Mumbai | Sachin Pilgaonkar was 16 when he was cast as Ahmed, the ill-fated son of Rahim chacha, in Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 classic “Sholay”, an experience that turned out to be both exciting and bittersweet.
“I'm very proud to be a part of ‘Sholay’, whoever has been a part of Sholay must be very proud of it,” Pilgaonkar told PTI on the 50th anniversary of the film, which changed the landscape of Indian cinema with its scale, storytelling, and unforgettable characters.
As a newcomer, Pilgaonkar got to work with actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan in the action adventure drama, written by Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.
In the film, Ahmed is killed by Gabbar, the dreaded dacoit of the fictional village Ramgarh.
It sets up one of the most poignant moments of “Sholay” as his blind father Rahim Chacha, portrayed by A K Hangal, is overwhelmed by the ominous silence in the village and utters the heart-wrenching line, “Itna sannata kyun hai, bhai?” — a dialogue that has since been etched in Hindi cinema history.
Recalling the shooting of the scene, Pilgaonkar said, “It was not only me who didn't have any dialogue in that particular scene. Even Dharam ji, Amit ji, and Hema ji didn't have a single word to say in the whole scene but they did it (scene) because of conviction of Ramesh ji. We shot that scene for three days,” the 67-year-old actor said.
The actor revealed that he had also shot a scene with Gabbar but it was removed from the final cut.
“I felt very bad about it. My age was such that I couldn't understand things that much. I felt very disappointed. But there were reasons for it to be deleted. One was the length of the film and another being Ramesh ji felt that killing a 16-17-year-old boy looked very cruel.”
Pilgaonkar first met Sippy in 1966, when he was starting out as a child artist in “Brahmachari”, which was produced by the filmmaker along with his father G P Sippy. The director remembered that meeting years later, which eventually led to Pilgaonkar’s casting in “Sholay”.
“‘Brahmachari’ was the first film when his name first appeared on screen. That’s when I met him. I played one of the 12 orphans who is adopted by a couple.”
“When I came to know he wants to meet him, I was very happy. He told me, ‘I’m making a very big film with a lot of big actors but I want you to be part of it in the role of a villager, and he is ultimately killed by the villain, Gabbar. I said, ‘Okay, will do it’,” the actor recalled.
