Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan in Sholay
Sholay, one of the most iconic films in Bollywood, clocks 45 years today, August 15. The film, which released on Independence Day 1975 may be decades old, but it still resonates with every age group even today. The dialogues and symbols of the film are found on t-shirts, coffee mugs, pillow covers, and are even referred to in various ads, web series and other pieces of entertainment.
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Sholay was a film that was way ahead of its time in terms of technology. It was the first film in Indian cinema to hit a silver jubilee in theatres. The style and setting of the film was something that was never executed before in India and only seen in western cinema.
The director of Sholay, Mr Ramesh Sippy shares, "I spoke to a theatre owner from south Bombay when the film was live on the box office and he showed me the popcorn and refreshments counter and said look, its empty. At first, that upset me a little because I thought my film wasn't doing well and that's why there were no people at these counters. But then, he told me that the audience was glued to their seats inside the theatre and they didn't want to leave the hall, that is how capturing the film was. And I couldn't have been happier."
Right from producer GP Sippy, director Ramesh Sippy, the industry's best actors, the writer duo Salim-Javed, music maestro RD Burman and other talent brought the whole film to life by putting their best foot forward.
Sholay was the first Indian film to have a stereophonic soundtrack and to use the 70 mm widescreen format. Amitabh Bachchan who played the character of the witty and sharp Jai said a few words remembering the film, "Sholay beautifully in 3 hours encapsulated the victory of good over evil and… it was the first time ever, a dialogue CD for an Indian film was released, action sequences were first time being directed by a British crew, specially invited to India for the film and then the film was edited in United Kingdom, so many firsts occurred. And Ramesh Sippy ji as a director did many unconventional changes in its reproduction and its making – the location, the action coordination, camera work, 70 mm and the scale – I guess it all worked out fine."
Hema Malini who played Basanti says, "Before we started shooting itself, I was told that there is a dance sequence, where my character would be dancing on glass on a rough mountain. The shoot took place in the month of April when it is extremely hot, I remember Ramesh ji being very particular about it, but that sequence became an epic in itself."
Each character of the film, including the supporting roles such as Sambha played by Mac Mohan, who mainly had one dialogue became widely popular and are remembered even today. A villain like Gabbar Singh, whose character played by Amjad khan was named the most iconic villain of Indian cinema, made dialogues like "Kitne aadmi they" and "Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya" so popular that they made their way into people's regular conversations.
Sholay was declared the 'Film of the Millennium' by BBC India in 1999 and was also included in Time Magazine's 'Best of Bollywood' list in 2010 and in the list of the '100 greatest Indian films of all time' in 2013.
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