Nearly five decades after its release, Sholay remains one of the most iconic films of Indian cinema. But according to actor and writer Shadab Khan, son of legendary actor Amjad Khan, the film was not immediately embraced by audiences when it first hit theaters in 1975.In his conversation with Vicky Lalwani, Shadab recalled a fascinating anecdote that the late actor Tom Alter once told him about how opinions had changed dramatically about Sholay within just a few months of its release.
Tom Alter’s Restaurant Tale of Sholay
Recalling the story, Shadab said that Tom Alter once went to the famous Moti Mahal restaurant in Bandra soon after Sholay was released. At the time, it was reported that the film did not do well during its first weeks.According to Shadab, the waiter serving Tom Alter recognized him as a foreigner and tried to speak English. However, when Tom answered fluently in Hindi, the waiter was impressed and began a longer conversation.During the interaction, the waiter reportedly asked him if he had watched the newly released film Sholay. When Tom refused, the waiter surprisingly advised him not to watch it.“Mat dekho sahab, kya daba photo banayi hai. Sanjeev kumar ki hath nahi hai photo mein,” he said.
Amitabh Bachchan
Ur
Dharmendra
Coin toss se qarar leti hain, aur evil bhi kitna daba hai – Amjad Khan,
Gabbar Singh
…Kya hai dialogue ‘Kitne aadmi al?’” recalls Shadab.
How opinions have changed in a matter of months
Shadab also revealed that a few months later, after Sholay became a hit, Tom Alter intentionally revisited the same restaurant.Coincidentally, the same waiter came to him again, although he did not recognize Tom immediately. Once again, the conversation turned toward Sholay – but this time, the reaction was completely different.This time the waiter said, “Picture kya panai hai sahab!” Amitabh Bachchan aur dharmendra ki dosti, woh coin toss ka twist, jaya bhaduri ka lantern lekar chalna…
Ur villain dekha apne? Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh – ‘Kiya Tasleef Ki Hai!’” shared Shadab.The actor added that the radical shift in perception in just three months reflects the enormous cultural impact that Sholay eventually had across the country.
“People couldn’t understand what they were seeing.”
Commenting on the film’s initial reception, Shadab explained that audiences at the time were not able to immediately comprehend the scale and cinematic language of Shoala.“For the first two weeks, it wasn’t good. Not because people didn’t like it, but because they couldn’t understand what they were seeing,” he said.Shadab pointed out that the film was filmed on such a large scale that the audience had rarely witnessed anything similar before.“When the coin was falling in the movie, the viewers were actually looking under their chairs thinking someone had dropped a coin there,” he recalls with a laugh.Released in 1975, Sholay became one of the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema, while Gabbar Singh, played by Amjad Khan, remains one of the most iconic villains ever to grace the screen.
