From Gabbar’s lair to Basanti’s village: Karnataka’s Ramanagara celebrates 50 years of ‘Sholay’

New Delhi: Fifty years after "Sholay" blazed onto the silver screen, the rocky hills of Karnataka's Ramanagara district still seem to hold its spirit -- the tyranny of Gabbar Singh, the camaraderie between Jai and Veeru, and Basanti’s never-ending chatter.

The cult classic about two small-time criminals who are hired by a vengeful ex-policeman to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh was released in theatres on August 15, 1975 and forever changed Indian cinema.

The action-adventure movie, directed by Ramesh Sippy from a script penned by iconic writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, was praised for its gripping storytelling, powerful dialogues and unforgettable characters played by Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan.

For Ramadevara Betta, the granite-strewn hillscape in Ramanagara that doubled as the fictional village of “Ramgarh”, the film etched itself into the very soul of the land.

The rugged terrain of Ramadevara Betta (hill in Kannada) served as the backdrop for Gabbar Singh’s lair.

It was the stage for some of Hindi cinema’s most quotable scenes, including the one where the menacing Gabbar asks his henchmen, "Kitne aadmi the?”.

Filming began in October 1973 and lasted nearly two-and-a-half years, with an entire township built for the shoot and a road constructed from the Bangalore-Mysore highway to the sets.

The production transformed the area, with locals still recalling the nearly three-year-long presence of the cast and crew. Many also got a chance to be in front of the cameras as background characters.

Among them was Boramma, who was just seven when she faced the camera for a small role in "Sholay".

“I still remember everything. There’s a scene with Hema Malini and Dharmendra in the mango orchards, it was filmed here. On the other side was the village. It used to be a dense forest, but for the film, they converted it into a village.

“After ‘Sholay’, many more movies were shot here. Ramadevara became famous because of ‘Sholay’. The shoot went on for three years. They built roads for filming and all the Gabbar Singh scenes were done here,” Boramma, who is now in her 50s, told PTI.

Another local Bettayya said his parents worked on the sets during the shooting.

“I was 15 years old. My parents worked on the sets. I don’t remember too many details of the shoot, but they used to give us good food. Dharmendra would give Rs 100 to the elderly. There used to be a narrow road to the betta, but they constructed a proper mud road for the shoot. Later, the Forest Department turned it into a tar road,” he recalled.

"Because of Sholay, our village, community, and district are still remembered in the whole of India. Our government has made all those places good tourism spots, and people come from all over India to see them,” one person said.

They are also proud of the film's success and its lasting impact on Indian cinema.

""The film that was shot here fifty years ago has spread the name of Amitabh Bachchan and Ramnagar far and wide,” a local said.