Almost five decades after its release, Sholay remains one of the most iconic films of Indian cinema. But according to the actor-writer Shadaab Khanson of a legendary actor Amjad KhanWhen it hit theaters in 1975, the film was not immediately embraced by audiences.Speaking to Vickey Lalwani, Shadaab recalled a fascinating anecdote the late actor once told him. Tom Alter How opinions about Sholay changed within a few months of its release.
Tom Alter’s restaurant anecdote about Sholay
Recalling the story, Shadaab shared that Tom Alter went to the famous restaurant Moti Mahal in Bandra soon after the release of Sholay. At that time, the movie was not doing well in the initial weeks.According to Shadaab, the waiter serving Tom Alter recognized him as a foreigner and tried to speak English. However, when Tom answered correctly in Hindi, the waiter was surprised and started a longer conversation.During the interaction, the waiter reportedly asked him if he had seen the recently released Sholay. When Tom said no, the waiter surprisingly advised him not to look.“He said, ‘Mat dekho sahab, kya dabba picture banayi hai. Sanjeev Kumar ke haath nahi hai picture mein, Amitabh Bachchan aur Dharmendra coin toss se decide lete hain, aur villain bhi kitna dabba hai – Amjad Khan, Gabbar Singh… kya dialogue hai “Kitne aadmi the?”‘” Shadaab recalled.
How opinions changed over the months
Shadaab added that a few months later, when Sholay became a huge hit, Tom Alter purposely visited the same restaurant.Coincidentally, the same waiter served him again, though he didn’t immediately recognize Tom. Once again, the conversation turned to Sholay, but this time the reaction was completely different.“This time the waiter said, ‘Kya picture banayi hai sahab! Amitabh Bachchan aur Dharmendra ki dosti, woh coin toss ka twist, Jaya Bhaduri ka lantern lekar chalna… aur evil dekha aapne? Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh — kya acting ki hai!’” shared Shadaab.The actor added that the drastic change in perception within three months reflected the huge cultural impact that Sholay created across the country.
“People couldn’t understand what they were seeing”
Reflecting on the initial reception of the film, Shadaab explained that audiences at the time were not immediately able to process Sholay’s scale and cinematic language.“For the first two weeks, it didn’t do well. Not because people didn’t like it, but because they couldn’t understand what they were seeing,” he said.Shadaab stated that the film was staged on such a grand scale that audiences had rarely experienced anything like it before.“When the coin dropped in the movie, the audience would look under the chair thinking someone had dropped a coin there,” he recalled with a laugh.Released in 1975, Sholay went on to become one of the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema, and Gabbar Singh, played by Amjad Khan, remains one of the most famous villains ever portrayed on screen.
