There have been many actors in Hindi cinema whose roles were small, but their impact was huge. Viju Khote was one of them. On screen, he sometimes became a dangerous dacoit and sometimes a comedian whose dialogues would make one burst out laughing.

He may have been identified with Kalia of ‘Sholay’ and Robert of ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, but there were hard work, struggle and many interesting stories in his life and career. One such incident is from the shooting of ‘Sholay’, where a horse repeatedly threw him on the ground.

Viju Khote was born in a film family

Viju Khote was born on 17 December 1941 in Mumbai. His real name was Vitthal Bapurao Khote. He came from a film family. His father, Nandu Khote, was a well-known stage and silent film actor. His sister, Shubha Khote, was also a famous actress of Hindi cinema. Viju Khote was also very good in studies. There was a time when people felt that they would make a career in some other field instead of acting. He also opened a printing press and ran it for some time.

Viju Khote started the film world as a child artist. Gradually he started getting small roles. He was seen in films like ‘Anokhi Raat’, ‘Jeene Ki Raah’, ‘Aapka Swagat Hai’, ‘Khilauna’, ‘Sachcha Jhoota’, ‘Shreshtha’, ‘Bhai Ho To Aisa’, ‘Raaste Ka Patthar’, ‘Rampur Ka Laxman’, Benam’, ‘Jurm Aur Saja’ and ‘Insaniyat’. The audience liked his timing, facial expressions and style of speaking dialogues very much.

‘Sholay’ changed Viju Khote’s fate

The film ‘Sholay’ released in 1975 changed the fate of Viju Khote. In this film, he played the role of Gabbar Singh’s companion Kalia. His dialogue in the film ‘Sardar, I have eaten your salt’ became so famous that even today people remember him with this line. There is an interesting story behind this role also.

Amjad Khan who became Gabbar Singh was his theater friend and on his recommendation, Viju Khote got the role of Kalia.

A funny incident is also related during the shooting of ‘Sholay’. In one scene, Viju Khote was made to sit on a horse. As soon as the spotboy on the set opened the umbrella, the horse suddenly got angry and threw Viju Khote on the ground. This happened several times. This scene was fun for the entire unit, but it was not easy for Viju Khote. Despite this, he shot the scene with complete honesty.

Worked in more than 440 films

After ‘Sholay’, Viju Khote did not look back. He worked in more than 440 Hindi and Marathi films. Robert’s character and dialogue ‘Galti Se Mistake Ho Gaya’ in ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ took him to the new generation. He also played important roles in the TV serials ‘Zabaan Sambhal Ke’, ‘Shriman Shrimati’, ‘Ghar Jamai’, ‘Family Number One’, and ‘CID’ and remained active for a long time through Marathi films like ‘Devta’, ‘Changu-Mangu’, ‘Ayatya Gharat Gharoba’, and ‘Uttarayan’.

He died on 30 September 2019 in Mumbai at the age of 77. After his departure, the film industry lost an artiste who had made a big mark even with small roles.

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Sholay is one of the best films made under the direction of Ramesh Sippy. This film was released in 1975 and it has completed 50 years. Even after 50 years, this film is still alive in the hearts of people. Fans keep watching it on OTT platform. On completion of 50 years of the film, it has been re-released on 12th December. At that time the film had earned huge money at the box office. But its budget was also very high for that time, after hearing which many people said that it was going to flop.

Ramesh Sippy has revealed in an interview that at that time the newspapers had declared Sholay a flop. Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra’s film was made with a budget of Rs 3 crore and proved to be an all-time blockbuster. The filmmaker told that industry trackers initially thought that the makers of the 1975 action comedy would never be able to recover their investment. Immediately after the film was released in theatres, it did not generate much revenue.

was declared a flop
Ramesh Sippy said in an interview to Siddharth Kannan- ‘He wrote that the investment was so much that the makers would never be able to recover it. He even claimed that such expensive films will ruin the industry. If filmmakers keep spending like this, the industry will sink. But after five weeks he took back his statement and admitted that he was wrong. The initial budget of the film was Rs 1 crore but in the end it was made for Rs 3 crore. Rs 1 crore at that time is equivalent to approximately Rs 100 crore today.

