Sholay@50: Stuntwoman Reshma who gave her blood and sweat to Basanti's role

“Sholay” will always be remembered as a movie that gave birth to characters like Jai-Veeru, Thakur, and a menacing villain in Gabbar Singh but it also changed the life of stuntwoman Reshma Pathan, who doubled as Basanti in Ramesh Sippy's 1975 directorial.

Pathan, who emulated Malini's walk and body language while shooting all of her tonga sequences, said she gave her blood and sweat for the movie that became the cult classic of India cinema.

The 71-year-old stuntwoman performed about three to four scenes on the tonga, including when Malini's Basanti picks up Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) from the railway station and for the song ‘Koi Haseena Jab Rooth Jaati Hai Toh'.

“I gave it my all for the tonga scenes, worked extremely hard. I remember for one of the sequences I got badly hurt,” Pathan said.

The injury occurred during a tonga scene when one of its wheels struck a stone, throwing her off balance and causing a painful fall.

“I had 17 stitches on my leg. At that time, my sister was supposed to get married, and I needed money. I was told, ‘We will send you back home since you're injured'.

“I requested my Guru ji (fight director S Azim), ‘Let me try the tonga sequence again, if it works it will be a win-win situation for both of us, I'll get money and you all will get what's needed for the scene',” she said.

Pathan said she had swollen legs but still gave the shot.

“I couldn't even wear slippers, they asked me to rehearse the scene, to gauge whether I'll be able to do it or not. Somehow, I managed to drive the tonga but suddenly I started bleeding from my legs. I didn't tell them that and lied that I would do it. If I would not then I would lose my chance to earn,” she added.

“Sholay” marked a turning point in Pathan's life, bringing her much-deserved recognition. She said she was inundated with offers, and often worked three shifts a day.

With over 500 films to her credit, Pathan's career features collaborations with some of Bollywood's most distinguished actors from the 70s and 80s, including Waheeda Rehman, Rekha, Sridevi, and Dimple Kapadia.

Recalling working with Malini, Pathan said she developed a camaraderie with the lead actor who went to recommend her name to other filmmakers.

“... especially whenever there was a need for a duplicate. I was exactly like Hema ji's Basanti in ‘Sholay', I was talkative and lively,” the stuntwoman said.

Pathan also shared a warm equation with Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan.

“Jaya ji used to sit quietly, she would not get mixed up. Amit ji and Dharam ji used to talk to me. We did many scenes together on the tonga. In one of the scenes with the horses, wherein I saved a little girl, Dharam ji gave me Rs 100 rupees as a token of appreciation.”

After “Sholay” emerged as a blockbuster, Pathan also became famous and was invited to a lot of chat shows.

“Through this film many people got to know the kind of work I did. I started getting a lot of work offers, like I would do three shifts a day. ‘Sholay' was the biggest hit of all these movies and I was called ‘Sholay' girl,” she added.

In 2019, a film based on Pathan's life, titled “The Sholay Girl”, was released on streaming platform ZEE5. Actor Bidita Bag portrayed Pathan in the movie, which was directed by Aditya Sarpotdar.