Throughout my childhood, I was fascinated with the different ways film villains died in movies, may it be the electrocution of Mogambo or the roaring end of Shakaal in Shaan. The more brutal the villain is, the more glorified the hero becomes after putting an end to his deeds. My teacher recently wrote a fascinating post on how tracing these villains can reconstruct most of the popular culture of our country.
As a child I hated it when Gabbar Singh didn’t die! As I grew up, I realized, it was the aftermath of the arrest of Gabbar that added extra charm to Sholay. Sholay was meant to be Jai-Veeru’s film, but the character we remember the most today is Gabbar. The film makers realized it back then and let Gabbar live. He is the type of villain who was meant to become immortal in the history of Indian cinema.
Though the makers of Sholay had shot an alternative ending to the film with Gabbar’s death, I find the original ending more sensible. I somehow managed to catch hold of the rare alternative ending. Click here to watch it. I leave it to the readers to watch and decide for themselves.
सौरभ राय | Sourav Roy 
hey Sourav, you have a wonderful blog here … good to know a poet who has published his books, will def come back to check them out. kit.
The alternate ending was due to political emergency situation in India.The censor board did not approve of law being taken into hands by the protagonists.