Javed Akhtar had written Sholay’s hilarious ‘water-tank’ scene for Dharmendra on a car’s bonnet: ‘Dobara padha bhi nahi…’

Of course, this, when done seriously and taken out of the context of film, can have dark consequences, creating havoc and unnecessary stress and trauma. But within the scope of the film and at the time it was released, this not only seemed harmless but actually was a funny sequence that drew lots of laughs from the audience. The writing is the king here, and Dharmendra’s flawless voice intonation of a drunk man who doesn’t know any better is pitch-perfect.

Dressed in different hues of blue from top to bottom, the actor acted his heart out while holding what appeared to be a glass bottle of lemonade. And when he cursed Hema’s aunt and wished a life sentence upon her involving some serious ‘chakki pisingh’ it’s hard to not let out a chuckle or two. The scene, now regarded as one of the highlights of the movie, had a generous dose of silliness and comedy stuffed into it, making it unforgettable.

In an interview with Entertainment Pakistan some years ago, writer Javed Akhtar, who had written the goofy dialogues of the part, said that he wrote it in haste and never had time to read it twice as he had to catch his flight!

Speaking in a smattering of Hindi and English, Javed said, “They needed one highlight scene for Dharmendra, as his character was getting flat. The scene was written, but not the dialogues. Everyday I would think, ‘today I will write the dialogues’ but it never got done because we would be too busy working, laughing and eating while making the movie every day.”

“Maine subah kagaaz kalam liye, aur main car me airport jaa raha hun aur usme likh raha hun, airport pohochne ke baad bhi scene muqammal nahi hua, aur maine car se utar kar bonnet pe kaagaz rakha aur likhte likhte udhar se awaaz aa rahi, waha bol rahe, ‘aap chaliye, boarding pass dikhaiye, aapki flight miss ho jayegi nahi toh’. Toh wo likh ke, maine apne assistant ko de diya, dobara padha bhi nahi, wo scene car ki bonnet pe complete hua tha (So one morning when I had to catch a flight out of Bangalore, I wrote that quickly. I wrote it on my way to the airport, and I could hear people warning me about missing my flight, but I just had to get the work done, so I put the paper on car’s bonnet and finished it and asked my assistant to take it to set),” the lyricist-screenwriter revealed.

Clearly, Javed Akhar is a cinema legend for good reason.

You can watch Sholay on Amazon Prime Video.