The ending where Thakur kills Gabbar

When they wrote Sholay , Salim-Javed had originally planned the death of Gabbar Singh. In the climax, as Veeru screams, “Main tera khoon pi jaunga!” Thakur reminds him of the promise to hand over Gabbar alive, Veeru complies.

Gabbar mocks Thakur, “ Tu kya ladega mujhse, Thakur? Tere toh haath kaat kar phenk chuka hoon main.”Thakur replies, “Saanp ko haath se nahi, pairon se kuchla jata hai.” Wearing shoes with nails fitted in the soles, he attacks, crushing Gabbar’s fingers. Spotting a sharp nail jutting out of a pillar, Thakur leaps and kicks him hard – impaling and killing Gabbar. Overwhelmed with the feeling of retribution, Thakur breaks down, as Veeru approaches him.But in 1975, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objected. They argued that a former police officer could not take the law into his own hands and commit murder. It was the year when Emergency had been declared in the country, and the board’s word was final. Despite producer GP Sippy’s influence, nothing could be done. The CBFC demanded not only a new ending but also cuts to several violent scenes.Film historian Shivendra Singh Dungarpur recalls, “There were a number of issues with changing the ending.

How will the police appear at the scene all of a sudden to stop Thakur? The entire plot was hinged on Thakur – a man who never smiles, never raises his voice but explodes and gets his revenge in the end and breaks down. This was the moral vision that director Ramesh Sippy and Salim-Javed wanted to show to viewers, but it was never released.

”Sippy was furious and even considered removing his name from the film. But with the release date looming, he agreed to reshoot the climax.

Over two days, the cast returned to film the new climax in which Gabbar, after being beaten, is arrested by police. Sanjeev Kumar, who was attending a film festival abroad at the time, flew back to complete the scene. ‘The original climax was far stronger’ Writer Anjum Rajabali, who also teaches screenwriting, calls the original ending “far stronger.

” He explains, “Here is a man whose family was slaughtered and whose hands were cut off.

The oxygen he breathes is filled with hatred for Gabbar. After killing him, Thakur breaks down – not just for his lost hands, but for what he’s become. He turns into a harbinger of hatred – exactly what Gabbar was.”Now, 50 years later, the Film Heritage Foundation has restored Sholay with both endings. “We found two missing portions in London – the part where Ramlal readies Thakur’s spiked shoes, and the moment Thakur kills Gabbar,” says Dungarpur. When the FHF told Ramesh Sippy about finding the original ending,he wanted the restored version to include the original ending. The film has now been restored with the reshot climax and the original ending both. Dungarpur says, “We are calling it the final cut.”

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