‘Sholay’ may have done better if ‘Shaan’ hadn’t come: Ramesh Sippy

“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’ (pride). So we had to remove our film ‘Sholay’ for our own film ‘Shaan’, otherwise it could’ve worked more,” he said.

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About the transformation in film-viewing, Sippy said: “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.”

Despite films not enjoying long runs at the box office, Sippy feels the love for cinema is very much intact.

“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 this year itself, be it, ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, ‘Piku’ or ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, so many other films.

Amitabh Bachchan hasn’t seen ‘Sholay 3D’

Amitabh Bachchan says he still hasn’t watched the 3D version of his iconic film “Sholay” even after Salman Khan asked him to.

“I still haven’t watched it. Actually at the backstage of an awards ceremony, Salman asked me if I had watched the 3D version. He said ‘please go and watch it, it’s wonderful’. From Salman, I discovered how successful the 3D version was,” Bachchan said at a press conference to commemorate the completion of 40 years of the historic film.

Salman’s father Salim Khan had co-written the film along with Javed Akhtar. Their pairing Salim-Javed wrote numerous other hit films in the 1970s and 80s.

The 3D version released on January 3, 2014. This version got stuck in a controversy when director Ramesh Sippy moved the Supreme Court to stall the release of the version made by his nephew Sasha Sippy.

They had a dispute regarding the film’s rights.

Ramesh Sippy subsequently withdrew his appeal and allowed the release. Sasha is the grandson of G.P. Sippy who had financed the original.

Ketan Mehta’s digital company Maya Digital had helmed the project to convert the film into 3D format.

Mehta had said converting “Sholay” into 3D was challenging but fun. The conversion took more than a year, but the performance at the box office was average.