Dharmendra actually shot Amitabh during the shooting of ‘Sholay’: Director reveals

MUMBAI: Five decades after the release of Indian cinema’s most successful film, ‘Sholay’, the film’s director and producer, Ramesh Sippy, has revealed a moment that occurred during the shooting of the film that could have changed the history of ‘Sholay’.

The film ‘Sholay’, released in 1975, is one of the historic films of Indian cinema. The star cast of the film included Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan.

During an interview given to Indian media, Ramesh Sippy revealed that the late legendary actor Dharmendra was accidentally shot, saying, “During the shooting of the film, Dharmendra was only supposed to load the gun in one scene.

According to director Ramesh Sippy, “Dharmendra’s mistake shook everyone on the set. Immediately after the shot was fired, Sholay’s action cinematographer Jim Allen became extremely angry and refused to shoot the film.”

Ramesh Spi said, “Jim Allen said that such behavior from an actor cannot be tolerated on my set.

I don’t want any accident to happen. The situation had become so bad that the shooting of the film had to be stopped that day.” Later, Jim Allen was calmed down and agreed to shoot.

On the other hand, Dharmendra was also made to understand that it was better to immerse himself in the character, but safety measures could not be compromised. Thus, Dharmendra apologized to Jim and Amitji, and the atmosphere on the set cooled down.

The director further said, “We were not getting any information about them and thus panic started spreading on the set. We decided to search for both of them. After hours of searching, they finally returned on their own.

They said that their car had broken down on the way, after which they both took a rickshaw and returned to the hotel.”