Filmmaker Ramesh Sippy revealed that the original climax of the iconic 1975 film *Sholay* had to be changed due to the strict censorship under India's Emergency period. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) found the original ending—where the character Thakur kills the villain Gabbar Singh by physically stomping him—to be too violent. Sippy had to reshoot the climax to show a less explicit resolution, with police arriving just in time to prevent Thakur from taking the law into his own hands. He expressed that although this was a compromise, they had to accept the censor board's verdict given the political circumstances and strict regulations at that time. The censor board was concerned about showing a protagonist taking violent justice into his own hands during the sensitive Emergency era. Sippy noted the final scene still conveyed the intended impact but acknowledged that the original would have been more satisfying artistically[2][4][5][8][9][11]. Additional details include that Sippy had to call actor Sanjeev Kumar back from a film festival abroad to reshoot the altered climax. He also mentioned the challenge of balancing censorship demands while maintaining the film's emotional and dramatic effect. The decision was not driven by filmmakers' creative choices but was enforced by the CBFC's strict guidelines during the Emergency period to curb violent content on screen[5][8][11].
Citations
1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_A9pDiliQ
2.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-sippy-on-sholay-climax-we-had-to-accept-the-verdict-during-the-emergency/articleshow/124546529.cms
3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uIb7YJbzdU
4.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/changed-sholay-climax-because-of-the-censor-board-ramesh-sippy/articleshow/19754678.cms
5.https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sholay-ramesh-sippy-told-dharmendra-when-he-insisted-to-play-gabbar-thakur-10227665/
6.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-sippys-sholay-completes-45-years-today-the-director-and-cast-talk-about-the-classic-cult/articleshow/77566116.cms
7.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/txYLWfoI7IU?vl=it
8.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/we-changed-sholays-climax-because-of-censor-board-ramesh-sippy/articleshow/19742606.cms
9.https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/bollywood/ramesh-sippy-says-cbfc-forced-him-to-change-sholay-climax-during-emergency-exclusive-article-152479928
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Citations
1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_A9pDiliQ
2.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-sippy-on-sholay-climax-we-had-to-accept-the-verdict-during-the-emergency/articleshow/124546529.cms
3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uIb7YJbzdU
4.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/changed-sholay-climax-because-of-the-censor-board-ramesh-sippy/articleshow/19754678.cms
5.https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sholay-ramesh-sippy-told-dharmendra-when-he-insisted-to-play-gabbar-thakur-10227665/
6.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-sippys-sholay-completes-45-years-today-the-director-and-cast-talk-about-the-classic-cult/articleshow/77566116.cms
7.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/txYLWfoI7IU?vl=it
8.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/we-changed-sholays-climax-because-of-censor-board-ramesh-sippy/articleshow/19742606.cms
9.https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/bollywood/ramesh-sippy-says-cbfc-forced-him-to-change-sholay-climax-during-emergency-exclusive-article-152479928
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