Celebrating 38 Years Of Sholay Magic........!! Congratulations Prabhu.

Sholay relased on 15 August 1975......

Celebrating 38 Years of Super Duper Success. 

 Special Poster of Sholay with Shri Amitabh Bachchan

Hema Malini and Dharmendra ....Behind the Scene

Sholay Special Poster of Shri Jaya Bachchan

                  Shri Amitabh Bachchan, Ramesh Sippy and Dharmendra during Sholay Shooting.

SHOLAY PREMIERE....The Bachchans

While Shooting the Song....

While Shooting ....

Sholay Party Time....StarCast

Shooting ....Ramesh Sippy and Sholay Cast....Behind The Scene

Gems of Sholay.....Picture all together.

Behind the Scene.....Amit Ji and Dharam Paa Ji....Fun Time :)

Shri Amitabh Bachchan , Special Photo from Sholay....!!

 

 Sholay  Ramanagara Gaon Now....!! They have made Hotel there with Sholay Theme

 Sholay and Facts :---

Sholay was released on 15 August 1975 in the Bombay region. It was first 70 mm movie with stereophonic sound...! Sharing some of facts compiled by dear friend Bobby.

Within few days of its release the expensive film was called a flop. Almost every critic and trade magazine said “Sholay” was a great and costly mistake made. India Today, Filmfare, Film Trade Magazine and many more had the same opinion about the movie.

“Sholay” was just about to be removed from cinemas because of low attendance figures, but suddenly after a few days attendance started rising with word-of-mouth and there were long queues seen at the advance booking windows.

Actually it can be said that the film in 70 mm was so Grand in its look & style that it took time for the viewers to grasp it. And then “Sholay” went on to make history forever.

This was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate a silver-jubilee (25-week) in its initial release at over 100 cinemas across India.

There was a rumor that many Black Marketers bought new Flats and Taxis from their earnings due to the grand success of the movie.

Innovative Act By The Music Company

Even when the film was being called a huge success, somehow the music was not selling.

Polydor worked on the reason for this and found that the dialogues of the movie had such a strong impact on the viewer that they were hardly remembering the songs. People could be seen repeating the dialogues of the movie in as well as out of the theaters.

Keeping that in mind, for the first time ever Polydor released different dialogues EPs with different titles. Mainly “Veeru Ki Sagai”, “Soorma Bhopali”, “Hamein Jail Jaana Hai”, “Gabbar Singh” and more which were an instant success. Till date the dialogues of the movie are in regular circulation in the market.

The Deleted Scenes & Songs

Initially a song called “Chand Sa Koi Chehra” was recorded which is a qawwali, but the song was dropped from the movie owing to the length of the movie. One of the singers of the song was the lyricist Anand Bakshi while the others were Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Bhupendra.

A Dhaba Sequence was there featuring Veeru & Jai eating at the Dhaba owned by Maruti (a well known comedian of those years). The scene included Veeru & Jai eating, doing gargles and then spitting over.

Another scene included Jai & Veeru stealing motorcycle from a Parsi Gentlemen. Probably it was to be added before the song “Yeh Dosti”.

Sachin’s death scene also couldn’t make to the final version.

The Two Endings (Climax Versions)

In the original ending, Thakur killed Gabbar. The Indian Censor Board did not agree with the ending, saying that its like ignoring the law and this could adversely influence the young minds. So, a new ending was created that showed the police running in at the last moment, arresting Gabbar, and specifically telling the Thakur that only the law has the right to punish criminals. The original ending was restored in the 204-minute director’s cut. (which can be seen in some versions of DVDs available in the market).

Awards Won

When it was first released, Sholay won only one Filmfare award: Film editor M. S. Shinde won for Best editing. After the censor’s instructed cuts, the film was 18,000 feet and ran for 3 hours and 20 minutes. 

Nevertheless, at the 50th Filmfare Awards, it received the prestigious award as the Best Film of 50 Years. Ramesh Sippy was there to receive the trophy. 

It was declared “Film of the Millennium” by BBC India and internet polls in 1999.

More Amusing Facts

“Gabbar Singh” character was so famous that Britannia Biscuits made a commercial with Amjad Khan eating Biscuits. This was the first time that a villain character was used by a company to publicise its products. The advertisement was an instant hit in children and the sales doubled.

Hooked up by his character of “Soorma Bhopali”, years later Jagdeep himself made a film with the title “Soorma Bhopali” in 1988.

Viju Khote was renamed “Kaalia” forever after this movie.

Till date Asrani has to speak, “Hum Angrezon Ke Zamaane Ke Jailor” in his every TV and Stage Appearance.

