'Sholay' shooting location: Know about the filming locations of the iconic 1975 movie

Sholay is a 1975 action, drama, and comedy film helmed by Ramesh Sippy and is considered to be one of the most iconic and memorable movies ever made in India. The cast of the 1975 film comprised of Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan, Hema Malini, and Jaya Bachchan in lead roles. The story revolves around two friends Jai and Veeru, portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, and how they are hired by a retired police officer to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh. Read on to know about Sholay's shooting location.

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Sholay film's shooting location 

According to a report by Daily Hunt, Sholay film's shooting location has been majorly been in Ramanagara's rocky terrain, a town near Bangalore, Karnataka. For easy access to the sets of the film, the makers had to construct a road from the Bangalore highway into Ramanagara.

It was also reported that an entire township was established on the site by art director Ram Yedekar. The prison set was installed near Bombay's Rajkamal Studio to suit the natural lighting of the on-location sets. At a time, one part of Ramanagara was reportedly named 'Sippy Nagar', in reference to the film's director. As of 2010, tourists traveling through Ramanagara were still offered a visit to the 'Sholay rocks' where most of the film was shot.

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The shooting of the iconic film began on October 3, 1973, and took two and a half years to complete. The popular song Yeh Dosti, which featured Jai and Veeru singing and having fun on a motorcycle took 21 days to shoot and the train robbery scene which was shot on the Bombay–Poona railway route near Panvel, took more than 7 weeks to complete. 

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More about the film 

The film was written by Salim-Javed and produced by GP Sippy, while his son Ramesh Sippy directed it. The legendary RD Burman was the film's music composer and the lyrics were by Anand Bakshi. A lesser-known fact about the 1975 film is that it didn't do well for the first two weeks after its release, which is when the makers decided to reshoot some scenes where Amitabh Bachchan wouldn't die in the film but when the movie started doing well at the box-office, the makers dropped the idea. It was the first movie in India to celebrate a silver jubilee and had the longest theatrical run until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge broke its record in 2001. 

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Image Credits: Bollywood.nostalgia Instagram account