She set foot on a set in 1968, at 14 years old, doubling for actor Laxmi Chaaya in Ek Khiladi Bawan Pattey. Today, at 71, she filmed a fight sequence for a Marathi film.
India’s first stuntwoman—Reshma Pathan, better known as "the Sholay Girl"—has performed stunts in over 400 films in her five-decade-long career. “I had been working in films for almost five years before Sholay brought me recognition. Until then, I was just another stunt double no one knew,” she says, a bright smile lighting up her face.
In an industry where men typically doubled for even women, she talks to The Quint about auditioning for Sholay, playing Hema Malini's stunt double, and an accident on the film's sets that did nothing to stop her.
A Difficult Childhood
Pathan's childhood anything but easy. Her family was driven into poverty due to a series of unforeseen events. At seven years, she recalls, she was helping her mother smuggle rice to make ends meet.
“Maybe it was god’s plan that I had to take care of my family from a young age."Reshma Pathan
The eldest of four siblings, Pathan recalls risking her life as a child to help her family—jumping over low rooftops and fountains, and performing tricks on top of parked trucks and taxis in her colony. People would give her 5-10 annas for her fearless acts.
“One day, while I was doing similar stunts in my colony, a crowd gathered to watch. Among them was S Azim, a popular fight director in those days. After my performance, he gave me Rs 2. I told him, 'I don't have change,' because no one had ever given me that much money. He told me to keep it, and said, 'You should work in the film industry.'"Reshma Pathan
Pathan's father, a short-tempered man, was, however, furious when that idea was taken to him. "I told my mother... let’s not tell my father and go see what Azim Uncle is calling us for. My mother was also very scared of my father—he was physically abusive—but she agreed,” Reshma recalls.
Under the guise of going to buy medicines, they went to Mumbai's Famous Studio, where Azim was filming a stunt for Ek Khiladi Bawan Pattey. A stuntman was doubling for Chaaya , but he couldn’t get it right even after 8-10 retakes.
“That’s when Azimji suggested I give it a try. They did my makeup, got me ready for the shot—I couldn’t recognise myself in the mirror,” she remembers.
Reshma, who had never faced the camera before, says,
“I had no idea what was going on. It was a cabaret scene, and I had to fall while dancing. I still don’t know how I pulled it off, but I got it right in the first take.”
She was paid Rs 175 for the stunt—and Rs 35 for conveyance.
But the high from that first day on set didn’t last long. When she returned home, her father beat both her and her mother.
“He pushed us and picked up a stick to hit us. I explained to him that it was good, honest work, and that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I told him, if I do this, I can take care of the family—we didn’t even have enough money to eat.”Reshma Pathan
It took some time, but eventually, her father, who was fiercely opposed to her working in the film industry, and didn't want to live on his "daughter's earnings"—agreed.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
An Accident That Didn't Stop Her
In 1973, Azim called Pathan to Juhu for an audition. "They told me that I had to ride a tanga. I started riding it on Juhu road—and forgot I had to turn back, so I kept going! Everyone started worrying,” she laughs.
When she ultimately returned, she knew she had bagged the role.
“From there they took me straight to Ramesh Sippy’s office in Khar. They took my measurements and made me try some wigs. Even then, I had no idea I was going to be Hema Malini's stunt double,” she says. It was only when she reached Ramanagara, near Bengaluru, three days later for the shoot that she realised she was shooting for Sholay.
Pathan was just 19 when she shot her first scene for Sholay—the sequence where Basanti (Hema Malini) is chased by Gabbar (Amjad Khan)’s men.
“I had to run and catch the reins. Two fake wheels were to be fitted to the tanga, and the wheels were supposed to break. While one wheel broke, the other didn’t as no one told the person in-charge to replace the other original wheel with a duplicate one as well," she recalls.
All of a sudden, the tanga hit a rock, and she was flung in the air. The tanga landed dangerously close to her. "They got a great shot as the fall looked real, but I was hurt. I had more than 17 stitches on my left leg,” she says.
“God saved me that day—if I had fallen even a little towards the other side, I would gone down a canal.”Reshma Pathan
She was rushed to a hospital, but refused to be admitted. She feared that if she did, she will be replaced. “I requested them to take me back to the hotel, and let me try shooting. If I could manage, then why not?"
“I couldn’t afford to lose this job. I needed the money for my sister's wedding,” she adds. The following day, she had to be picked up and made to sit in the tanga as she couldn't walk. "During the shot, my stiches opened, I started to bleed. I didn’t tell anyone because I knew they wouldn’t let me shoot. So, I carried on."
When Dharamji Gave Pathan a Rs 100 Note
During the shooting of another scene—when Gabbar sets the village of Ramgarh ablaze—Pathan played a village girl who had to run behind a younger girl and pick her up as horses galloped around them. "During the shot, the girl fell down. There were about 300-400 horses around us... how could I have left her? It was about her life.”
Pathan remembers instantly throwing herself over her and wrapping her arms around her. "By the time, the horses came very close. I was scared too, but one needs to use presence of mind in such situations. I somehow managed to roll us out safely as the horses galloped past us.”
Dharmendra later called Pathan and praised her. "He even gave me Rs 100—in those days, it was a big deal. I wasn't taking it until Azimji told me I should. Dharamji spoke to me with a lot of respect.”
Pathan treasured that Rs 100 note till 1984 until she had to use it during a difficult period.
“I would have never spent it, but I needed the money. It was that money that helped me get groceries for the house during a difficult time.”Reshma Pathan
Fighting Harassment in a Male-Dominated Industry
“Azimji would always tell me, 'You have talent... people will come to you." And they did. I only wanted to earn from my hard work without ever compromising. I was offered roles to be an actor, but they always came with conditions—conditions I was never okay with," she says.
Even then, warding off unwanted male attention was part of the job.
“I'd always put men in their place. Harassment of women in the industry is nothing new, the only difference is, now women have the courage to talk."Reshma Pathan
It wasn't just indecent proposals that bothered her. She was targeted by stuntmen who lost work to her. “They did their best to make me quit," she adds.
"They would taunt me, and say things like, 'Who will marry you?' Don’t waste your life. You are so beautiful... why do you want to break your hands and legs, and spoil your face. You should leave the industry. This place is not for you”Reshma Pathan
But, Pathan, who had doubled for actors like Rekha, Sridevi, Helen, Asha Parekh, and Dimple Kapadia, didn’t let any of that get to her.
She fenced, shot with real tigers, walked into fire, fell from heights, and rode her way to the top.
'Producers Didn't Want to Invest in Safety Gears'
The other big challenge, she recalls, is that safety measures were close to negligible. “All we had was a thin mattress to keep us from scraping ourselves. We used to still get hurt by the impact. It was after Sholay that we saw things like belts and harnesses,” she adds.
While shooting for Kasme Vaade, the artist broke a bone in her left leg as she doubled for Rakhi.
“I could not shoot for six months—and the producers didn’t even pay me. They paid for my treatment, but nothing more than that. Today, things are different—if you are hurt on the sets, they pay you for the period you can’t work.”Reshma Pathan
When asked if she ever got scared, she says, "Before every stunt, I'd pray and think of my siblings and parents I had to provide for. Even if I was scared, I had to do it.”