Sholay is still remembered today 2020

According to Ramesh Sippy, managing a film with high octane scenes with such a huge starcast was a big challenge at that time. Sippy says- I am glad that our efforts have not gone in vain. Even after 45 years, the film is loved by the people.Apart from Sholay, Sippy has also produced Milestone films like Andaz, Sita and Geeta, Shaan, Shakti and Sagar. On the small screen, he is best known for a serial such as Buniyaad, which is being re-broadcasted on Doordarshan during the Corona virus lockdown.The movie Sholay came out in 1975. When it was being made, there was a lot of craze among the newspapers. The next day after its release, the headline of a newspaper was "Sholay at the Box Office". At such a pace that house flower boards were hung in all the cinemas. Tickets started turning black. There were showers everywhere.In a small town, any movie seemed to come out of the big cities. A week had passed since the show started but the crowd was growing. In the second week, our clothes were torn while getting the tickets. Still, we were very happy to get the tickets. Eastmen were in color. When the movie was playing, the on-screen prints seemed to light up like stars. Sholay was the first film to have a stereophonic soundtrack and used a 70mm widescreen format. It was fun to watch the movie in the new format. The print was so clear that everything seemed to be happening in front of us. The background music was so impressive that the knocking of Gabbar Singh's walking shoes seemed to pass us by. Gabbar Singh's terror was almost half over. It was created by scary background music. Hardly anyone else could have made such a technically perfect film in those days.

Poster of Sholay

This movie has been in our city about five times, every time the house is full and every time we watch it. The show, which cost Rs 3 crore, grossed Rs 15 crore at that time. It celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 60 cinemas across the country and its Silver Jubilee in 100 theaters. Sholay had set a record for five consecutive years at the Minerva Cinema in Bombay. Before that, Bombay Talkies' Kismat (1943) had run for three consecutive years in Calcutta. Sholay's record was broken by heartbroken brides walking in the Maratha temple theater.Cassettes of songs from ordinary films were sold on the dialogues of the dialogues of this film, also on the dialogues of the villain Gabbar Singh. The dialogues of Gabbar Singh are still mimicked today. Every scene of the film, every character is remembered even today. Although the role of many actors was only two and a half minutes long, their names are not only remembered by the characters but their dialogues are still spoken. For example, the role of Imam Saab (AK Hangal) was very small but his dialogue "Why is it so silent brother" was still spoken. The jailer of the British (Asrani), Kalia (Biju Khote) with "Ab Tera Kya Hoga Kalia", "Ari O Samba, how many rewards have the government given to us" Samba (Macmohan), Surman Bhupali (Jagdeep), Basanti Aunty (Lali mishra), everyone's role was a few minutes but people have not forgotten after so many years. These actors may have played long roles in other films but the most memorable characters of their lives were from the film Sholay.

The role of Gabbar Singh was earlier offered to Danny Saab but he turned it down due to his involvement in Feroze Khan's film Dharmatam, thus depriving him of being a part of a historic film. The role of Jai was played by Shatru and Thakur. The role of Baldev Singh was life threatening. But at the insistence of Dharmendra and the writer of the film Salim Javed, the role of Jai was given to Amitabh. Pran Saab told Ramesh Sippy that Sanjeev Kumar Zaida fits the role of Thakur. It is also said that Dharmendra Saab also belongs to Thakur. Zaida was interested in playing the role but he was persuaded saying that playing the role of Viru, he would be able to stay close to Hema Malini for a long time. The closeness in this film turned into their marriage.For many years a traditional form of dacoit has been going on in Hindi cinema. Tear-washed kurta, red carpet on the shoulder, eyes always red with anger, long tikka on the forehead, cartridge belt around the waist. A gun slung over his shoulder. A horse's bridle in his hands. Cheeks spewing fire from his mouth. Gabbar Singh alias Amjad Khan of the film Sholay suddenly changed the image of a bandit. The dhoti kurta was replaced by a pants shirt. He hung a cartridge case on his shoulder. Frightening laughter when answering questions. Then throw out the dirty gossip like saliva and ask - how many men were there? Through his gestures, costumes and intricate character, Amjad portrayed the dacoit of Hindi cinema in such a way that for years the dacoits continued to appear in the style of Gabbar. The audience can never forget Gabbar Singh, the different bandit played by Amjad Khan in the film Sholay, even if they want to.The effect of veeru Jai's characters is that even now the friendship of two friends is compared to Viru Jai's friendship. Many lovers still call their girlfriends Basanti. In many places children are intimidated by the name of Gabbar to put them to sleep. In many places they would climb on the water tank to enforce the demands.Forty-five years later, the show is still visible in people's lives in one form or another. Surprisingly, the Filmfare Award for Best Picture of the Year was given to 'Deewar' instead of this film. The only award in one category went to SM Shinde for Best Editing. But forty-five years later The same Filmfare honored him with the award for Best Film of the last fifty years.

Husanpreet Singh