ഇന്ത്യൻ സിനിമ ചരിത്രത്തിൽ പ്രദർശന വിജയം കൊണ്ട് ചരിത്രം സൃഷ്ടിച്ച ഒരു ചലച്ചിത്രമാണ് ഷോലെ . സംവിധായകൻ : രമേശ് സിപ്പി. 1975 ഓഗസ്റ്റ് 15നാണ് ചിത്രം ആദ്യമായി പ്രദർശിപ്പിച്ചത്. തുടർച്ചയായി 286 ആഴ്ചകൾ ഈ ചിത്രം മുംബെയിലെ 'മിനർവ' തിയേറ്ററിൽ പ്രദർശിപ്പിച്ചു.
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.
· 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.
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.
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.
First scene shot for the movie was Amitabh returning the keys to the safe to Jaya.
The last scene shot for Sholay was the Thakur meets Veeru and Jai outside the jail and offers them the job.
The song “Yeh Dosti” took 21 days to shoot. It took 40 retakes before the scene featuring the line “kitne aadmi they” was finalised.
Dharmendra wanted to play the role of Thakur, initially, but settled on playing Veeru when he found out that he was to be paired with Hema Malini.
Amitabh Bachchan married Jaya Bhaduri four months before shooting for ‘Sholay’ started. There were shooting delays because Jaya was pregnant with Shweta.
The town called Ramanagara, about 45 kms from Bangalore, is still referred to as Ramgarh because Sholay was shot there.
There was actually a dacoit named Gabbar Singh in the 1950’s in Gwalior region; he used to cut off the noses and ears of policemen.
During the shooting of the film, Dharmendra would pay the light boys to spoil his scenes with Hema Malini so retakes would be required.
Some of the characters of ‘Sholay’ were sketched on the friends and acquaintances of writer duo Salim-Javed.
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.
In 1999, BBC India called ‘Sholay’ the Film of the Millennium. It also topped the all-time poll of the best Indian films conducted by the British Film Institute. Though the film won only one Filmfare award — for best editing.
