Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
We had no inkling Soorma Bhopali would become so iconic
It was just a twoscene part, but neither filmmaker Ramesh Sippy nor late actor Jagdeep ever thought that Soorma Bhopali — from the 1975 hit Sholay — would become a legendary character. As Sippy puts it, “Honestly, it (the part) was only meant to be a comic diversion, something that used to be a norm in those days, in a Hindi film. But we had no inkling about the kind of impact the character would have on the audience. With his unmatched sense of timing and gestures, Jagdeep brought Soorma Bhopali to life, and made it one of the most loved characters ever.”
Though it was an extremely small role, late Jagdeep, who was a known face by then, readily agreed. Before Sholay, Sippy had worked with the comedian in Brahmachari (1968). “When we were casting for Sholay, I immediately thought of him as he was fantastic in Brahmachari. Plus, he was well versed with Bhopal, so, I knew he’d bring out the flavour of Soorma Bhopali,” he says.
For Sippy, what made the late actor “absolutely wonderful” was his range as an actor. “Comedy is a serious business, but the kind of flair and ease he’d bring shows the kind of great actor he was. Once he got hold of a character, you didn’t have to tell him too much on the sets. That’s wonderful about a really good actor,” says the filmmaker, adding that the veteran actor was “very unwell” for the past couple of years.
Interestingly, not many know that Soorma Bhopali was close to getting edited out of Sholay. Sippy tells us, “The film released during Emergency, and it was nearly three-and-a-half hours long. So the last show would end around midnight, which wasn’t ideal for that period. Also, Sholay was criticised on it’s initial release and declared a flop.”
Sippy recalls that he was requested by distributors to shorten the length of the film, and he took out the comedy scenes featuring Jagdeep and Asrani. “In those days, a film would usually release in B and C centres after having had a run in A centres. But when Sholay came out in B and C centres (minus the comedy scenes), people complained a lot, so we had to put the edited parts back,” he shares.