Ramesh Sippy further said – But right after the first quiet weekend, the whole atmosphere changed. After that the industry started celebrating the film. The industry was happy. He said- It is good that the big film did not work. The same discussion was taking place among distributors, exhibitors and producers. He felt that this film would ruin him. People thought that we had gone crazy by making such an expensive film.

Also read: 10 pictures of Chitrangada Singh, even at the age of 49 there is no match for her beauty

The film ‘Sholay’, made under the direction of Ramesh Sippy, has been re-released in theaters on Friday with a 4K version. In this film, as much as the pairing of Jai and Veeru was liked, the romance of Dharmendra and Basanti was also liked. The pairing of Dharmendra and Hema Malini won everyone’s hearts in the film Sholay, but do you know that hero Dharmendra had fallen in love with someone even before his youth? On the occasion of the re-release of Sholay, we will tell you about Dharmendra’s poem and story, which he had written before the partition of India-Pakistan.

Dharmendra told the story of his first love
It is common to fall in love or feel attracted to someone at a young age. This moment comes in everyone’s life. Some people talk about this, some don’t, but Dharmendra Deol had narrated the story of his first and raw love and had also written a poem to express the condition of his heart. Dharmendra came to Salman Khan’s show ‘Dus Ka Dum’ with his son Bobby Deol.

In the show, Bobby teased his father and said, “Send the poem to the girl for whom you had written it.” On the matter of love (romance), Dharmendra told that in earlier times people were a little shy. The person in front did not even know that someone was secretly sighing coldly for them. Then Bobby talked about that poem and the girl.

Dharmendra had written the poem
Dharmendra told that he had named this poem ‘Anokhi Kashish, Anjaana Ahsaas’. He said that this was the time when the country was not divided and he was also very young. Humming his poem, the actor said, “I was young, innocent at my age, I don’t know what it was like, someone to go near, to sit with whomever I wanted. She was Taliba of eighth grade, and I was studying in sixth, she was the daughter of our school teacher, her name was Hamida. She would smile, I would go near her. If she was silent, I would bow my head. She would ask something else and I would say something else. What is this question, this unique one.” What is attraction and unknown feeling?

Let us tell you that when Dharmendra was 14-15 years old, he started liking his own school teacher’s daughter. The actor kept this romance alive on screen and played romantic roles in superhit films like ‘Tum Haseen Main Jawaan’ in 1970, ‘Mera Gaon, Mera Desh’ in 1971, ‘Sita-Geeta’ in 1972, and ‘Pratigya’ in 1975.

The classic cult film ‘Sholay’ was re-released in theaters on Friday. This was such a historical film in which every character had its own existence. Every character of the film was greatly appreciated by the audience. Actor Amjad Khan, who played ‘Gabbar’ in the film, immortalized this character. He worked very hard for this role.

Amjad Khan was not the first choice for ‘Gabbar’
‘Gabbar’, who used to scare people as a villain on screen, was a very calm and composed person in real life. Amjad was not the first choice for the role of ‘Gabbar’ in the film. Before Amjad Khan, Ramesh Sippy had chosen Danny Denzongpa for the role of ‘Gabbar’, but he had already said ‘yes’ to the film ‘Dharmatma’ and wanted to play a positive role at that time. He had also said at the time of the film’s release that he had no regrets in rejecting ‘Sholay’. After this, the makers thought of signing Premnath for the role of ‘Gabbar’, but due to the rumors spread during the shooting about Premnath, the makers started looking for a new Gabbar.

