Gabbar Singh (character)

Gabbar Singh
Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh in Sholay
First appearance	Sholay
Last appearance	Ramgarh Ke Sholay
Created by	Salim Khan Javed Akhtar
Portrayed by	Amjad Khan
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Dacoit (Amjad Khan - Sholay)
Title	Sardar
Nationality	Indian

Gabbar Singh is a fictional character and the antagonist in the 1975 Hindi film Sholay written by Salim-Javed, also later featured in the spoof Ramgarh Ke Sholay.

Played by Amjad Khan, he is shown in the movie Sholay as a dacoit who leads a group in looting and plundering the villages in the region of Ramgarh. He has a sadistic personality and insists on killing whenever required to continue his status and to take revenge on his enemies. The character of Gabbar is one of the most popular in Indian films.

Danny Denzongpa was the first choice of Gabbar but had to miss out because he was shooting for Dharmatma in Afghanistan.Amjad Khan was almost dropped from the project because Javed Akhtar found his voice too weak for Gabbar Singh's role but was later convinced. For his preparation for the role Amjad read Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri (actress Jaya Bhaduri's father).

Gabbar's language was a mixture of North Indian Khariboli and Hindi, which was something new for the audiences so the dialogues were an instant hit and are still popular in India. Javed Akhtar says that Gabbar seemed to acquire life and vocabulary of his own as he wrote the film. His sadism lies in his choice of words like "Khurach, khurach (scratch)" when he talks to Hema Malini.

Amjad shot to stardom with the movie. His mannerisms and dialogues have become an integral part of Bollywood lexicon.Sholay went on to become a blockbuster, and is the highest grossing movie in India. Although the movie boasted an ensemble cast of superstars including Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, he stole the thunder with his unorthodox and eerie dialogue delivery that was perfectly opposite to the total lack of empathy his character was supposed to convey. Even after thirty five years people fondly remember his dialogues and mannerisms. He later appeared in advertisements as Gabbar Singh endorsing Britannia Glucose Biscuits (Popularly knowns as "Gabbar Ki Asli Pasand"), and it was the first incidence of a villain being used to sell a popular product. The role of Gabbar singh was so deep-rooted in people's mind those days that Amjad Khan was known rest of his life by this role alone and wherever he went he had to speak some dialogues from the film to amuse the public because the dialogues are very popular among the audiences of Indian Cinema.