Great MILE

Great MILE · Follow Former & Now Psychologist, Researcher, Holistic Healer.May 23 Was Amitabh Bachchan paid more than any other actor/actress for their role in Sholay? Amitabh Bachchan got the remuneration of 1 lakh for the role of Jai which he performed in Sholay in 1975. At that time Amitabh was not a big star. In fact the filmmaker Ramesh Sippy's first choice was Shatrughan Sinha for the role of Jai. When Salim-Javed, the screenwriters of Sholay recommended the name of Amitabh after they getting impressed by Amitabh's acting in Zanjeer. So they thought Bachchan is the right choice for the role of Jai and so Salim-Javed convinced Sippy to cast Amitabh. At Bachachn’s request Dharmendra had personally put in a word for him. All these factors made Bachchan to act in Sholay. For Sholay Amitabh got the remuneration that was lesser than Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar. When Amitabh got 1 lakh, Dharmendra got the remuneration of Rs. 1,50,000 for the role of Veeru. Sanjeev Kumar got Rs. 1,25,000 for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh. Hema Malini as Basanti got Rs. 75,000. Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh got Rs. 50,000. Jaya Bhaduri as Radha got 35,000. Asrani as Jailor got 15,000. Mac Mohan as Samba got 12,000 Viji Khote as Kaalia got 10,000. A. K. Hangal as Rahim chacha got 8,000. In fact the filmmaker Ramesh Sippy had planned to make Sholay with the budget of 1 crore but it reached to 3 crore due to various reasons. Sippy didn't have enough funds and he had to depend on his father G. P. Sippy's finance. He asked for 1 crore, but he got 3 crore as at that time his dad's film Sita Aur Geetha had become a big hit. Finally Sholay became a big blockbuster with the total collection of 35 crore. Amitabh Bachchan appeared in Sholay not by choice, but by chance. So he was paid lesser than his leading co-stars Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar. At that time Dharmendra was a superstar and Sanjeev had demand and he was one of the leading actors of Bollywood.