This biggest blockbuster of Bollywood was once declared a disaster, and the director had to decide to change the tragic ending until he got his confidence back from a cinema owner.
Acclaimed director Shekhar Kapoor once said, "Indian film history can be divided into Sholay BC and Sholay AD." Ramesh Sippy-directed Sholay (1975) doesn't need an introduction today. Almost every Indian is affiliated with Sholay.
The film is loaded with an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, and Amjad Khan. Former writer-duo Salim Javed wrote an entertaining script that has all the elements of emotions.
To date, Sholay is considered as most-watched Indian film with 25 crore tickets sold worldwide. Yet, when this film was released, it was declared a box-office disaster. The initial response to Sholay was unfavourable, and it was so disheartening to the makers that they decided to change the ending of the film.
When Sholay was fate was sealed doomed
In an old interview, director Ramesh Sippy recalled how industry people tried to spread negativity for Sholay, and called it doomed. "Sholay ke baare mein kaafi logon doubt kiya gaya. Jab yeh release hui, industry ke logon ne keh diya ki yeh bilkul nahi chalegi. Yeh toh Chole ho gayi (There were many doubts about Sholay. The film industry people declared that the movie would not work)." Emphasizing more about the naysayers, Ramesh said, "Logon ne kaha iss mein maa nahi hai, iske show timing bade odd hai, bahut lambi movie hai toh kaise yeh film chal sakti hai (People told me there is no mother-angle in this film, the film is too long, it has very odd show timing, how can it work at the box office).
Sholay went over-budget
In the same interview, Ramesh Sippy said that the film had a budget of Rs 1 crore, but by the end of the production, the film went over budget. "1 crore ka humara budget tha, 3 (crore) pe chala gaya (We had a budget of Rs 1 crore, but it went on to Rs 3 crore)."
How Ramesh Sippy got back his confidence in Sholay
Ramesh said that the owner of Geeta Cinema (Worli) called him to visit his theatre. On a Tuesday, Ramesh reached, and the owner showed him empty food stalls. Ramesh thought he was mocking the declared failure of his film. However the owner explained that audiences are not leaving the hall even after the interval, they are keen to see what will happen next. Thus, no one is buying anything to eat from these stalls. Sipyy asserted that the owner gave him confidence that the film was working and that it would do blockbuster business.
Sholay's box office collection
Sholay did a business of Rs 35 crore worldwide after its release in 1975. When adjusted for inflation as per today’s numbers, this figure would stand somewhere around Rs 2800 crore, higher than any Indian film ever, except Mughal-e-Azam.
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 "The blockbuster that was declared disaster by film industry")
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