep were added later on.
Salim Javed proved everyone wrong
The film was released to a lukewarm response and many thought that it would flop. But the pair of Salim Javed were confident that it would become a hit and they even put an advertisement in the trade paper saying that Sholay would make 1 crore in every territory. In those days such a collection was unheard of. But Sholay eventually ended up earning 2 to 3 crores in every territory. What's more it ran for 5 years at the Minerva theater breaking all the records.
