Removed Sholay from screens for our own film Shaan: Director Ramesh Sippy
Ramesh Sippy has revealed that his own movie Shaan's release was the reason Sholay had to be removed from some screens. The film did well, but could not reach the success of Sholay.
Sholay is an all-time blockbuster. It ran for five years and the love for the film is unprecedented. The dialogues, the action, the western feel of the chase sequences contributed to the success of the movie.
But Ramesh Sippy recently revealed that it could have probably done even better had they not removed it from the screens to make way for their next action-thriller Shaan. Both movies had memorable villains. Shaan had Kulbhushan Kharbanda play the conniving Shakal, inspired by James Bond baddie Blofeld, and Sholay's Gabbar Singh needs no introduction. But he admits that Shaan did eat into the success of Sholay a bit.
Speaking to IANS he said, "At that time, theatres were the only place where you could've watched films. Sholay, which ran for a long time could've had a longer run at the box office as there was a great demand for those kind of films. We would often joke that Sholay would come down with Shaan. So we had to remove our film Sholay for our own film Shaan, otherwise it could've worked more."
Shaan featured Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Parveen Babi, Rakhee and Sunil Dutt, and had some great songs that it is remembered by.
The ace veteran director also spoke at length about the 70s and how cinema enjoyed its golden period due to the lack of piracy.
"Today, you can watch a film on your mobile, TV or internet, Even if you watch a film 50 times, you don't need to go back to the theatres. But during that time, there was no piracy and it was a wonderful time for cinema. I was lucky that at that time, there weren't any other technology or gadgets where you could've watch it anywhere and that was one of the reasons for the long run of my films," he said.
But he also agreed that the Indian audience's love for movies has not diminished, "People still love films, film is entertainment and watching their favourite stars is enjoyable for people and even today there are brilliant actors, actresses and makers. You can see this even in 2015; be it Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Piku, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, or so many other films."