Posted:
Yes, I had read this book. Whenever I travel to India, the bookshop owner keeps books like these ready for me. 😃
Originally posted by: jayc1234
Absolutely agree... 😃 I would add Jay's harmonica tune as well to the list 😳
Hmm... while it might be true for most songs in Sholay, I would say that 'Mehbooba' was an exception. It was a brilliant composition. Even today, whenever it's played one can't help swinging and dancing to it. It's got a beat and rhythm that's very catchy and racy. The picturization is good no doubt. But, the song can hold its own without the video back up 😊
If you hear the song again, you'll notice that RD sings whilst missing a beat each time. He had done this intentionally. Apparently, he had Kishore Kumar in mind for this song. But, he would keep singing to the beat, instead of missing one beat each time. So, finally RD himself had to step in and lent his voice to the song.
There's also something to be said about RD's voice. It's very, very different from most male voices that either end up sounding like Rafi or Kishore or even Hemant (that's why even Talat's voice is very unique). His voice adds that little extra zing to the song that I cannot imagine otherwise happening.
Mehbooba is, was and will always remain one of my favourite songs for all times to come! 😊
Agree with Sunitha here. I too watched Sholay countless times but I never recall sitting in my living room and putting Sholay CD in my sound system. All the songs were great to watch along the flow of the movie but not as good to listen later by themselves the way you would listen to RD's songs from other movies like Teerasi Manzil, Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Parichay, Andhi, Kinara.......
But that's the whole thing about Amjad Khan. He gave his best in his very first role! Pity, he couldn't repeat this again in any other movie. Even if he did, it would pale in comparison to the one and only Gabbar Singh! 😊
Originally posted by: jayc1234
Here is something interesting that I came across on how Amjad Khan came in to play Gabbar... Read on 😊
Anupama Chopra on how a great actor got a great role in a great film. A fascinating glimpse from her book, Sholay, The Making of a Classic. Amjad Khan filled the doorway. He was not a particularly large man, but his lumbering gait, thickset face and curly hair gave him the appearance of one. Director Ramesh Sippy was lying on the diwan with his back to the door. From the low angle, Amjad loomed larger. Something clicked. 'He had an interesting face,' says Ramesh. 'I felt very positive.' Panic had set in after Danny's departure. Shooting was less than a month away. And Gabbar Singh was no ordinary character. It was a pivotal role. The actor had to have both talent and charisma to hold his own against the galaxy of stars. Bad casting could destroy the film. Amjad was the younger son of character artiste Jayant. His home production, Patthar ke Sanam,which was supposed to launch him, was announced but never made. He had assisted K Asif in Love and Godand also done a bit role in the film. The credentials were hardly impressive. But in theatre Amjad had a strong reputation. A few days after Danny left, Salim bumped into Amjad. Salim knew Amjad's father, and had been visiting their home since Amjad was a little boy. A polite conversation ensued in which Salim asked Amjad about work. There wasn't much, just bit roles and theatre.
Salim had heard about Amjad's skills as an actor, and physically he seemed to fit the role. 'I can't promise you anything,' he told Amjad, 'but there is a role in a big film. I'll take you to the director. Agar aap ko yeh role mil jaaye, aap ki koshish se yea aapki kismat se (If you get this role, whether by luck or effort),I tell you, it is the finest role in this film.' Amjad seemed to fit the part, but he was unknown. Could he carry the film? He was asked to grow a beard and come back. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Salim-Javed pondered. Salim-Javed were convinced that Amjad was the right choice. A screen test was done. They shot pictures in the office garden. Amjad had grown a beard and blackened his teeth. His diction was right, his language was perfect. He was confirmed for the role. Amjad hurried ecstatically to hospital to break the news to wife Shaila. The date was 20 September 1973. His son Shadaab was born that afternoon. Normal life took a back seat. Amjad devoured Abhishapth Chambal,a book on Chambal dacoits written by Jaya Bhaduri's father, Taroon Coomar. He marked out the pages on the real-life Gabbar, insisting that Shaila read it too. He rehearsed his lines and fleshed out his character. He remembered a dhobi from his childhood who used to call out to his wife: 'Arre o Shanti.' The lilt in Gabbar's 'Arre o Sambha' came from this dhobi. The morning Amjad was to leave for Bangalore, he put the Quran on his head and prayed. Shaila was surprised. Amjad was a spiritual person, but he rarely prayed. As abruptly as he had started, he stopped. He placed the holy book back in its place, 'I think I'll be able to do it,' and drove to the airport. The flight didn't reach Bangalore. There was a