Did you know Shatrughan Sinha had rejected 'Sholay'? Here's why

Shatrughan Sinha. Pic- Midday Archive

Shatrughan Sinha is a legend in his own ways. The superstar, the youngest of four brothers, had figured out early that movies and acting interested him more than anything else. After graduating from FTII in Pune he arrived in Mumbai in search of work. His distinguished voice and dominating demeanour landed him a role in Dev Anand's directorial 'Prem Pujari'.

While he quickly gained name in the industry as a villain, the actor wanted to be a hero on screen and pushed his friend and filmmaker Subhash Ghai to make 'Kalicharan'- a film that established him as a hero. There was no stopping him from there. However, did you know he rejected the cult classic film, 'Sholay'. Talking about the same during his appearance on Indian Idol in 2021, he revealed the reason for the same, "You can call it a ‘human error.' Ramesh Sippy Saab used to make great films and he made Sholay which became the blockbuster and was praised by world's renowned filmmaker, Bharat Ratna and Oscar winner Late Satyajit Ray Saab who liked this film the most."

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He further adds, "During those times, I was continuously shooting for films which had two hero's and, somehow, we can called it a human error or my dates were an issue due to which I couldn't sign the film Sholay. I'm sad but happy at the same time as due to Sholay, National Icon Amitabh Bachchan who is my dear friend got such a big break."

He further adds, "Certain rejections of films occur due to dates issues. Even Amitabh Bachchan wanted to do ‘Kali Charan' but he couldn't do it for a reason. It's generic in nature, even Rajesh Khanna, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Sunny Deol must have rejected the films for several reasons. Its habitual nature wise."

Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra went on to star in Sholay and the fate of the film is known to all.

Meanwhile, in his biography, 'Anything But Khamosh', Sinha revisited his alleged rivalry with Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh and Shatrughan starred in several films during that era, but as perthe latter's biography, his colleague wasn't keen to work with him, "The problem was the applause I was getting for my performances". Recalling their time on Yash Chopra's 'Kaala Patthar', Sinha said, "the chair next to Amitabh would not be offered to me, nor would his umbrella be ever trained to cover any of us."

He shared in the memoir, "We'd be heading from the location towards the same hotel but he'd sit in his car and never say, ‘Let's go together.' I found it all very strange and wondered why this was happening because I never had any complaints against him."