Farhan Akhtar Says Sholay's Original Ending Had Thakur Kill Gabbar – But Censors Cut It
Farhan Akhtar says the original Sholay ending had Thakur kill Gabbar, but the scene was removed by censors during the Emergency.
As Sholay approaches its 50-year anniversary this August 15, Farhan Akhtar is sharing some rarely heard stories about one of Bollywood's biggest cinematic moments — including a completely different ending that never made it to the big screen. Speaking on Prakhar Gupta's podcast while promoting his new film 120 Bahadur, Farhan recalled just how powerful the original version of the Sholay climax was — and why it had to be changed.
'The emotional core of the film was very strong, the entire narrative of Thakur plotting his revenge after his hands were cut. We get lost in the Jai Veeru conversation, but the spine of the film was the honest police officer who goes after a dacoit after he kills his family. He hires these two good-for-nothing people, and in the original ending he actually kills Gabbar. They had to change it due to the Emergency, and the original ending is now available. That is actually when he cries, after crushing Gabbar with his own feet."
Farhan said his father Javed Akhtar, who co-wrote Sholay with Salim Khan, was unhappy with the forced changes at the time.
'When Dad and Salim Sahab had to change the ending, they were wondering about everyone showing up, including the villagers, the police, and the protagonists. They joked that the only person missing now is a postman. The ending and the police showing up didn't make sense to them, but they had to change it; they had no choice."
Even the side characters stood out, he said, speaking of the iconic film. 'The film just leaves a huge impact on you. The way it was mounted and all the characters were fun. It wasn't as if it was just Jai and Veeru who were exciting. The jailer, Surma Bhopali, Gabbar, and Basanti were all great characters. It was a massive hit."
With the film turning 50 this Independence Day, these behind-the-scenes stories are a reminder of how bold and boundary-pushing Sholay really was — even if not all of it made it to the final cut.
First Published:
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Anupam Kher breaks silence on Saiyaara dominating Tanvi The Great at box office: 'Agar paisa hi sab kuch hota...'
Comparisons and competition are unavoidable when two movies are released at roughly the same time. That's precisely what happened when Mohit Suri 's elegant romantic drama Saiyaara and Anupam Kher 's touching drama Tanvi The Great opened in theaters on the same day. Tanvi The Great failed to achieve the same level of commercial success as the latter, which dominated the box office with over Rs 500 crore and captured the hearts of the public with its music and youthful star cast. However, it isn't keeping Anupam Kher up at night. He believes that movies are about feelings rather than profits. When asked if he believes the Saiyaara craze is to blame for his film's poor performance, the veteran actor responded, "I don't believe that's true," in an interview with News18. 'A few years down the line, when someone will ask you what are your five favorite films are, you won't name the ones based on which of these movies made a business worth crores." The actor continued, "You'll name the ones which touched your hearts." 'Maybe Tanvi the Great didn't mint much money, but it is still priceless. I recently met a lady outside the theater who hugged me tightly and started crying, saying this was the best film she has ever watched," Kher added. Kher's remarks provided a much-needed break in a society that is fixated on numbers. 'You don't value everything based only on money. Agar paisa hi sab kuch hota, to phir log hamesha five-star hotel me hi khate na, dhaba koi kyu jata?" He revealed that he firmly supports his film in spite of the poor collections. 'My film is outstanding commercially," he stated. Tanvi The Great is subtly capturing hearts, while Saiyaara continues to rule the screen thanks to its box office power and Gen-Z appeal. Anupam Kher is the film's producer and director. He co-stars with Iain Glen. On July 18, 2025, Tanvi the Great was released in theaters.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Saiyaara Actor Varun Badola Takes Dig At Film's PR Team: 'They Went Overboard With IV Drips'
Saiyaara star Varun Badola reacts to viral theatre frenzy, saying PR team went overboard with IV drip stunts and bangles-breaking antics. Calls success real. Ahaan Panday's debut film Saiyaara may be breaking box office records, but not everyone is on board with how the film has been promoted. Veteran actor Varun Badola, who played Ahaan's father in the romantic drama, has taken a subtle yet scathing dig at the film's PR machinery. The Mohit Suri directorial, also starring Aneet Padda, has now crossed the Rs 500 crore mark globally, with over Rs 300 crore earned in India alone. While its box office run has been historic, Saiyaara also went viral for dramatic audience reactions — fans fainting, crying uncontrollably, tearing their shirts, and even showing up to theatres hooked to IV drips. While producer Akshaye Widhani and director Suri have maintained that the reactions were organic and not planted, Varun Badola offered a more grounded take in an interview with Screen. 'When we were working on the film, we hadn't thought it would get so big… But on the third day of the release, when the film blew up at the box office, we realized it had gone big. I still haven't watched Saiyaara," he revealed. Commenting on the viral videos, Badola didn't hold back: 'By the third or fourth day, the film was being talked about. I saw the euphoria on Instagram. Log jo chudiyaan tod rahe hai, chaatiyaan peet rahe hai (People were breaking bangles and beating their chests). I think the promotions team went a little overboard… putting IV drips. Those people must have been told to give content. Thank god, people didn't get their legs broken and go crawling to see the film." Despite his candid remarks, Badola acknowledged the film's real impact. 'It's okay. We understand promoting the film, but it's good only up to a certain level. However, the film cannot earn so much money just based on Instagram promotions. People have gone and seen the film, and they have loved it," he concluded. With Saiyaara continuing its golden run, Ahaan Panday has officially arrived in Bollywood. Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Javed Akhtar says he wanted to assist legendary Guru Dutt and become a director
