New Delhi: Any mention of “Sholay” immediately provokes the image of the unforgettable pair and many main characters, which populates the runtime of more than three hours, including Thakur, Menning Gabbar, Basanti and Radha.
But the permanent attraction of Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 creed classic also lies in its array of supportive characters, some in the background forever and some that pronounce just one sentence in the frame. Despite their limited screen time, these characters have acquired a permanent place for themselves in the collective memory of cinefiles.
“Sholay”, written by the legends of screenwriting Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, gives the audience the option to choose his favorite character from a huge bouquet – from Viju Khote’s Kalia, Jagdeep’s Soma Bhopali from McMahon’s Samba. From Asrani’s jailer, AK Hangal’s Rahim Chacha to Leela Mishra’s aunt.
These people were to inspire the conspiracy, infect humor or increase the pathos. In the last five decades, he has become memorable as prominent actors of the film. And in this process, these brief appearances have become a defined role of his career.
Kalia, brought to life by actor Viju Khot, is a prominent example. Khote had only two scenes in the film. He appears for the first time when Kalia and two other Dakots go to Ramgarh to collect foodgrains for Gabbar’s gang.
In the second scene, Kalia and his colleagues are standing in front of their guru, trembling with empty -handed and fear, inspires Gabbar to face the famous dialogue: “What will you do Kalia?”.
Kalia stutors and say, “Sardar, Main Aapka Eat,” in which the bandhit leader laughs and replies: “Now a shot.” Gabbar is not done. He first plays a game of Russian Rule with them and when they feel almost relieved to be alive, he kills all three fast.
Death at the age of 77 in 2019, he ignored several roles in his lifetime, including his comic turn and SICOM “Zaban Sambhalke” as Robert in “Andaz Apna”, but none of his character could come close to Kaili in terms of popularity.
“After the release of the film, people on the road will recognize me and repeat what Amjad told me: ‘Tera Kya Hoga Kalia’ … This reflects the tremendous popularity of the film. And people liked Kalia as a character,” The actor told India’s Times in 2015.
Sambhah played by Mac Mohan is another character that has survived despite one of her rows. This happens when Gabbar asks Sambha, sitting on a hill, clearly enjoying his notorious, about the reward placed by the police on it.
To do this, Sambha responds, “Por Pach Hazar.” After “Sholay”, Mac Mohan did more than 200 films till his death in 2010, most of them were negative. But in public memory, he remained samba.
In an old interview with Tabasam Talkies, the actor said, “‘Sholay’ set many records, and I believe it is another – that an artist became so popular after playing such a small role. I never saw anything before or seen anything before.” The actor also said that he shot several scenes for the film, including traveling to Bengaluru, but when he saw the last print, he was hearty because he was barely there in the film.
“I had to search for myself in the film and I felt that I had shot for so many days, but they kept it only. I went to Ramesh Sippy and asked him why he too has been kept that scene. He told me that if the film works, everyone will start calling you ‘Samba’.” In the film, characters such as Asrani as Jailor and Jagdeep balanced mild violence and vengeance in the form of Sorma Bhopali with mild intervals.
After all these years, comedy still highlights laughter. After Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, Asrani’s character was clearly designed and he did an colonized hangover as he would declare his greatness by repeating the phrase, “We are the jailers of Angrezo”.
Jagdeep’s Comic Act as Sorama Bhopali came out of Javed Akhtar in experiences in Bhopal and the exaggerated methods of character, long stories and different pronunciation made him a fan favorite. The character was a caricature of a small town Bragart, which was found to be reliable and cheerful by the audience.
Like Mac Mohan, Jagdeep also shot for the film on a large scale, but his scenes were also cut off from the final cut. He met Dharmendra and Bachchan in the 80s to produce and direct a film based on “Sorma Bhopali” and came to play the main lead and many others of the film shed in “Soma Bhopali”.
Jagdeep, whose real name Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri Tha, died in July 2020 and at that time, Sippy remembered the actor for his contribution to the film.
“It takes a magnificent artist to achieve all the nuances of a local character that way. Comedy is not easy. The time is correct and the response is correct. It is not right. It is not possible without talent. As a director, as a director, I can’t do a comedi to an actor. I can only ask for workwelling,” Sippy tells PTI.
Leela Mishra also shines in her brief scenes as aunt or maternal aunt of Hema Malini’s Basanti, where she is discussing Veeru’s marriage proposal for her niece with Jai, which cleverly lists her friend’s bad habits in front of her. A drunken Veeru finally takes cases into his hands, climbing the water tank and threatens to jump until aunt agrees to her marriage with Basanti.
While these characters provided comic relief, veteran actor one Hangal’s depiction of Rahm Chacha brought a touch of a calm tragedy in the story.
Rahim Chacha is a blind elderly villagers of Ramgarh. In one of the most touching moments, Gabbar’s people kill their only son Ahmed during a raid in the village.
His words, “This is the saintly qun hai bhai?”, Echo through silent silence in the scene.
The dialogue has now become a part of the pop culture, sometimes for humor and sometimes to express the moment of strange silence or stress.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-early syndicate wire feed. In addition to the headline, there is no editing in the copy by ABP Live.)
