Tuesday Trivia: Amjad Khan almost lost role of Gabbar Singh in Sholay because of his voice

Tuesday Trivia: As Sholay completes 48 years of release, we look back at how a lesser known Amjad Khan was chosen for the role of Gabbar Singh

The film Sholay completes 48 years of release today. Released on August 15, 1975, the Ramesh Sippy-directorial is one of the most iconic films to ever come out of the Hindi film industry. Penned by Salim-Javed, the film starred Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan among others in pivotal roles. 

Before Sholay, Amjad Khan was not well known. But all of that changed with his performance as Gabbar Singh in Sholay. The writing by Salim-Javed and the performance by Khan made Gabbar Singh an iconic and memorable villain of Indian cinema. But did you know that the actor almost lost out on the film because of his voice which the writers thought might not do justice for the role of Gabbar Singh? 

Writer duo Salim-Javed was involved in the process of casting for the role of Gabbar Singh. Javed Akhtar described Gabbar Singh as "one of the few (characters) I enjoyed writing... I remember very clearly that while writing Sholay, I would get very excited and relish the prospect that once I completed two scenes, the next would have Gabbar in it".

Danny Denzongpa was originally signed to play Gabbar, but because of an earlier commitment made to Feroz Khan's Dharmatma, he had to step down. Javed Akhtar then recalled seeing an actor called Amjad Khan in a play in 1963. He mentioned his name to Salim, who then met him. Salim Khan told AMjab Khan to meet Ramesh Sippy and told him that it is the finest role in the biggest film of recent times. 

While Ramesh Sippy liked him in the first meeting, several thought that Khan's unconventional voice could not work in the favour of the character.  Salim-Javed didn't want to spoil the film because of their recommendation and therefore told Ramesh Sippy to replace Amjad. When Amjad found out about this, he was extremely upset. He never forgave the writers for what he considered a severe blow to his nascent career.

However, Ramesh Sippy went ahead with casting Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh and the rest as we know is history. 

Talking to PTI in 2020, Ramesh revealed how he got down to casting Amjad for the role. “I remember seeing a play of him (Khan), in which my sister was there, he was very impressive on stage. His face, built, personality, voice everything felt right. We told him to grow beard, got him in the costume, took pictures and he just felt right as a rough-and-tough guy,” he said, revealing that Amjad prepared for the part by reading Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits.

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