Mumbai, Aug 6 (PTI) Veteran poet-lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar has revealed the late actor-filmmaker Guru Dutt had a profound influence on him so much so that he harboured a dream of becoming a director and even assisting him. At a special session organised to pay tribute to the Hindi cinema legend as part of his centenary celebrations in Mumbai on Wednesday night, Akhtar (80) shared that his dream to work with Dutt remained unfulfilled. 'After my graduation I'll go to the film industry and join Mr Guru Dutt for a couple of years and then I'll become a director. When you're 18-year-old things are simpler and easier, so that is what I had decided. It is so unfortunate that I came to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1964, on October 4 and he passed away on October 10, so I could never ever see him," Akhtar said. 'I had really thought that I when I go (to Mumbai) somehow I'll manage (to work with Guru Dutt) because (poet-lyricist) Sahir (Ludhianvi) sahab was a good friend of Guru Dutt and he had written songs for 'Pyaasa', I thought this connection will work. I had thought I'll assist him for a while but it didn't work," he stated. Akhtar, known for penning iconic films like 'Sholay", 'Deewar", 'Zanjeer", and 'Don" alongwith Salim Khan, said he was impressed at how Dutt would communicate complex narratives through visuals. 'I was highly impressed by Guru Dutt in my college days, that when I was 17 or 18-year-old I used to refused to see films of certain superstars because I believed they're bad actors, it means I had some choice. Guru Dutt had a deep impression on me as a teenager. 'We had great directors like Mehboob (Khan), Bimal Roy, but Guru Dutt was the first person who spoke through visuals. There were other directors who could give good performances, shoot at right locations, create right ambience in the film, and well-written films but talking through visuals is something that was taught to us by Guru Dutt," Akhtar noted. The session was attended by filmmakers like Sudhir Mishra, Hansal Mehta, and R Balki, and film critic-author Bhawanaa Sommaya, each echoing Akhtar's sentiments of reverence for Dutt. The event concluded with a special screening of 'Pyaasa", which was attended by Dutt's family including, his granddaughters Gouri and Karuna Dutt, late actor Johnny Walker's son Nasir, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, actor Akshay Oberoi, and others. Mishra reminisced about watching Dutt's film, 'Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam" at least six times as a teenager, with his grandmother. 'Guru Dutt is an experience, he could see him again and again, at the age of 22 he would mean something else, and today he would mean something else. I keep revisiting him. There's nothing in my life that I've done that is not influenced by him, and I haven't measured upto to him, but I'm trying to. 'Every film that I've done, every shot that I've taken, every scene I've written, and song that I've tried to picturise, I can't imagine it without Guru Dutt. He has taught us how to make films, how to see a scene, how to take a blueprint, which is a script, and he rewrite it in a film," the filmmaker said. Mehta revealed that during his FTII days in Pune in the early 1990s, he created a music video that he referred to as a 'plagiarised" song sequence from Dutt's iconic film, 'Kaagaz Ke Phool." He candidly described his work as a 'vulgar replication", and added that he hopes to pay tribute to the late filmmaker someday by making a movie that talks about 'heartbreak and love". 'I grew up knowing about him through my closest friend, who was his nephew. I used to hear stories about his uncle. I discovered his (Dutt) films much later, 'Pyaasa' is the first film I saw and it left a lasting impression on me. More than the number of films I've made, I've had more heartbreaks, and love. 'Guru Dutt has taught me that pitying oneself can be beautiful, I began to think of self-sympathy as a virtue and that I should celebrate it, and that heartbreak is cinematic. I wish I can make a film that talks about heartbreak and love to pay tribute to the person who influenced me," Mehta noted. Balki said Dutt was the reference point for his 2022 movie, 'Chup: Revenge of the Artist", which depicted the pain of an artist who suffers from 'wrong criticism". 'We live in an era where resilience is celebrated more than sensitivity, and sensitivity with a little bit of luck can become luck and if not supported by luck, goes down. As the most sensitive artist, we love to celebrate a person who has fallen and come up. Guru Dutt to me is an epitome of sensitivity. 'He inspires me to remember sensitivity, it is important to feel vulnerable and not be understood by many people, you just go on. Today, the pressure is more on artists. The more I watch his films, I look at the vulnerability of the filmmaker, I never look at the craft," Balki stated. As part of the centenary celebrations of Dutt, some of his most iconic films such as 'Pyaasa" (1957), 'Aar Paar" (1954), 'Chaudhvin Ka Chand" (1960), 'Mr & Mrs 55", (1955), 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" (1962) and 'Baaz" (1953) will be screened across India from August 8 to 14 as part of the retrospective. The restoration of these titles has been undertaken by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), along with Ultra Media and Entertainment Group, who holds the rights to these movies. PTI KKP RSY (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 07, 2025, 00:15 IST News agency-feeds Javed Akhtar says he wanted to assist legendary Guru Dutt and become a director Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