Macmohan was so disturbed that his all scenes were deleted from the movie. But he may still wonder how only one scene and few words can be popular all over the world even after so many years. For a long time filmmakers kept using the name “Samba” in their films to gain popularity.

If you love this CLASSIC and still wish it to see it again after so many years then you must read a highly entertaining book by Anupama Chopra, “Sholay and its making” released by Penguin Books.

Music by the Maestro RDB

“Koi Haseena Jab Rooth Jaati Hai” was the first song to be composed.

 Music of the film was sold at a very high price (according to that time) to Polydor. The deal was

 on an Advance Royalty contract for the first time ever.

The song “Mehbooba Mehbooba” was to be recorded in the voice of Asha Bhosle, but then R. D. Burman himself did the vocals.  

Shooting The Classic

The first scene to be shot was the one in which “Amitabh returns the safe keys to Jaya”.

Amitabh Bachchan was almost killed at the end of the movie when a stray bullet from 'Dharmendra' missed him by inches.

It was during the making of Sholay that Amitabh discovered he was going to be a father of his first born, Shweta.

The train robbery sequence took about 20 days to film on the Mumbai-Pune line, near Panvel.

The major outdoor scenes were shot at Ramnagaram near Bangalore, India. There are huge rocks of granite in the town which became the backdrop of Gabbar Singh's den. As a memento to remember, the people of Ramnagaram renamed a part of the town as Sippynagar after the name of the director, Ramesh Sippy.

The filmmakers had to build a road from the Bangalore highway to Ramanagaram for an easy access to the sets. Even to this day, a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where the movie was shot) is a key feature for tourists travelling through Ramanagaram (on the road between Bangalore and Mysore).

Mac Mohan who played “Samba” had to come many times from Bombay again and again to shoot for his part. Sadly only one scene of his was there in the movie, but he was destined to be famous with that scene only.

The film showcased two real life romances. Amitabh married Jaya Bhaduri, who played the widowed daughter-in-law, in 1973, during the filming. And Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980, five years after the release of the film.

TRIVIA ----- 

India's first 70 mm, stereophonic sound film. It premiered at Bombay's Minerva theatre on 15th Aug 1975, but the premier was done with 30 mm print because 70 mm prints were held up in custom deptt. · 40 Prints were released in Bombay territory · Total running time of the movie is 3 hours 20 minutes & length is 20,000 feet. Director exposed 3,00000 feet of raw stock for the movie.

·Polydar Music co. released 30,000 records of Sholay’s music in the market before the 2 months of releasing of the movie. & The initial response was very poor. 

· Sholay was the first movie of which dialogue sound tracks were released in the market & it sold like hot cake in the market & got more popularity than the music of the movie.

· Film’s 70 mm prints were prepared in London (UK)

· It was about to be removed from cinemas due to low attendance figures but attendance started rising and word of mouth made it the biggest hit of Indian cinema so far with some screens playing the film for several years.

· The movie was released in other parts of the country on 11th Oct 1975 when it became successful in Bombay territory.

· Danny Donezgappa who was initially offered the role of Gabbar Singh was busy shooting in Afghanistan for Dharmatma (1975) He could not accept the role and the reluctant second choice was Amjad Khan got it.

· Initially, 'Dharmendra' was keen to play the role of Thakur Baldev Singh. He eventually relented when the director informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would get the heroine. Sanjeev Kumar had just then proposed marriage to Hema Malini Dharmendra was in love with her and quickly went back to the role of Veeru. · The famous overhead tank scene where Veeru threatens Mausi with suicide and Jai attempts at making a proposal of marriage was drawn from a real life incident.

· Director Man Mohan Desai was first approached by the writing duo of 'Salim Javed with the story for this movie. He was busy with Chacha Bhatija (1977) and could not accept the project.

· Actor Amjad Khan was almost dropped from the project because scriptwriter 'Javed Akhtar' found his voice too weak for Gabbar Singh's role.

· After this incident Salim Javed never worked with Amjad Khan in their career.

· Amitabh Bachan was almost killed at the end of the movie when a stray bullet from 'Dharmendra' missed him by inches.

· The train robbery sequence was shot on the Mumbai-Pune line, near Panvel.

· Amjad Khan's calling one of his associates Sambha ("A rre o Sambha', tera kya hoga?") caught the fancy of not just moviegoers, but also producers. So much so that a producer promptly announced a movie titled Sambha.

· This was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate silver jubilee (25 weeks) at over 100 theatres across India.

· The film was shot extensively in Ramnagaram near Bangalore, There are huge rocks of granite in this town, which formed the backdrop of Gabbar Singh's hideout. As a mark of respect, the people of Ramnagaram renamed a hamlet in the town as Sippynagar after the director of the movie, Ramesh Sippy.

