15 minutes agoAuthor: Amit Karna
- Copy link
The film Sholay was released today 50 years. The film not only created history at the box office, but also made a mark in the hearts of the audience. On this special occasion, writer Javed Akhtar had a special conversation and shared stories related to the film.
Question: It would be an exaggeration to call ‘Sholay’ the identity of Indian cinema?
answer: See, it would probably be an exaggeration to say that ‘Sholay’ is the only identity of Indian cinema. But it can definitely be said that he is one of the few memorable films who are still remembered with great respect and affection.
Such as Pyaasa, which came in 1957, Mughal-e-Azam of 1960, and then in 1975, Sholay as well as Wall, which earned a lot of name. But Sholay has a different magic of its own, there is no doubt.
Question: How did ‘Sholay’ title come? Was this first and only title?
answer: No, ‘Sholay’ title was not selected unanimously. Many people felt that this is not of an action film, but the name of a romantic film. Apart from this, a very old film came under the name ‘Sholay’ which did not run. His spelling was Shole. Then we kept the spelling sholay of our film, so that it looks different and impressive.
Question: How did the idea of writing it come? Was it already planned to make it a big multi-starrer film?
answer: When we started writing ‘Sholay’, we had no idea that it would become such a big cast film. Our story was just focused on one Thakur and two boys. But as we started expanding the story, the rest of the characters also started coming out on their own. In the life of Jai and Veeru, Basanti and Radha, as well as characters like Jailor, Surma Bhopali and Mausi also became part of the story. In this way, the script gradually became bigger, which our producers GP Sippy and Ramesh Sippy made on such a big scale that no one could imagine in that era.
Question: Can Sholay be said to be inspired by films like ‘Seven Samurai’ or ‘Magnificent Seven’?
answer: It is true that at that time there were many western films in which some people were hired to solve the problem of a village. Some five people were there, somewhere there were seven. We kept two people in our film. So it would not be wrong to say that Western films of that time had some effect. But despite this, the entire script of ‘Sholay’ is of ‘Sholay’, not of any English film. You will not find any English film that has this story of Basanti, Radha, Thakur, Gabbar and Jai-Viru. We can say that the films of that time had an influence, but ‘Sholay’ is a unique and fundamental creation in itself.
Question: How were the names of the characters? Was there any special story behind them?
answer: The author usually decides the names of the characters, so we also named Sholay’s characters. Once a character is fabricated, the honesty of the author is that he is loyal to that character.
Question: What was the most interesting or challenging part during writing?
answer: The most interesting and fun part was to write the character of Gabbar. His style of speaking, his language and his words were so unique that while writing every scene I used to think what he would say now.
Question: Can you tell a little more about the birth of Gabbar’s character how he made?
answer: We mixed two things and made the role of Gabbar. First thing, Hollywood films of that time had Mexican cowboy bandits, whose style of speaking was strange and different. We took his style. Second thing, we kept his language a little period, so that his language and vocabulary are different from the rest of the characters.
Question: The scene in which Thakur’s family is killed and the shroud is removed from his face one by one?
answer: The credit for filming that scene goes to director Ramesh Sippy. He shot that scene in 21 days. He had decided that he would shoot this scene only when the sky is cloudy and there is a light gray light. In this way, that scene was shot in pieces for correct light.
Question: Was ‘Sholay’ two endings shot?
answer: Yes, we shot two endings. In the emergency of Emergency, the censor board said that a retired police officer, how can he kill Gabbar by taking the law in his hand? So we had to shoot the climax again, in which the police comes and takes Gabbar and takes Gabbar. I was very disappointed with that ending, but now it is happy to hear that the film will be shown again with original ending.
Question: Tell us about the casting of Amitabh Bachchan Sahab. Was this roll offered to someone else earlier?
answer: When Amitabh Bachchan was cast, his ‘Zanjeer’ was also not released. His situation was not so strong, but we liked his talent very much. We felt that no one else could do this role better than them. Many big actors were eager for this role, but we are very happy that Amitabh Bachchan was finally chosen, because the kind of work he did is incomparable.
Question: Did you think that Jaya ji’s widow character and again marry was ahead for that era, and people would adopt it?
answer: See, this character was completely different from the rest of the characters. On one side was bubbly Basanti, on the other side Radha had a calm and widow’s character. It was not that this thing was completely new. Earlier, a widow marriage was also shown in BR Chopra Saheb’s film ‘One Rasta’ and that film was also very successful. We deliberately kept this character so that the story would have a kind of contrast and the effect of the story is deeper.
Question: How much did it cost to make ‘Sholay’?
answer: I do not remember the correct cost of the film, but at that time it was a very high budget film. Many people GP Sippy Saheb, who used to tell its producer that they have gone mad, how will they withdraw the cost of the film by putting so much money? But his vision was very big.
Question: Was the screenplay of ‘Sholay’ written in 15 days?
answer: No, it took a lot of hard work to write ‘Sholay’. There was a lot of work on both screenplays and dialogues. When the film was released, the film industry assumed that it would be a flop, but we had full faith in our film.
Question: When ‘Sholay’ was released, did the industry trust it?
answer: No, when ‘Sholay’ was released, the film industry considered it a flop, but we were sure about our film. Our confidence was so much that we had given the entire page advertisements in newspapers with Salim Khan, in which we claimed that the film would definitely run.
Question: What was thought about making a sequel or franchise of ‘Sholay’ at that time?
answer: At that time there was no trend of sequel or franchise. Anyway, Jai had died, so how would the sequel be made? What happened in the story was very important.
Question: Was any other actor cast for the role of Amjad Khan’s Gabbar in the film?
answer: Yes, Danny Denzongpa was cast for that role earlier. His costumes were tried. But the problem of his dates came. He had committed Feroz Khan’s film. He had to go to Afghanistan. Then I suggested Amjad Khan’s name to Salim Khan. Actually, I saw Amjad Khan at a Youth Festival in 1963, 10 years before becoming Sholay. Then we called him, introduced Ramesh Sippy and everything else is history.