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Had to change Sholay's ending because of Censor Board, says director Ramesh Sippy

Had to change Sholay's ending because of Censor Board, says director Ramesh Sippy

“I had shot a different ending for Sholay, where Gabbar is killed by Thakur. But they didn’t allow that," said Sippy
13 Jan, 2018

If you've seen the cult classic Sholay, it's hard to imagine a different ending than what went down.

However, recalling his own brush with the Censor Board back in the day, the movie's director, Ramesh Sippy shared a fun fact with the audience at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) reports Indian Express.

Sippy, who was awarded the ‘PIFF Distinguished Personality Award’ at the festival, made the revelation to Dr Jabbar Patel during an interview.

Director Ramesh Sippy during a conversation with Pune International Film Festival Director Jabbar Patel —Photo courtesy: Indian Express
Director Ramesh Sippy during a conversation with Pune International Film Festival Director Jabbar Patel —Photo courtesy: Indian Express

When an audience member asked Sippy about his views on censorship in India, the filmmaker spoke about his own experiences with the Censor Board, before Sholay was released during the Emergency in August 1975.

“I had shot a different ending for Sholay, where Gabbar is killed by Thakur. But they (the Censor Board), didn’t allow that. They were not happy about Thakur killing Gabbar with his feet. I was also caught in a sticky situation; how else would Thakur kill him? He couldn’t have used a gun since he had no arms. They were also unhappy about too much violence, they said ‘you have to change the end’. I wasn’t happy, but I did that,” he shared.

Comments

Must learn Jan 13, 2018 07:21pm
"Sholay" was most perfect production ever seen. Whatever be the ending it was still a " alpha of the plough " despite my reservations that nobody has the right to change story or ending of any film.
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raj Jan 13, 2018 08:24pm
this is most favourite movie of pakistan. they watch it every day and learn the dialogues.
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Khalid Jan 13, 2018 10:06pm
The original ending is available on YouTube. However, the revised ending was better as it didn’t make Thakur a murderer and instead police arrested Gabbar.
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Lost cause Jan 13, 2018 10:38pm
Sholay as it is is magical.
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Inidian Jan 13, 2018 11:22pm
Very popular and famous movie. Still there is no replacement of Sholay.
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JustWasif Jan 14, 2018 01:07am
I love this movie.. #JustWasif
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Wiq Jan 14, 2018 04:53am
Feel lucky. Experienced this phenomenon first hand.
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Jamil Soomro, New York City Jan 14, 2018 10:23am
Dilip Kumar was right when he said "this madness with Movie Mughal-E-Azam must stop". Same should be said for Sholay.It is time to move on with other themes and other Movies.We just cannot be stuck permanently to the past.
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Shahji Jan 15, 2018 07:12pm
@Must learn No Sholay was just a fluke,. An ugly copy of Clint Eastwood movies like "High Plain Drifter " added with decades oldrogged jokes Like "Larka Piyaz khaata hai" or " Aadhay idhar ku jau". Overacting from Dharmendra ,Hema Asrani and most of the cost. Amitabh and Jaya we're OK but not very good. The only positive was Amjad Khan.
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