Asrani reveals Salim-Javed asked him to audition for Sholay’s role, says the character’s body language was inspired by Hitler

“Salim-Javed must have seen me somewhere and they told Ramesh Sippy that ‘he would fit in jailer’s role’ and when they called me to the office, Salim-Javed both were there and director Ramesh Sippy was there. Javed Akhtar narrated the dialogue ‘Hum angrezo ke zamaane ke jailer hai’ and I was surprised listening to it, if I will be able to talk about it or not. So he said that it’s a matter of 3-4 days and for this, we will take your test,” Asrani recalled.

The 82-year-old actor added, “I had done so many films and no one had ever asked me to take a test. So, I asked ‘what kind of test will it be?’. They said, ‘how will he (jailer) talk, dress up and what kind of behaviour he will have’. So, I thought to myself that this is too much of a task. Later they called a wig maker and got a wig like (Adolf) Hitler made and showed me a book from World War 2 where there were 10-12 poses of Hitler and said that ‘we want this’.”

The actor further explained how he got into the skin of the character and showed the writers and director how he imagined his character will be like. “I wore those clothes and walked and showed it to them…I tell this to everyone that Hitler used to provoke the entire nation with his lectures. Whenever he would come to give public speeches, he would provoke youngsters so much that youngsters were ready to give their lives. So all acting institutes in US, Poland, Germany have his recorded voice to hear. Our teacher was also from New York and he had heard his voice and he suggested it,” said Asrani.

The iconic film starred Amitabh Bachchan, Dhamendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan. The film is considered iconic for its dialogues and story, and Asrani’s character is one of the most memorable parts of the film.