‘Don’t cast flop Amitabh Bachchan’: Ramesh Sippy was warned against taking Big B in Sholay, here’s why he decided to ‘bet on a newcomer’

“There was something about him that he felt right. There were a couple of good films in those that didn’t work. In Anand (1971), Rajesh Khanna’s role was far more expressive, and he (Bachchan) was the quiet man. But I don’t think it would’ve worked if either of them hadn’t worked. It’s because he worked as the silent man that the other character got to take off,” argued Sippy, in the interview with Zoom.

Sippy lauded Bachchan’s versatility and pointed out “he did right whatever he was asked to do,” as per the requirement of the film. “There was another film in that period, Bombay To Goa (1972), in which he sang a song inside a bus which was so brilliant! Being such a huge guy, you could still see how his body movement was so free. He was so overpowering you might not remember the song, but you remember him because the way he moved around, there was no awkwardness. There should’ve been because he could feel it. But he had to blend himself, look right, and have the rhythm while singing away,” recalled Sippy.

As shown in the Prime Video India docuseries Angry Young Men last year, Javed Akhtar had also spotted Bachchan after an impressive comic action sequence in Bombay to Goa. “So when I saw these two contrasting characters and films, I felt here’s a person who has the potential. Now, I already had so many accomplished stars, like Dharmendra ji (as Jai), Sanjeev Kumar (as Thakur), Hema Malini (as Basanti), and Jaya Bhaduri (as Radha). So let me take a chance with one, and it paid off,” added Sippy.

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By the time Sholay released, Bachchan had also become a commercially successful star having delivered hits like Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer (1973) and Yash Chopra’s Deewaar (1975), both written by Salim-Javed. They reintroduced him as the Angry Young Man, although his part in Sholay was a slight departure.