hydraulic failure, and the pilot was forced to keep circling over Mumbai. After dumping fuel, the plane landed back in Mumbai. Amjad sat at the airport, but didn't call home. After five hours, it was announced that the technical fault had been fixed and the plane was ready for take off. Not many passengers had the stomach to get on that plane again. Amjad was among the four or five who finally flew on it. He had to reach Bangalore. Through the flight, he wasn't thinking about his wife or his son. His only terror was: 'If this plane crashes, Danny gets Gabbar.' Gabbar Singh was not having a good day. It was Amjad's first day of shooting. They were starting with the scene in which he is introduced. His first line was, 'Kitne aadmi the?' All his life had led to this moment. The years of theatre rehearsals, knocking on doors for acting jobs, sweating it out as an assistant -- the Gabbar role had made all that seem worthwhile. His army fatigues, picked up from Mumbai's Chor Bazaar, had the right weathered look. His teeth were blackened. His face was appropriately grimy. He had lived the part for the last few months. But now, when it was time to deliver, he just could not get it right. Gabbar had to mince tambaku (tobacco) as he talked. The motion of one hand grinding against another added to his menace. It was supposed to be his habit. But Amjad could not make it look casual. He would grind the tobacco, speak a few lines, look around awkwardly and then return to grinding. He was nervous and it showed; his hands were stiff, his movements seemed rehearsed, and his dialogue delivery was shaky. There was nothing natural about his performances; Gabbar was a stranger to Amjad.
Ramesh kept talking to him, trying to help him get his lines right. They struggled for two days. After forty-odd takes, both Ramesh and cameraman Dwarka Divecha decided the actor needed a break. Divecha told Amjad to keep his costume on and just sit on the sets. 'Tu apne aap ko season kar de (Season yourself).' Amjad cried that night. His father was in hospital fighting cancer. His son was only a month old. His family's hopes were pinned on this film. For the rest of the schedule, Amjad lived in the fatigues, trying to become Gabbar. He wrote often to his wife, but never shared with her the extent of his trauma. All he wrote was: 'I'm very impatient… I don't know… I hope I can do it.' Since he didn't drink, he would spend the evenings nursing endless cups of tea. Through the entire schedule, he didn't do a single shot.
In the next schedule, Amjad was more prepared. He got it right in the first few takes. He was living his character, and would stay in costume even when he was not shooting. But some members of the unit, unable to forget his earlier awkwardness, didn't seem to think this was enough. Besides, Amjad was the only new face in a sea of superstars and slowly talk started in the unit that perhaps Ramesh had made a mistake. The murmurs grew, till it became impossible even for Salim and Javed, who had been the most keen to have Amjad as Gabbar, to ignore them. Anxious, perhaps, to not be seen as people responsible for ruining the film, they spoke to Ramesh. 'If you aren't satisfied with Amjad, change him,' they said. For a few days the unit was rocked by rumours that Amjad was getting the boot. But Ramesh finally put his foot down. Only Amjad would play Gabbar. Amjad found out about the rumours much later. But the incident sowed the seeds of misunderstanding between him and Salim-Javed. He could not understand why two people, who had ardently recommended him for the role, had then tried to get him thrown out. He saw it as a move to sabotage his career. The hurt stayed with him till his death. Salim-Javed gave birth to the Amjad myth, but they never worked with him again.
Excerpted from Sholay, The Making of a Classic, by Anupama Chopra, Penguin India, 2001
*cough cough* Would that be somewhere in Delhi, madam? 😉
Yes, I had read this book. Whenever I travel to India, the bookshop owner keeps books like these ready for me. 😃
That scene must really rank as one of the most romantic scenes in Hindi cinema! And to think that Amitabh and Jaya did not even touch each other!
I could not agree more on this one... In my books, the scene is 'the' most romantic scene ever in Hindi cinema .... 😃
One thing that really stands out in Amitabh's dialogues in Trishul is that he respected and even begins to grudgingly love him later on (but that's much later in the movie). But the shame and pain his mother had to go through, were too strong for him to forgive his father either. The way he always says "Mr. RK Gupta" in a cutting and sarcastic tone, shows this bitterness in his heart!
Just remembered another piece of dialogue from Trishul:
RK Gupta: Lekin aapko to faayda ho raha tha. Aapne aise kyon kiya?
Vijay: Kuch cheezein faayde aur nuksaan se upar hote hain. Lekin shaayad aap yeh baat nahin samjhenge Mr R.K.Gupta.
And R.K Gupta urf Sanjeev Kumar wonders what hit him.
🤗
Agree with you, Sarita. Also, agree about Mehbooba Mehbooba being a song worthy of listening on our audio systems. 😊
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