 Sholay was released on 15 August 1975 , Indian Independence Day , in Mumbai . Due to <unk> reviews and a lack of effective visual marketing tools , it saw poor financial returns in its first two weeks . From the third week , however , viewership picked up owing to positive word of mouth . During the initial slow period , the director and writer considered re @-@ shooting some scenes so that Amitabh Bachchan 's character would not die . When business picked up , they abandoned this idea . After being helped additionally by a soundtrack release containing dialogue <unk> , Sholay soon became an " overnight sensation " . The film was then released in other distribution zones such as Delhi , Uttar Pradesh , Bengal , and Hyderabad on 11 October 1975 . It became the highest grossing Bollywood film of 1975 , and film ranking website Box Office India has given the film a verdict of " All Time <unk> " . 
