Tasked with erasing his father’s ‘B-grade’ tag, this director made Hindi cinema’s biggest classic, faced massive flop

Ramesh Sippy’s father sold carpets before entering the film business

GP Sippy came from a wealthy Sindhi family in Karachi. However, like many during the 1947 Partition, he had to leave behind his business, mansion, and all his wealth, and flee to India overnight. He reached Mumbai empty-handed and, as per a report in The New York Times, sold carpets to make a livelihood.

He dabbled in several businesses to stay afloat, even starting a restaurant, but nothing worked. He then stumbled upon the idea of constructing residential buildings and selling them at a higher cost. This marked his entry into the construction business, where he eventually rebuilt his wealth.

It is reported that while building a house for Bollywood actress Nargis Dutt, GP Sippy developed an interest in films and began acting in small roles. He later transitioned to producing low-budget crime films under his production banner, Sippy Films. He directed his first film Sazaa in 1953, starring Dev Anand and Nimmi, which achieved moderate box office success.

He went on to bankroll projects like Shrimati 420, Chandrakant, Light House, Bhai Behan, and Brahmachari. However, due to their limited success, GP Sippy was tagged a ‘B-grade producer’ by the industry.

Ramesh Sippy with Shammi Kapoor on the sets of his directorial debut, Andaz

Ramesh Sippy was called back from London, launched Salim-Javed

It was during this phase that GP Sippy called his son Ramesh Sippy — who was studying at the prestigious London School of Economics — back to Mumbai to revive the production house. Ramesh made his directorial debut with Andaz in 1971. The film starred Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, and Hema Malini in lead roles and marked the first project of legendary writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.

After Andaz, Sippy and Salim-Javed collaborated on Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) and Sholay (1975), which went on to become the biggest Hindi film of all time.

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Sholay entire star cast cost Rs 20 lakh, film was made in Rs 3 crore

Ramesh was just two films old in the industry when he conceived the idea of paying homage to Hollywood Westerns. His second film, Seeta Aur Geeta, had cost his father Rs 40 lakh, but this ambitious project demanded far more resources. “While making Sholay, I was very lucky to have my father back me,” Sippy said at the CII Big Picture Summit in 2016.

Ramesh asked his father for Rs 1 crore to make Sholay, but the film eventually cost Rs 3 crore. “At the time of Sholay, I didn’t have a budget. I had something in my mind which I shared with my father. I told him that I want a crore to make a film and ended up with Rs 3 crore,” he had said.

While the industry today is raging with debates over exorbitant entourage costs of stars, Ramesh revealed that Sholay — which starred some of Bollywood’s biggest names including Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Sanjeev Kumar — cost just Rs 20 lakh in star fees.

“The actual cost of the star cast in the film was Rs 20 lakh, as compared to those Rs 3 crore. People even doubted our sanity at that time. Today if you make a film of Rs 150 crore, out of that Rs 100 crore goes to actors. There is something lopsided about the movie-making business today,” he had said.

The Ramesh Sippy-directed film Sholay, which was originally released in 1975, is considered to be one of the most popular Indian films. (Photo: Sippy Films)

Ramesh Sippy made his biggest flop after Sholay

Though Sholay initially struggled at the box office, the film witnessed massive footfall after its first week and went on to become the biggest hit of its time. However, Ramesh Sippy’s career post-Sholay was constantly eclipsed by the film’s legacy, with audiences measuring everything he made against the iconic classic.

After the success of Sholay, Sippy’s ambitions grew, and he decided to mount Shaan (1980) with an even bigger ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Raakhee Gulzar, Parveen Babi, Bindiya Goswami, Johnny Walker, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The revenge drama reportedly cost over Rs 7 crore, making it the most expensive Indian film of its time.

However, Shaan performed poorly at the box office upon release. It was only during later re-releases that the film eventually turned profitable and reportedly collected Rs 8 crore. Over time, especially after its television broadcasts, the film developed a cult following.

Following Shaan, Ramesh delivered two hits — Shakti (1982) and Saagar (1985). He later directed the critically acclaimed television series Buniyaad. It was during this period that he met his second wife, Kiran Juneja, on the sets of the show. His last directorial venture was the 2020 film Shimla Mirch. Over the years, he also bankrolled acclaimed films such as Bluffmaster and Taxi No. 9211, among others.

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Ramesh Sippy married an actress 17 years younger

While Ramesh Sippy remained in the spotlight for his prolific career, his personal life drew attention when he married actress Kiran Juneja, who was 27 years old and 17 years younger than him at the time. Ramesh was 44 when they tied the knot. He was earlier married to Geeta Sippy, with whom he had three children — son Rohan Sippy and daughters Sheena Sippy and Sonya Sippy.

Ramesh Sippy with his wife Kiran Juneja. (Express archive photo)

Ramesh and Kiran fell in love when she auditioned for Buniyaad. They dated for four years before getting married. While several reports claimed that Ramesh was already in the process of separating from Geeta when he married Kiran, he eventually divorced Geeta Sippy. However, Kiran was vilified at the time and was labelled a ‘home breaker’.

In an old interview with Lehren Retro, Kiran addressed the controversy and said, “See, marriage would have bothered me if I was the home breaker, but I already knew their situation, so it’s not like I broke their house. So I was okay with that, and that was never the worry. And to tell you, I have always gotten better along with older people somehow, men or women. Maybe I was too mature at my age. But boys of my age, I could never tune with them mentally. So yes, he was much older, but that didn’t bother me, neither did it affect anything.”