Editing Sholay (section)

=== Casting ===
The producers considered [[Danny Denzongpa]] for the role of Gabbar Singh, but he could not accept it as he was committed to act in [[Feroz Khan (actor, born 1939)|Feroz Khan]]'s ''[[Dharmatma]]'' (1975), under production at the same time.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 August 2008 |title=Danny Denzongpa's loss |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/did-you-know-/Danny-Denzongpas-loss/articleshow/3422978.cms |access-date=26 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113081159/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/did-you-know-/Danny-Denzongpas-loss/articleshow/3422978.cms |archive-date=13 November 2014}}</ref> Amjad Khan, who was the second choice, prepared himself for the part by reading the book ''Abhishapta Chambal'', which told of the exploits of [[Chambal division|Chambal]] dacoits. The book was written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, the father of fellow cast member Jaya Bhaduri.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=60}} Sanjeev Kumar also wanted to play the role of Gabbar Singh, but Salim-Javed "felt he had the audience's sympathy through roles he'd done before; Gabbar had to be completely hateful."<ref name="open" />

Sippy wanted [[Shatrughan Sinha]] to play the part of Jai, but there were already several big stars signed, and Amitabh Bachchan, who was not very popular yet, lobbied hard to get the part for himself.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|pp=22–28}} He was cast after Salim-Javed recommended him for ''Sholay'' in 1973; Bachchan's performance in their first collaboration, ''Zanjeer'', convinced Salim-Javed he was the right actor for the part.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaudhuri |first=Diptakirti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cri9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT93 |title=Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters |date=2015 |publisher=[[Penguin Group]] |isbn=9789352140084 |page=93 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130151204/https://books.google.com/books?id=Cri9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT93 |archive-date=30 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Salim-Javed were also impressed with Bachchan's performance in ''[[Raaste Kaa Patthar]]'' (1972), and at Bachchan's request, Dharmendra had personally put in a word for him. All these factors ensured that the role was Bachchan's.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=31}}

As cast members had read the script ahead of time, many were interested in playing different parts. [[Pran (actor)|Pran]] was considered for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh, but Sippy thought Sanjeev Kumar was a better choice.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|pp=31–32}} Initially, Salim-Javed approached [[Dilip Kumar]] to play Thakur's role, but he turned down the offer; Dilip Kumar later said it was one of the few films he regretted turning down.<ref name="open" /> Initially, Dharmendra was also interested to play the role of Thakur. He eventually gave up the role when Sippy informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would thus be paired with Hema Malini, who Dharmendra was trying to woo. Dharmendra knew that Kumar was also interested in Malini.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|pp=35–36}} Malini was reluctant to play the role of a ''tangewali'', more so after Sippy told her that the film belongs to Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan, but she trusted Sippy to give her a meaty role, given that he had played a huge role in essaying her stardom through their previous collaborations.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=30}}

During the film's production, four of the leads became romantically involved.<ref name="rediff1" /> Bachchan married Bhaduri four months before filming started. This led to shooting delays when Bhaduri became pregnant with their daughter [[Shweta Bachchan Nanda|Shweta]]. By the time the film released, she was pregnant with their son [[Abhishek Bachchan|Abhishek]]. Dharmendra had begun courting Malini during their earlier film ''[[Seeta Aur Geeta]]'' (1972), also directed by Sippy, and used the location shoot of ''Sholay'' to further pursue her. During their romantic scenes, Dharmendra would often pay the light boys to spoil the shot, thereby ensuring many retakes which would allow him to spend more time with her. The couple married five years after the film's release.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|pp=91–105}}