· In the original ending, the Thakur killed Gabbar. The Indian Censor Board did not agree with this ending, saying that its vigilante aspect undermined the rule of law and could adversely influence naive young minds. So, a new ending was created that showed the police running in at the last moment, arresting Gabbar, and specifically telling the Thakur that only the law has the right to punish criminals.   · The original ending was restored in the 204-minute director's cut, & some prints with original ending are available in the market. · Sholay was refused Censor certificate on 20th July 1975 & film was scheduled to release on 15th Aug 1975, so the director re- shot the climax of the movie & released it within a span of 26 days. · Real Bullets were used for the close up action scenes.   · First scene shot for the movie was Amitabh returning the keys to the safe to Jaya.   · There are two sets of negatives, one in 70mm and one in 35mm as every shot/scene was done twice.   · Basanti's chase sequence was shot over 12 days · Jim Allen, Gerry Cramton, Romo Comoro, John Gant...some of the foreign technicians who worked on the action sequences.   · The opening train sequence took 7 weeks to shoot. · The last scene shot for Sholay was the Thakur meets Veeru and Jai outside the jail and offers them the job.   · Sholay took nearly Two and half years to complete (450 shifts)   · Amjad's voice was nearly dubbed, as there were whispers it not being strong enough for a villain.  · The background music took a whole month to complete.  · Sholay's Budget was close to 3 crores.  · Jaya was pregnant during the shooting of the film with Shweta Bachchan. · Jaya was glowing again during the premiere of Sholay...this time with Abhishek Bachchan.   · Saachin was a veteran film actor with 60 films behind him from 1962.... but A.K Hangal was a newcomer to films.   · Amjad's first scene shot was his introduction scene.....his first lines "Kitne Aadmi The"? *& He gave 40 retakes to complete the final cut.   · Sholay had a Qawalli title 'Chaar Bhaand' Qawalli. (8 mins) which was chopped at editing table. · Playbacksingers of Qawalli were Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Bhupinder and Anand Bakshi, with chorus. Chaand sa koi chehra na pehloo main ho To chandni ka mazaa nahin aata Jaam peekar shraabi na gir jaahe to Maikashi ka mazaa nahin aata (There is no joy in moonlight Without the moon-faced one by my side. There is no joy in wine If having drunk I do not stumble and fall)   · Mac Mohan traveled 27 times from Bombay to Bangalore for the shooting of small role of Sambha. · Sholay ran 5 year consecutively in Minerva theatre of Bombay.   · Long opening train sequence was lifted from a Hollywood movie named “stage Coach”.   · Initially veteran singer Mana Dey was suppose to sing famous Mahbooba Mahbooba song but when it was recorded in the voice of Pancham Da the result were so good Mana Dey requested it to keep in the voice of Pancham Da.   · Sholay was inspired from two movies ‘Seven Samurai’ & ‘The Magnificent seven.’   · Thakur Baldev Singh’s (Sanjeev Kr) family massacre scene was lifted from an English movie “ Once upon a time in West”. & It took 23 days to complete the shooting of this scene.   · You will be surprised to know that Sholay so huge hit movie got only one Filmfare award (Best Editing – MS Shinde).   · Amjad Khan (Gabbar Singh) bought his army khaki fatigue from the Chor Bazar of Bombay. · Amitabh Bachan recommended the name of Amjad Khan for the role of Gabbar Singh as he had earlier worked with him in Saat Hindustani.   · The particular lighting of lamp scene of Radha (Jaya Bachan) during sun set was completed in 20 days & it is surprising this scene hardly come for 2 minutes when watch the movie on screen.   · Ye Dosti Hum Nahi Todege.. Song was completed in 20 days shooting. · Amjad Khan death sequence was completed in 17 days.  · Sachin’s (Ahmad) death sequence was shot in 17 days & it was so violent that censor refused to pass it was edited and shown as Amjad Khan crushing an ant (Chinti) as a symbol.  · 6 counterfeit coins with Head both side were always ready at the location for Jai coin throwing sequence in the movie.  · There are only 9 scenes of Gabbar Singh in the movie.   · Sholay’s producer GP Sippy gifted an AC to actor Sachin at the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the movie.   · All other leading stars of the movie were gifted Gold Bracelets at the Diamond Jubilee of the movie & the cameraman of the movie Dwarka Divecha was gifted Fiet car by the producer.  Many Thanks to JIJIBISHA and Bobby.....!! Sholay Rocks.

 Love,

Pawan Pipalwa...!!