The iconic ‘Sholay’ starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan is completing 50 years on August 15. It remains a cult in Hindi cinema over the years and there clearly can never be another ‘Sholay’. But did you know that Jaya Bachchan was pregnant with Abhishek Bachchan when the film released? While people still know that Jaya Bachchan was pregnant with Shweta Bachchan Nanda during the making of the movie, not many are aware about this. Shweta was born in March 1974 while Abhishek was born in February 1976. Recently, when Abhishek was promoting his film ‘Kaalidhar Laapata’, he had spoken about 50 years of ‘Sholay’ as he recollected his experience of watching ‘Deewar’ on the big screen. He had said in an interview with Cinema Express, “The last time I saw a film in the theatre and I was excited, it was ‘Deewar’ at Regal cinema and I was like ‘Oh MY God’. I was blown away as I saw ‘Deewar’ for the first time on the big screen. Now I’m excited because on August 15, it’s 50 years of Sholay and I’ve never seen it on the big screen because it released in 1975 and I apparently went to the premiere of ‘Sholay’ in my mother’s belly,” he said with a smile. Abhishek added further, “She was pregnant with my sister during the shooting of the film. That’s why you don’t see too many wide shots of her. And then when the film released, during the premiere, she was pregnant with me. So, I have never seen it on the big screen so I told Rohan (Sippy), that please do something. I want to see it on the big screen. It’s so amazing that we are talking about a movie which released 50 years ago and it’s still so true. Even the action, you don’t get bored.” ‘Sholay’ directed by Ramesh Sippy, was initially considered a flop due to its low opening. But the film eventually became a hit and how!
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