Ramesh
Sippy's
1975
film
Sholay
featuring
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Dharmendra,
Hema
Malini,
Jaya
Bachchan,
Sanjeev
Kumar
and
Amjad
Khan
is
touted
to
be
one
of
the
most
iconic
films
in
the
history
of
Bollywood.
But
do
you
folks
know
that
this
popular
movie
was
was
actually
declared
a
flop
on
its
first
day
of
release?
Yes,
you
heard
that
right!
Recently
when
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Hema
Malini
and
Ramesh
Sippy
reunited
on
the
sets
of
the
TV
game
show
Kaun
Banega
Crorepati,
Big
B
narrated
an
interesting
anecdote
related
to
Sholay.
The
superstar
revealed
that
the
team
of
Sholay
was
disappointed
with
the
initial
response
to
their
film
and
had
gathered
at
his
house.
After
pondering
over
what
went
wrong
with
the
movie,
they
decided
to
reshoot
some
scenes
which
included
reviving
Amitabh's
character
Jai
in
the
climax
and
giving
him
a
happy
ending
with
Jaya
Bachchan's
character
Radha.
Amitabh
recalled,
"Salim
Khan,
Javed
Akhtar
(writers
of
Sholay
as
Salim-Javed)
and
Ramesh
Sippy
came
over
to
my
house.
We
were
all
disappointed
and
we
decided
that
we
will
figure
out
what
went
wrong
with
the
film.
Salim
and
Javed
saab
said
they
thought
that
the
writing
missed
a
cue
with
Jaya
Bachchan's
track.
They
thought
that
the
times
were
changing
and
widow
remarriage
was
a
trend
that
was
catching
on
with
the
general
public."
He
further
added,
"It
was
decided
unanimously
that
we
would
reshoot
some
scenes.
My
character
would
be
revived
and
there
would
be
a
happy
ending
for
Jaya's
character.
The
production
team
and
the
distribution
team
decided
that
we
would
re-shot
some
sequences
quickly
on
Saturday,
they
would
be
edited
on
Sunday
by
Monday,
a
revised
ending
of
Sholay
could
be
sent
to
theatres."
In
fact,
Amitabh
and
Jaya
had
even
left
their
home
to
reach
the
location
to
reshoot
their
scenes,
but
Ramesh
Sippy
had
a
last
minute
intuition
and
asked
everyone
to
wait
till
Monday.
"Ramesh
ji
stopped
us
and
he
instinctively
said,
'Let's
wait
till
Monday
and
see
what
happens.
I
feel
something
will
click'.
And
look
what
happened
on
the
Monday.
History
got
made
after
that
Monday,"
Big
B
got
nostalgic
while
walking
down
the
memory
lane.
Ramesh
Sippy's
prediction
turned
true
and
Sholay
went
on
to
smash
all
records
at
the
box
office.
The
cult
classic
remains
one
of
the
highest
grossing
Indian
films
of
all
times,
adjusted
for
inflation.
The
film
revolves
around
two
ex-convicts
Jai
(Amitabh
Bachchan)
and
Veeru
(Dharmendra)
who
are
hired
by
a
retired
cop
Thakur
Baldev
Singh
(Sanjeev
Kapoor)
to
help
him
nab
a
notorious
dacoit
Gabbar
Singh
(Amjad
Khan).