When Sholay was first made, director Ramesh Sippy wanted the climax to be different. He wanted the villain, Gabbar Singh, to die at the hands of Thakur (played by Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kumar, respectively). However, distributors convinced him to alter it to the final version where Thakur spares him and Gabbar is arrested instead. However, that original version was shot, and is now releasing, 50 years after the film first hit the screens.

Sholay’s original ending to screen in 4K

The Indian Film Festival of Sydney (IFFS), presented by the team behind the team of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), announced that the newly restored version of Sholay will be its centrepiece film this October. The original ending of Sholay, where Thakur kills Gabbar, will be the one screening at the IFFS, which runs from 9 to 11 October.

One of the most iconic films in Indian cinema history, Sholay has been meticulously restored in 4K by the Film Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Sippy Films. The process, years in the making, involved locating a rare colour reversal print in London and recovering original camera negatives and long-lost deleted scenes from a warehouse in Mumbai. The result returns the film to its original 70mm glory.

Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange expressed her excitement at bringing this milestone screening to Sydney, saying, “Sholay is more than a film; it is woven into the fabric of Indian storytelling, memory and myth. To bring back its original ending, after all these years, is to restore not just a different final scene, but the full vision of its creator. As we mark 50 years of Sholay, we honour the courage of cinema to challenge, to endure, and to be reborn in its truest form. We are thrilled that Sydney audiences will now see the film as it was always meant to be seen.”

All about Sholay

Sholay, directed by Ramesh Sippy, is a Curry Western inspired by Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western films. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, and Jaya Bachchan, along with Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan, the film emerged as the biggest box office hit in Indian cinema history and held the record for being the highest-grossing Indian film for over a decade.