Amitabh Bachchan reveals Dharmendra fired a real gun in Sholay
Bollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Dharmendra and Hema Malini starrer Sholay has been one of the most loved films in Indian cinema. Big B, who is hosting the quiz based reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati 12 currently, went candid about the shoot of the film on the reality show and revealed that Dharmendra fired a real gun on Sholay sets. He also claimed that the bullet missed his ear during the scene. While talking to CRPF DIG Preet Mohan Singh, Big B went down the memory lane and shared interesting stories.
He said, “When we were shooting for that scene, then Dharam ji was down below and I was on top of the hill. Dharam ji opens a chest and picks up the ammunition. He did it once and was unable to pick up the bullets, did it again and failed again. Dharam ji got very irritated. I don’t know what he did, he put the cartridge in the gun and they were real bullets! He was so irritated about not getting the right shot that he fired the gun. I heard a ‘whooosh’ sound as the bullet went past my ear while I was standing on the hill. He had fired a real bullet. Main bach gaya. So yes, there were many such incidents during the film and Sholay was indeed a special film.”
This year in August, Sholay completed 45 years. The film was released on Independence Day 1975. Big B, who played Jai, spoke about how the film, besides creating new records, was about many production firsts.
He told IANS, “I spoke to a theatre owner in south Mumbai after the film released at the box office, and he showed me the popcorn and refreshments counter and said look, it’s empty. At first, that upset me a little because I thought my film wasn’t doing well and that’s why there were no people at these counters. But then, he told me that all the audience was glued to their seats inside the theatre, and they didn’t want to leave the hall. That is how capturing the film was. I couldn’t have been happier!”
On the other hand, director Ramesh Sippy had revealed that Dharmendra, Sanjeev and Amitabh had all wanted to play Gabbar in the movie.
