How Amjad Khan almost lost the role of Gabbar

Javed Akhtar describes Gabbar Singh as "one of the few (characters) I enjoyed writing... I remember very clearly that while writing Sholay, I would get very excited and relish the prospect that once I completed two scenes, the next would have Gabbar in it". Writing Gabbar was so much fun because they developed an entirely new vocabulary for this iconic villain that made the character even more menacing.

Not surprisingly, both Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan wanted to play Gabbar. The role had such an aura that two of the leading men of the times were willing to give up their "heroic" image to play the villain, something unprecedented in the convention-bound Hindi film industry. It is said that Sanjeev Kumar offered to do all kinds of things - like shave off his hair, blacken his teeth and develop some mannerisms - to bring an interesting dimension to the character.

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The process of finding the actor who would do justice to this edgy character was trickier. It is a well-known fact that Danny Denzongpa - originally signed to play Gabbar - dropped out because of an earlier commitment made to Feroz Khan's Dharmatma.

The Right Actor

Fortunately, Javed Akhtar remembered seeing an actor called Amjad Khan in a play called "Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon", performed at a youth festival in Delhi way back in 1963. Amjad's performance as an army officer had made such an impact that he had mentioned it to Salim several times during their partnership. Salim, in turn, had worked in a few films with Amjad's father, Jayant, and knew of the young actor too. In a coincidence of epic proportions, Salim bumped into Amjad at Bandra Bandstand one day. He immediately offered to take him to Ramesh Sippy, saying that the finest role in the biggest film in recent times could be his.

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Salim's suggestion was endorsed by Satyen Kappu (who had worked with Amjad in theatre) and Amjad was taken on. The connect was so strong that, several years later, Ramesh Sippy admitted, "The writers brought him and the moment he entered the room, I knew we had our man".

Thus after Amitabh Bachchan as Jai, Amjad Khan as Gabbar was the second major casting decision that was made on the basis of Salim-Javed's recommendation. Ironically, Salim-Javed never worked with Amjad Khan again because of a major misunderstanding during the filming.

Amjad Khan's unconventional voice was seen by many as a major dampener, and with so much riding on the character of Gabbar, there was a lot of negative buzz around the casting. It is a testimony to Salim-Javed's ownership of the project that they told Ramesh Sippy to replace Amjad, since they didn't want their recommendation to spoil the chances of the film. When Amjad found out about this, he was extremely upset. He never forgave the writers for what he considered a severe blow to his nascent career.

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As writers, Salim-Javed need not have concerned themselves with a potential error in casting. After all, it was the director who always took the final call on the cast. But just as they never shied away from taking credit where it was due, neither did they back away from their responsibility of making a film successful.

Although Ramesh Sippy was clearly the captain of the ship, he was greatly aided by Salim-Javed's vision of the film and their involvement in the process of filming.

(Reprinted with the publisher’s permission.)