Before Sholay became the film we know, it went through a casting journey so dramatic it could have been a movie of its own. The role of Gabbar Singh—now inseparable from Amjad Khan—was originally meant for Danny Denzongpa. In fact, Danny had verbally agreed. But fate had other plans: during the same period, he was committed to Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma, which was shooting in Afghanistan. The dates clashed, and destiny quietly nudged him out of a role that would become legendary.
That left Ramesh Sippy with a problem: who could carry the weight of pure cinematic evil?
When Amjad Khan first auditioned, the room wasn’t convinced. He was relatively unknown, and some felt his voice lacked menace. But Salim–Javed sensed something deeper—a simmering unpredictability. They fought for him. The gamble paid off; one of the greatest villains in film history was born from what seemed like a second choice.
The other roles had similar twists.
Sanjeev Kumar desperately wanted to play Veeru because it meant romancing Hema Malini. But the writers had always imagined him as the stoic Thakur. When he finally accepted the role, he poured his heart into it with a kind of restrained intensity that became the emotional anchor of the film.
Dharmendra, meanwhile, also campaigned hard for Jai because of the same reason—Hema Malini. His wish was granted, but in a strange cosmic reversal, the quieter role went to Amitabh Bachchan, then still fighting for superstardom. Dharmendra later admitted that he underestimated how much Jai would eventually belong to Amitabh.
The rest, as they say, is history. Sometimes the cast you end up with is not the one you begin with—but the one the film itself chooses.
