Lesser known facts about the legendary movie ‘Sholay’

16

The 1975 epic, Sholay is one film which was and will always remain Bollywood’s most popular and most loved film. Directed by Ramesh Sippy and written by Salim-Javed, nobody watched Sholay when it was released and it was only later that the film gained such an immense fan following.

15

Sholay was ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time. In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years.

14

After 40 years, Ramesh Sippy's 1975 cult classic, Sholay, opened in Pakistan on April 17'2015 in 2D and 3D. Released by Geo films and Mandviwalla Entertainment jointly,its premiere was held in Karachi.

13

Amjad Khan apparently was so nervous while giving this specific shot that he took 40 retakes for it, however he did an excellent job and craeted a masterpiece and till date the scene is an epic one! well the shot was for 'Kitne Aadmi The?'scene.

12

The legendary song ‘Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge’ starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra from 'Sholay' took 21 days to shoot.

11

At first Danny Denzongpa was offered the role of Gabbar Singh, but because he was busy schedule he turned down the offer. So, the role was bagged by Amjad Khan.

10

Ramesh Sippy first offered the role of Thakur Baldev Singh to the veteran actor Pran but due to his busy schedule he turned down the offer, which worked out in favor of Sanjeev Kumar who did complete justice to his role.

9

When Dharmendra read the movie script he was very keen on playing the role of Thakur Baldev Singh but gladly accepted the role of Veeru as to the character would have a love interest to Hema Malini's character.

8

Amitabh Bachchan wanted to play the role of Gabbar when he first read the script of Sholay, but the director Ramesh Sippy casted him as Jai.

7

Sholay was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, in the southern state of Karnataka, over a span of two and a half years.

6

The entire budget of 'Sholay' was Rs.3 crores.

5

Sholay was first released on August 15, 1975, with a different climax. However, the film got an average response which prompted the film makers to re-think the climax and go with the idea of killing Amitabh Bachchan’s character of Jai. The idea just clicked and Sholay went on to break several records.

4

Sholay won only one Filmfare award for best editing, by M.S Shinde.

3

Jaya Bachchan, who played the role of the Thakur’s widowed daughter-in-law was pregnant with daughter Shweta during the shooting of Sholay and pregnant with son Abhishek during the premier when the film released.

2

The train robbery sequence in the movie was shot on the Mumbai-Pune track near Panvel and reportedly was inspired by the 1939 Hollywood movie, Stagecoach.

1

Shatrughan Sinha was the first person to be offered the role of Jai, however later on Amitabh Bachchan figured out how to have his way and was selected the epic role.