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‘Ramesh Sippy exceeded Sholay budget by three times, panicked when film flopped’, recalls Sachin Pilgaonkar

Sachin Pilgaonkar revealed how an unedited print changed the fate of Sholay, transforming it from a big-budget dud to an overnight sensation.

When people manipulated Ramesh Sippy to remove Asrani and Jagdeep's scenes from Sholay. (Photo: IMDb)

Sholay is often regarded as the most influential Indian film of all time. However, it didn’t seem so at the time of its release, when it flopped in all but one Mumbai theatre. The 1975 film, made on a budget of Rs 3 crore, was one of the most expensive Indian productions of its time. The film’s early reception, however, worried its director Ramesh Sippy, until he made a life-changing decision at the last minute, and executed it overnight. His decision turned the film into a sensational hit.

In an interview with Radio Nasha, Sachin Pilgaonkar, who played the role of Ahmed in the film, recalled the tension around the time of its release, “Minerva was the first theatre where Sholay was declared a hit. The film wasn’t working elsewhere.” Revealing the reason behind why it didn’t work elsewhere, the actor shared, “The reason behind this was that people were talking and giving feedback, and a few of them claimed that the lighter moments in the film featuring Mr Jagdeep and Mr Asrani were affecting the film’s story. It was an action film and not comedy, and so, what Sippy did is that after mixing the movie, he removed these two tracks from the film–no Surma Bhopali and no Angrezo ke zamane ke jailer. However, the print that was sent to Minerva had these scenes intact. So, this film didn’t work anywhere, but was a super-hit in Minerva.”

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Sharing Ramesh Sippy’s reaction at that time, Sachin shared, “Ramesh Sippy had got sanctioned Rs 1 crore from his father to make this film. By the end of it, the budget crossed Rs 3 crore, which was a huge amount at that time. It was very natural for Ramesh Sippy to feel shaken and panic-stricken. He was terrified with the thought: Ab kya hoga?”.

He added, “Later, when they analysed it, Ramesh Sippy noted that it’s the original edit that’s working in Minerva, the one that had all the scenes intact. After realising this, Ramesh ji had those removed portions printed and added in all theatres overnight, and a day after these portions were added, the film worked in every theatre.” Sachin noted that Ramesh Sippy would take everybody’s feedback, but would only do what he pleased.

During KBC in 2021, Amitabh Bachchan celebrated the 46th year of the film and recalled how the team dealt with the poor reception of the film upon its release. He said, “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-shoot some sequences quickly on Saturday, they would be edited on Sunday and by Monday, revised ending of Sholay cold be sent to theatres.”

Both Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya had left their homes for the shoot, when Ramesh Sippy changed his plan. Big B shared, “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.”

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