Mumbai, Nov 28 – During the International Film Festival of India, the celebrated director Ramesh Sippy opened the floor to a curious crowd, revealing details about how the timeless film Sholay came to life. He began by playfully pointing to the unforgettable anthem, “Yeh dosti hum nahi todenge, todenge dum agar, tera saath na chhodenge,” praising Anand Bakshi’s lyricism and R.D. Burman’s orchestration.
Sippy emphasized that a movie of this magnitude relies on every contributor – from technicians to musicians. “I consider myself the helmsman of the ship,” he said, stressing that no film can succeed without a united crew. “A solid captain matters, just as much as the writers, the crew, the camera operators, and, of course, the music. RD Burman did an outstanding job.”
He recalled the opening frame as a moment that immediately immersed the audience in the world of Sholay and noted that, for the first time in Indian cinema, the stunt team was assembled from the United Kingdom. This international collaboration added an extra layer of scale and execution to the action sequences.
The session, titled “50 years of Sholay: Why Sholay still resonates,” was a rare glimpse into the unseen facets of the classic. In the same discussion, Sippy shared the serendipity that brought film legend Amjad Khan to the role of Gabbar.
“Amjad Khan was a discovery for me,” Sippy recalled. He had seen the actor in a drama about South Africa performed with his sister and remembered his talent, though it had slipped his mind. “When Salim–Javed suggested we check him out, it clicked.” Khan was brought on board only after Danny Denzongpa, the original choice for Gabbar, was unavailable due to filming in Afghanistan with Feroz Khan. Sippy added that the actor’s Uttar‑Pradesh accent fit Gabbar’s character perfectly, without necessitating any alterations for language or tone.
“The gap left by Danny turned into the cast that we all know,” Sippy said, marking the turning point that led to Amjad Khan’s iconic portrayal.
Advocating the triumphant team that filled Sholay, Sippy listed the principal cast—Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Jaya Bachchan and Hema Malini—whose performances made the film unforgettable. Though Sholay premiered in 1975 as a box‑office disappointment, it has since earned a place among the most revered Bollywood films.
Even after half a century on screen, the songs, characters—Jay, Veeru, Basanti, Thakur, and Gabbar—continue to resonate as some of the finest on‑screen personalities in Indian cinema. rd/khz
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