When Amjad Khan Almost Lost The Role Of Gabbar Singh In Sholay
Fans can't imagine anyone else other than Amjad Khan playing Gabbar Singh, but the actor almost lost the role even before shooting began
Features
oi-Sanyukta Thakare
By Pti
Ramesh
Sippy's
Sholay
has
been
one
of
the
beloved
movies
of
all
times
in
Indian
cinema,
and
Gabbar
Singh,
the
villain
is
more
iconic
than
the
film.
The
leading
men
of
the
time
like
Sanjeev
Kapoor
and
Amitabh
Bachhan
were
willing
to
give
up
their
"hero" persona
to
play
a
villain.
But
now,
fans
can't
imagine
anyone
else
other
than
Amjad
Khan
playing
the
role.
Amjad
Khan
immortalised
the
role
of
Gabbar
Singh
but
had
almost
lost
the
film
before
they
even
began
shooting.
According
to
a
report
in
India
Today,
the
role
was
offered
to
Amjad
by
the
film's
writers,
Javed
Akhtar
and
Salim
Khan,
when
Danny
Denzongpa
was
the
one
originally
signed.
Due
to
schedule
issues
and
prior
commitments,it
was
hard
for
him
to
continue
working
on
Sholay.
Javed
Akhtar
remembered
seeing
Amjad
Khan
in
Ae
Mere
Watan
Ke
Logon
and
was
impressed
enough
to
mention
him
to
his
writing
partner,
Salim
Khan.
They
offered
to
take
him
to
Ramesh
Sippy,
claiming
that
Gabbar
is
the
finest
role
in
the
biggest
film
at
the
time.
And
later
on,
during
an
interview,
Ramesh
Sippy
revealed
that
he
wanted
to
cast
Amjad
after
that
first
meeting.
"The
writers
brought
him
and
the
moment
he
entered
the
room,
I
knew
we
had
our
man".
However,
Amjad
Khan's
unconventional
voice
was
seen
by
many
as
a
major
dampener
for
the
film,
leading
the
writers
asking
Ramesh
Sippy
to
reconsider
Amjad
for
the
role.
Gabbar
was
one
of
the
most
important
and
well-written
character,
and
writing
duo
Salim-Javed
didn't
want
to
spoil
the
film.
But
director
Sippy
chose
to
stick
with
Amjad
for
Gabbar
Singh
and
it
turned
out
to
be
the
right
decision.
While
Sholay,
at
first,
was
considered
to
be
a
flop,
by
the
end
of
its
tenth
week
in
the
theatres,
the
film
was
declared
a
superhit,
thanks
to
people
lining
up
outside
the
theatres
to
see
Jay,
Veeru
and
Gabbar
Singh.