3

**Sholay**, released in 1975, is considered an iconic work of Indian cinema. Now to commemorate the completion of 50 years of this film, it is once again being presented on the big screen in theatres. The opportunity to watch this film again, which is continuously watched on the OTT platform, holds special significance for the audience. On this occasion, interesting information has come to light about the fees received by the star cast of the film, which reflects the condition of the film industry at that time.

Dharmendra’s fee record

The total budget of **Sholay** was approximately Rs 3 crores. **Dharmendra**, who played the lead character of Veeru in the film, was considered the highest paid actor at that time. According to reports, he was paid around Rs 1.5 lakh to work in this film, which was a huge amount at that time.

Sanjeev Kumar’s fees

** Sanjeev Kumar **, who played the impressive character of Thakur Baldev Singh, received an honorable remuneration of Rs 1.25 lakh for this film. It is worth noting that he was among the artists who received higher fees than another leading actor of that time ** Amitabh Bachchan **.

Amitabh Bachchan lead role

**Amitabh Bachchan**, who played the role of **Jay**, was paid around Rs 1 lakh for **Sholay**. At that time, he was a rising star, but his fees were less than **Sanjeev Kumar**. Nevertheless, the character of Jai ranks among his most memorable roles.

Heroines and Gabbar’s fees

**Hema Malini** who played the role of **Basanti** in the film got 75 thousand rupees and **Jaya Bachchan** who played the role of **Radha** got 35 thousand rupees. At the same time, ** Amjad Khan ** in the form of Gabbar Singh played a character for only 50 thousand rupees, which became a symbolic villain of Indian cinema.

Iconic role made for Rs 12 thousand

Many memorable characters of the film were played at very low fees. **Mac Mohan**, who played the character of **Samba**, got only Rs 12 thousand. Similarly, for **Kalia**, **Viju Khote** was given Rs 10,000 and **AK Hangal** who played the role of **Imam Saheb** was given only Rs 8,000.