This is how Amjad Khan got the role of ‘Gabbar’
Amjad Khan and Ramesh Sippy first met in the theatre. Ramesh Sippy had come to watch Amjad Khan’s show on the request of his sister. Seeing Amjad Khan’s height and facial expressions on stage, he was selected for the role of ‘Gabbar’. For Amjad Khan, getting such a big film was a joy as well as a challenge. He prepared a lot to understand the character of ‘Gabbar’. Amjad Khan took advice from his father to bring alive the character of ‘Gabbar’. He talked to his father Jayant about the character and he advised him to read books based on dacoits.

Take a lot of papad for your role
Amjad read Tarun Kumar Bhaduri’s book ‘Abhishapt Chambal’ and understood the attire of the dacoits and their movements and to make the dialogue delivery perfect, he took the help of the voice of the washerman who used to come to his house. He took the tone of ‘Hey O Sambha’ after being inspired by the voice of the washerman. To make his look better, he used to blacken his teeth, so that the look of his character could be enhanced well.

According to the report of India.com, the actor who got the highest fee for ‘Sholay’ was not Amitabh Bachchan but Dharmendra. He got Rs 1.5 lakh for the role of Veeru.

It has been 50 years since the film ‘Sholay’ was released. This classic film of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan can now be seen in theaters again. Recently, the makers also released the trailer of ‘Sholay: The Final Cut’, after watching which the excitement about the film has increased among the fans. Abhishek Bachchan has also shared a post regarding the film on his social media handle. He has made an interesting revelation in the post.
Abhishek Bachchan posted on his Instagram and told about ‘Sholay: The Final Cut’. Along with this, he also told that he is very excited to watch the film. The actor told that till date he has seen this film only on TV and watching it in theaters has been the dream of his life.

‘I have never seen Sholay on the big screen…’
While sharing the poster of ‘Sholay’, Abhishek Bachchan wrote in the caption – ‘The biggest untold story! Eagerly waiting to see Sholay in all its glory on the big screen. I have never seen Sholay on the big screen, only on TV and VHS/DVD. This has been my lifelong dream.

‘Sholay’ will be re-released on December 12
‘Sholay’ was directed by Ramesh Sippy. The story, dialogues and songs of this film are still liked by the audience. This film is still included in the list of cult classics. ‘Sholay: The Final Cut’ will be released in theaters in 4K version on December 12. The film will be presented with its original ending. This means that the scenes which were deleted at that time will also be added to this film and the film will be shown afresh.

The film ‘Sholay’, released in 1975, shows the true friendship of Jai and Veeru. The film proved to be a superhit on screen and is being released with 4K version on 12th December. Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s onscreen and offscreen love also started on the sets of this film. Dharmendra played the role of Veeru only for Hema Malini. But do you know that even during the shooting, Dharmendra left no stone unturned to impress Hema Malini.

Dharmendra climbed on the tank to impress Hema Malini
The iconic tank scene of the film ‘Sholay’ is still alive in everyone’s heart. Veeru had expressed his love to Basanti by climbing on the tank, but before the shooting, Dharmendra had tried to impress Hema Malini through the same tank, but at that time it did not make much difference to Hema Malini. This was revealed by Sachin Pilgaonkar, who played the character of Ahmed in Sholay.

Refreshing old memories related to the film Sholay, Sachin Pilgaonkar had told in an old interview that during the shooting of the film Sholay, Dharmendra’s only attempt was to impress Hema Malini somehow. Narrating the incident, he said that a big and tall tank was made on the set for shooting and that tank was not real, it was made by the art director and it was not strong either.

This was Hema’s reaction
Sachin Pilgaonkar told that just to impress Hema, he climbed on the tank and stood crossing the railing. Seeing this, Ramesh Sippy got scared and started shouting “Dharamji-Dharamji”, but he said, “Oh, nothing will happen.” Hema Malini was watching all this and there were no expressions on her face. When I told Hema that it was very dangerous, she just said without any expression, “Yes, it is dangerous.” Meaning it was not making any difference to them.

