Published on: Dec 15, 2025 06:05 am IST
Sholay also starred Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan among others.
Sholay (1975), an action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, remains a favourite among fans. Now, speaking with News18, Ramesh has opened up about an incident when late actor Dharmendra loaded a gun during the climax scene of the film and fired. The bullet, Ramesh added, “whizzed past” Amitabh Bachchan, who was standing nearby.
Sholay firing incident involving Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan
Ramesh said, “It happened while filming the climax. That was the one in which he picked up the bullets, stuffed them in… and in this shot, he was not supposed to fire… He was just expected to load the gun. But what he did was put the gun up and fired, Amitabh Bachchan was standing up there as it was his position–at the edge of the cliff, and the bullet whizzed past him.”
What happened after that
He added that the action cameraman refused to continue shooting. “Jim Allen—the action cameraman said, ‘I will not shoot. He said if actors behave like this… it can’t happen on my set. I don’t want any accident to take place.’ That day, the shooting was cancelled, and we obviously looked after him—cooled him off. We made Dharmendra also understand that it’s okay to get into the mood, but you cannot shoot when there’s a possibility of accidents. He understood. He apologised to Jim and Amigi. They worked it out. Obviously, it was not intentional, it just happened.”
About Sholay
Sholay, produced by Ramesh’s father, GP Sippy, was written by Salim–Javed. The film also stars Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan. The soundtrack was composed by RD Burman.
Sholay received a special 50th anniversary tribute with the world premiere of its fully restored, uncut version at the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy. The screening took place on June 27 this year at the large open-air Piazza Maggiore, known for hosting memorable film events.
