45 Years Of Sholay: Jai-Veeru As Army Officers, Amjad Khan Replaces Danny Denzongpa - Five Things That Were Planned But Never Happened

It's August 15 today, a day we celebrate as our Independence with great pride. Thanks to our ancestors, we got to see this day and live freely. For Bollywood too, this day is really important as movies with nationalism in their narrative reach the audience. And then in 1975 came a movie that remodeled the entire Hindi film industry. Yes, we are talking about the epic called Sholay which released this day that year. A movie which was made at a budget of Rs 3 crore, earned Rs 15 crore in its initial run, apparently. But we all know Sholay was dubbed a flop as its first two weeks saw dismal turnout at the theatres and then suddenly, word of mouth picked up. Rest is history as they say. FIR Lodged Against AAP over ‘Sholay’ Spoof Video

But Sholay underwent many alterations to reach the audience. A few we are aware of while there were some that we got to know over the years. So as the film completes 45 years today, let us tell you some changes you did not see on screen.

Jai, Veeru and Thakur as Army Officers

As per Ramesh Sippy, the director of the magnum opus, all three central characters were supposed to have Army backgrounds. "The basic idea was about two young guys (Jai and Veeru) on the run, their love for adventure and how they get involved in this emotional story of Thakur. The colour and characters came into existence later but the basic storyline was in place. Except that the two guys (Jai and Veeru) were from the Army and Sanjeev Kumar’s role of Thakur was of an Army officer, who was changed to a cop," he told PTI. It is said that the change was made because Sippy felt they would need permissions for scenes involving the Indian Army.

Emergency struck the happy ending

Amitabh Bachchan dying at the end didn't just leave Veeru in tears. We were devastated too. We wailed to see him gone because Jai-Veeru was never supposed to separate. Had Censor Board not intervened, we would have had a happy ending. The director had recalled in an interview, "I had shot a different ending for Sholay, where Gabbar is killed by Thakur. But the Censor Board, didn't allow that. They were not happy about Thakur killing Gabbar with his feet. I was also caught in a sticky situation... how else would Thakur kill him? He couldn't have used a gun since he had no arms. They were also unhappy about too much violence... they said 'you have to change the end'. I wasn't happy, but I did that", he revealed. An Indian Express report further detailed that it was done since Sholay had released during the Emergency in India. The board felt a vigilante ex-cop during these times would send a wrong message to the audience. So they insisted on an end where Gabbar is captured by the Police. Here's the alternate ending.

Danny Denzongpa First, Amjad Khan a reluctant second

Amjad Khan who debuted with Sholay had almost lost the role because Danny Denzongpa was on everyone's mind. In fact, Gabbar was the most sought after role in the film with everyone from Sanjeev Kumar to Dharmendra to Amitabh Bachchan vying for it. Danny however had to quit it and the makers gingerly appointed Khan. In an interview to FirstPost, Danny had said, "Looks like this question is never going to leave me. If I had done that film then that wonderful actor called Amjad wouldn’t have been there. It benefited me and all of us because Amjad became such a huge star after Sholay, that the character actors and villains' price went up by six times," the actor had reminisced. He couldn't accommodate Sholay because he was booked for Feroz Khan's Dharmatma.

Here's the altered cast

Dharmendra's Love For Hema Malini

Dharmendra was apparently quite insistent on Thakur's role as well. Sippy narrated how he convinced the actor to go for Veeru with Hema Malini's help. "I wouldn't go into their private lives. Dharam ji was fascinated by the villain's role but then he said maybe (he would like to play) Thakur as the whole story is of Thakur but then I told him he won't get Hema Malini. He laughed and said ok (to play Veeru)", he told PTI. Dharmendra Trolls Wife Hema Malini’s Sweeping Act but Apologises to Her Later on Twitter

Soorma Bhoopali ki qawwali goes missing

Soorma Bhoopali's inclusion in the film was an afterthought. The legendary actor Jagdeep, whom we lost very recently, had shot his sequences after the film was already complete. He had even shot a qawwali for the film but it was edited out as the film was overstretching its runtime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2020 03:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).