Ramesh Sippy's cult movie Sholay still remains the biggest blockbuster of the Hindi cine industry even after almost five decades. Bollywood's He-Man Dharmendra, Millennium Star Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Dream Girl Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, and Amjad Khan were seen in pivotal roles. It would be rare to find a Hindi movie fanatic who hasn’t yet watched the cult movie.
While debutant Amjad Khan as the antagonist Gabbar Singh garnered immense popularity overnight, Asrani's 'Angrezon ke Zamane ke' Jailer character and Jagdeep's iconic character of Soorma Bhopali still tickle the funny bones of many.
Sholay was a perfect blend of emotions, tragedy, love, action and revenge. Each actor played their part with perfection in the ‘movie of the millennium’. However, Amitabh Bachchan aka Jay’s death in the movie was quite disheartening for the audience. Jay getting killed by Gabbar left many emotional. Even fans might have thought at least once ‘Why it was Jay and not Veeru’?
Well, renowned filmmaker of the current generation, Rohit Shetty, has revealed his perception of the reason behind Jay getting killed in the movie though Amitabh Bachchan had already emerged as a big star by then.
In a recent interview with The Indian Express, Rohit talked about the cult movie and also shared his opinion on Jay’s death.
Rohit was quoted as saying, “Sholay released but it didn’t work for four days. The makers then decided to reshoot it. Somebody said Gabaar’s voice is not right, somebody said you should revive Amit Ji because he became a huge star by the time the film was released.”
Further, he added, “If you see the film again, you will notice that Amit Ji’s character is of a friend. Amit Ji heightened the role with his performance. If we think about that time, the heroine is a widow and Amit Ji didn’t get a song either.”
“Amit Ji also doesn’t have solo scenes, there is just one with the Mausi. Every scene is with Dharmendra Ji. But, Amit Ji’s performance was good and by then Zanjeer and Deewar were released. At that time, the lesser hero used to die and Amit Ji was the lesser hero in the film than Dharam Ji, which is why he died and not Dharam Ji. But, the film kicked off after four days and it went on for 4.5 years,” he said.