Revelations on the Making of ‘Sholay’: Sachin Tends to Uncover Directorial Duties

In an intriguing revelation about the classic Bollywood film ‘Sholay‘, actor Sachin Pilgaonkar disclosed that the filmmaker did not direct the entire movie. Speaking on Kunal Vijaykar’s YouTube channel ‘Khane Mein Kya Hai’, Sachin, who played a significant role in the film, revealed that he and Amjad Khan directed some vital portions of the iconic film.

During the interview, Sachin recounted his experiences, stating, “Rameshji decided to have a second unit to execute some action sequences which didn’t feature the main stars. These were just passing shots. For this, he had a director of stunt films, Mohammed Ali bhai. He was a renowned stunt filmmaker, and with him was an action director, Azim bhai. And the latter got two guys from Hollywood, Jim and Jerry.”

Sachin further elaborated, “Ramesh wanted two persons to represent him because these people came from other countries. How would they know about the film and what’s happening? At that time, there were only two bekaar (useless) people in the unit: one was Amjad Khan and the other one was me.” He added, “Rameshji shot those portions involving the main stars, and we handled the remaining scenes.”

‘Sholay’, directed by Ramesh Sippy, featured big names such as Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, whose portrayals of Jai and Veeru became iconic in Hindi cinema. Additionally, the movie starred Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amjad Khan, Jaya Bachchan, Iftekhar, AK Hangal, Jagdeep, Asrani, Mac Mohan, and Viju Khote among others in critical roles.

The film is considered one of the most successful ventures in the career of writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Produced by GP Sippy, ‘Sholay’ was the highest-grossing Indian film at its time of release and remained so until surpassed by ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ in 1994. Moreover, it was the longest-running film in Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir, before being overtaken by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol‘s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’.