Ramesh Sippy directed other meritorious films like Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta and especially Shakti. But it is Sholay he is remembered by to this day.
Remind him of the film’s perennial popularity and Ramesh Sippy laughs, “What to do? Abb kya karen agar Sholay hai to hai (if Sholay is my most well-known work, so be it). Did we expect Sholay to have such long legs? Not at all. When we were making the film, we were all focussing on getting it right. We did feel the power of the characters Salim-Javed had written. That the characters, big or small, would be so much loved, and for so many decades… no, no one can predict success on this level.
Speaking on the best kept secret on Sholay, its director Ramesh Sippy spoke exclusively to Subhash K Jha. “We had shot another ending originally where the Thakur played by Sanjeev Kumar stamps Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) to death with spiked shoes, as he has no hands to murder the villain. The censor board found the ending too gruesome. We had to shoot a more conservative ending.”
Did Sippy feel the alternative ending diluted the impact of the film’s climax? “It most certainly did. After what Gabbar Singh has done to the Thakur and his family, do you think he deserves any mercy?”
The restoration of the original ending would give audiences the director’s complete vision for the first time.
Also Read: Sholay Is Not The Only Landmark Film To Clock 50 Years On August 15
