Sholay remains one of the most iconic films of Bollywood, and even after 50 years, the film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra in the lead roles remains iconic. Now, as the movie is celebrating its golden jubilee, filmmaker Ramesh Sippy recalled how Amitabh Bachchan was actually going through a rough career patch when he cast him in Sholay.

In an interview with Free Press Journal, Sippy recalled, “In the film industry, we have different ways of casting. I had made a previous film, Seeta Aur Geeta, and in that, I had Dharam Ji (Dharmendra), Hema Ji (Hema Malini), and Sanjeev Kumar. So I was determined to have all three of them in Sholay, and we did that. The other casting was of Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan). He was going through a dip at that time. Some of his films had not worked. B

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