It is also said that to spend more time with Hema Malini, he used to retake the scenes again and again on the sets of Sholay. Something similar happened during the mango plucking scene of Basanti in the film and Dharmendra took several retakes on the pretext of making the scene perfect. Even though Dharmendra is not among us today, his fans will always remember him through his films. The actor was born on 8 December.

Bollywood’s cult classic film Sholay is coming to rock the screen again. The makers have released the trailer of Sholay: ‘The Final Cut’ on its 50th anniversary, which has once again refreshed old memories among the fans. This time the beat of the music in the trailer has been completely changed, especially the mix of the main theme music with electric guitar, seeing which the excitement of the fans has increased even more.

‘Jai-Veeru pair active again’
The trailer starts with the old train whistle and some bandits who are robbing the train. But then Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan enter the screen, who tell that no work is done without money. The trailer also shows the nature of Thakur, Jai and Veeru, both of whom are a bit scoundrel but good at heart. After seeing the trailer, fans wrote, ‘It seems as if a new film is being released.’ Another user said, ‘Can’t wait to see Jai-Veeru pair on screen after Dharmendra ji’s departure.

‘History and re-release plan of the film’
Sholay was first released on 15 August 1975. Initially the film was not able to earn much, but gradually it became a blockbuster. The film ran in theaters for about 5 years and was shown continuously for 5 years in Mumbai’s Minerva Theatre. Seeing the success of the film, it was re-released in 2004 on completion of 30 years, after that in 2014 a 3D version came and now in 2025 it will be seen on the big screen with a 4K restored version.

‘Sholay: The Final Cut’ release date
The film Sholay:’The Final Cut’ will be released in theaters on December 12. This is an opportunity for fans to watch the twisted adventures of the old classic Jai-Veeru on a new and high quality 4K screen. The explosive response to the trailer has further increased the excitement of the fans.

Bollywood’s own man Dharmendra passed away on 24th November. He was fighting the battle of life and death for a long time and he breathed his last at the age of 89. The entertainment industry has also suffered a major shock due to his death.

The legendary actor of Bollywood made a special place in everyone’s heart during his lifetime. He radiated such personality and talent that everyone from Amitabh Bachchan to Salman Khan became his admirers. Many big Bollywood actors consider him as their inspiration.

Dharmendra is the ultimate inspiration of these Bollywood celebs

1. Amitabh Bachchan
Examples are given of the friendship between Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. Their friendship started from the sets of Sholay in 1975 and it deepened with time. Big B has talked about his relationship with Dharmendra many times and told that he was more than a co-star for him.

2. Salman Khan
Bhaijaan also respects Dharmendra wholeheartedly. Even the late actor considered him as his son. Salman Khan has also mentioned publicly many times that he has a place in his heart for Dharmendra. Salman Khan is a fan of the late actor’s fitness, his simplicity and his humanity. Bhaijaan believes that the legendary actor also has a big role in his fitness.

3. Akshay Kumar
Everyone is aware of the fact that the man of Bollywood had played each of his roles with full dedication. Be it action or comedy, romantic or serious. Dharmendra fit perfectly into all the characters. Akshay Kumar is also crazy about his style. Khiladi Kumar believes that Dharmendra has justified each of his characters, from commercial films to movies with social messages. The actor also admires Dharmendra’s simplicity and class.

4. Jaya Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan,s wife Jaya Bachchan,s name is also included in this list. In 1971, she worked with Dharmendra in the film ,Guddi,. Since then the legendary actress became crazy about Dharmendra. The actress likes him so much that once she said in an episode of Koffee with Karan, ,I should have got the role of Basanti because I like Dharmendra a lot. ,

During this time, Jaya Bachchan also shared the story of her first meeting with Dharmendra. His personality also won the heart of Jaya Bachchan and the actress even called him a Greek God.

5. Abhay Deol
Dharmendra’s nephew Abhay Deol also considers him as his inspiration. The man of Bollywood himself has personally trained his nephew. Abhay Deol has praised Dharmendra on many occasions and has said that the legendary actor will always be his inspiration. Abhay Deol also wants to follow his footsteps.