41 years of Sholay, Interesting Facts

On its 41st anniversary, we bring you trivia associated with one of the most successful films ever made, Sholay

1) Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri had recently gotten married prior to the start of the film's shooting. In fact, Jaya Bachchan was pregnant with Shewta when the film got started and was pregnant with Abhishek when the film got released.

2) Amjad Khan’s Gabbar Singh character became so famous that Britannia Biscuits made a commercial with Gabbar eating their products. It must have been the first time that a villain was used as a brand ambassador.

3) Ironically, Danny Denzongpa was said to be the first choice to play Gabbar Singh.  However, since he was away on the shoot of Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma, Ramesh Sippy 'reluctantly' cast Amjad and the rest, as they say, is history.

4) Amjad Khan really wanted to prove himself and to prepare for the role, he read up on dacois. One of the books he referred to was Abhishapta Chambal, written by Jaya Bachchan's father, noted writer and journalist Taroon Kumar Bhaduri.

5) Ramesh Sippy reportedly was sceptical about casting Amitabh Bachchan as Jai but a trial run of Zanjeer convinced him of Bachchan's potential.

6) Dharmendra, who plays Veeru, wanted to play the Thakur's role, essayed by Sanjeev Kumar. Sippy allegedly convinced him saying in that case Sanjeev will play Veeru and get Basanti in the end. Dharmendra, who was in love with Hema Malini, wasn't going to allow that to happen and changed his mind.

7) Soorma Bhopali's character, played by Jagdeep, wasn't said to be part of the original script. It was added later as writers Salim-Javed, after watching the rushes, felt the film needed another comic punch. A qawalli was also shot on Jagdeep but was taken out as it was bloating up the runtime of the film.

8) The famous scene where Jai 'convinces' Mausi that Veeru was the right groom for Basanti was reportedly taken from the writers' own life. Javed had send Salim to build him up in the eyes of Honey Irani's parents but instead of that, he mischievously built a rakish picture of his friend and colleague.

9) The dialogue of the film got so famous that a special casette came out, which was filled with dialogue and memorable scenes of the film. It too got sold out.

10) It's said that when Sholay was shown on TV for the first time on the occasion of its 21st anniversary, parts of the country looked deserted during its run time.