Fact-checking Gabbar; why not?

As is true for films that become fables or stories that turn into legends enough myths surround them over time Before there was fake news that AI could take seriously there were quiz questions that we had no choice but to summarily admit as factsOnly fair then that I call up screenwriter Javed Akhtar to verify if Gabbar from his script Sholay 1975 was indeed based on a notorious 1950s bandit Gabbar Singh Gujjar born in 1926 Dang village Madhya Pradesh known to cut off bodyparts of copsJaved of the screenwriting duo SalimJaved immediately replies ldquoNo We called him Gabbar Singh because we loved the sound of itrdquoBearded bored tobaccochewing dacoit Gabbar Singh son of Hari Singh in Army fatigues mdash the GOAT greatest of all time villain terrorising villagefolk of Ramgarh in Ramesh Sippyrsquos Sholay 1975 mdash was of course played by Amjad Khan 194092In the opening sequence Gabbar goes ldquoArrey oh Sambhahelliprdquo Which apparently came from how Amjadrsquos dhobi would address his wife ldquoArrey oh Shantihelliprdquo Fun fact ldquoNot truerdquo says JavedldquoAmjad was a newcomer Hersquos not going to change whatrsquos in a SalimJaved script He never claimed that eitherrdquo The name Sambha Javed remembers came from a dacoitrsquos name in a Marathi film hersquod seenThe screenwriter of the film Javed Akhtar PicRANE ASHISHAs for that dialogue itself it emerges from the narcissism of a man who would hardly list his accomplishments including bounty on his head placed by the state Hence he calls out to his minion ldquoArrey oh Sambha Mac Mohan Kitna inaam rakkhe hai sarkar hum parrdquoFor his research as per a trivia newsletter on my inbox Amjad read the book on dacoits Abhishapt Chambal authored by journalist Taroon Kumar Bhaduri father of Jaya Bhaduri also in Sholay YesnomaybeJaved says ldquoIrsquom not aware The fact is Amjad was brought onboard in the last minute because OG Gabbar Danny Denzongpa had to bow out because of dateissuesldquoThere were two prominent villains to pick from back then Pran and Prem Nath Both too busy to spare those many days at such short noticerdquoJaved had first noticed Amjad at a youth festival in Vikram University Ujjain back when he was representing his college in elocution groupdiscussion contestsAmjad had performed a play for Bombay University Javed recollects ldquoI think it was Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon directed by his brother Imtiaz who became an actor Amjad played a Sikh Army officer He was brilliantrdquoWhen the lastminute casting for Sholayrsquos villain was getting discussed Javed says ldquoSalim Sahab reminded me of actor Jayantrsquos son that is Amjad Irsquod mentioned over yearsrdquo Someone Javed had seen perform in 1953 screentested in 1973Gabbar has since merged with popular Indian mythology Hersquos naturally brought to life with recurring analogies to connote pure evil For instance Congress politician Rahul Gandhi calling GST 2017 introduced by the BJP government as Gabbar Singh TaxGabbar explains extortion as tax for protecting Ramgarh against himself that he feels is only fair Sholay is of course essentially a film from the PoV of Thakur Sanjiv Kumar vs Gabbar where Jai Amitabh Bachchan and Veeru Dharmendra are at best conduits even comic reliefGabbar finished off Thakurrsquos family when the latter was a serving police officer Thakurrsquos later an old man seeking revenge Only Gabbar hasnrsquot aged a year since they first met Gabbar you notice remains ageless and not just metaphoricallyEven in popculture with mainstream songs lsquoGabbar Singh yeh keh kar gayarsquo 100 Days 1991 films Akshay Kumarrsquos Gabbar Is Back 2015 still named after himIn the 3 hours 15 minutes of Sholay Gabbar with a chilled demeanour laconic lines is onscreen for nine minutes Thatrsquos it How do you explain thisJaved says ldquoWe canrsquot But since you asked mdash subconsciously I feel we are attracted to people free of any guilt fear law moralityhellipldquoEven in a zoo a child looks wideeyed in awe at a maneating tigerrdquo In 1976 murderously evil Gabbar became brandambassador for Britanniarsquos GlucoseD biscuits aimed at kidsUpon reading the dialoguescript both Sanjiv and Amitabh wished to play Gabbar This is true Javed instantly verifies Amitabh did eventually fulfil his wish as Babban for Gabbar in Sholayrsquos remake Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag 2007 ldquoNo I havenrsquot watched that filmrdquo Javed is equally quick to retortIn the original Sholay Gabbar is killed off by Thakur Censor Board altered that end with him getting arrested instead Given Gabbar was still alive surely the thought of a sequel centred on him mustrsquove occurred to the Sippys or SalimJavedJaved recalls ldquoNo The only time Irsquove thought of a sequel was for Mr Indiardquo Which had the supervillain Mogambo Amrish Puri of courseIn any case Sippyrsquos Shaan 1980 equally a multistarrer actionadventure in an urban setup scripted by SalimJaved was a lsquosequel in spiritrsquo to Sholay That had Shakaal Kulbhushan Kharbanda inspired by Bondvillain BlofeldJaved feels ldquoShaan got unfairly compared Itrsquod be impossible to live up to Sholay Now people find Shaan interesting once they watch it on TVrdquo Howrsquos Gabbar different from Mogambo and Shakaal ldquoGabbar is more realrdquo he arguesWhatrsquos common between them Javed says ldquoThey are villains with dignity They donrsquot lust after women They arenrsquot lechersrdquoMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass cultureHe tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper