Ramesh Sippy (born on 23 January 1947) visited the sets of the film Sazaa, his father's first film, when he was 6 years old. His first film job came at age nine, when he played Achala Sachdev's son in the 1953 film Shahenshah. He worked in both the production and direction departments in films like Johar-Mehmood in Goa and Mere Sanam, which his father was producing. He worked for 7 years as an assistant before becoming the director of Andaz, in 1971. Although this was only a moderate success, his second film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) was highly successful.
In 1975 he directed Sholay which went on to become the biggest blockbuster in Bollywood film history and won major acclaim. Sholay still remains one of the biggest blockbuster films in Hindi film history and remains one of the favourites for Hindi film audiences globally. While Sholay was a tribute to the Westerns, his next film Shaan in 1980 was inspired by the James Bond films. In 1982 he brought together veteran actor Dilip Kumar and the reigning superstar of the time Amitabh Bachchan in Shakti. While the film was only moderately successful, it won the Filmfare Best Movie Award. In 1985 he directed Saagar which was considered a comeback film for Dimple Kapadia.
He directed a successful television serial titled Buniyaad which focused on the Partition of India and aired on Indian television channel Doordarshan in 1987. The last three films he directed, Bhrashtachar (1989), Akayla (1991), and Zamana Deewana (1995) were box office flops and he has since not directed any film, as of 2015.
His string of hits with Amitabh Bachchan made him one of the golden directors who had a special working relationship with the actor (Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, and Hrishikesh Mukherjee being the other four). In 2005 he received the Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years award for his legendary film, Sholay.
Sholay
Plot
In the small village of Ramgarh, the retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) summons a pair of small-time thieves that he had once arrested. Thakur feels that the duo—Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan)—would be ideal to help him capture Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), a dacoit wanted by the authorities for a ₹ 50,000[b] reward. Thakur tells them to surrender Gabbar to him, alive, for an additional ₹ 20,000 reward. The two thieves thwart the dacoits sent by Gabbar to extort the villagers. Soon afterwards, Gabbar and his goons attack Ramgarh during the festival of Holi. In a tough battle, Veeru and Jai are cornered. Thakur, although he has a gun within his reach, does not help them. Veeru and Jai fight back and the bandits flee. The two are, however, upset at Thakur's inaction, and consider leaving the village. Thakur explains that Gabbar had killed nearly all of his family members, and cut off both his arms a few years earlier, which is why he could not use the gun. He had concealed the dismemberment by always wearing a shawl. Living in Ramgarh, the jovial Veeru and cynical Jai find themselves growing fond of the villagers. Veeru is attracted to Basanti (Hema Malini), a feisty, talkative young woman who makes her living by driving a horse-cart. Jai is drawn to Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), Thakur's reclusive, widowed daughter-in-law, who subtly returns his affections. Skirmishes between Gabbar's gang and Jai-Veeru finally result in the capture of Veeru and Basanti by the dacoits. Jai attacks the gang, and the three are able to flee Gabbar's hideout with dacoits in pursuit. Fighting from behind a rock, Jai and Veeru nearly run out of ammunition. Veeru, unaware that Jai was wounded in the gunfight, is forced to leave for more ammunition. Meanwhile, Jai, who is continuing the gunfight singlehandedly, decides to sacrifice himself by using his last bullet to ignite dynamite sticks on a bridge from close range. Veeru returns and Jai dies in his arms. Enraged, Veeru attacks Gabbar's den and catches the dacoit. Veeru nearly beats Gabbar to death when Thakur appears and reminds Veeru of the promise to hand over Gabbar alive. Thakur uses his spike-soled shoes to severely injure Gabbar and destroy his hands. The police then arrive and arrest Gabbar. After Jai's funeral, Veeru leaves Ramgarh and finds Basanti waiting for him on the train. Radha is left alone again.
Cast
Dharmendra as Veeru
Sanjeev Kumar as Thakur Baldev Singh, usually addressed as "Thakur"
Hema Malini as Basanti
Amitabh Bachchan as Jai (Jaidev)
Jaya Bhaduri as Radha, Thakur's daughter-in-law
Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh
Sholay was released on 15 August 1975, Indian Independence Day, in Mumbai. It became the highest grossing Bollywood film of 1975, and film ranking website Box Office India has given the film a verdict of "All Time Blockbuster".
Sholay went on to earn a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees[c] across India, and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee[d] at over 100 theatres. It was shown continuously at Mumbai's Minerva theatre for over five years. Sholay was the Indian film with the longest theatrical run until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) broke its record of 286 weeks in 2001.
Sholay is one of the highest grossing films in the history of Indian cinema, although such figures are not known with certainty. In 2012, Box Office India gave ₹1.63 billion (US$24 million) as Sholay's adjusted net gross, [e] whereas Times of India, in a 2009 report of business of Indian films, reported over ₹3 billion (US$45 million) as the adjusted gross.
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