The legendary epic of Bollywood “Sholay” will receive a tribute to the appropriate gold birthday when its fully restored and unpacked version obtains its world premiere at the Italian Festival of the IL Cinema Ritrovato on June 27.
The classic led by Ramesh Sippy 1975 will be deployed on the outdoor screen of the festival in the Bologna Piazza Maggiore, marking the first public will see the original end and the previously deleted scenes that have been cut off from the largely distributed theatrical version.
Written by the legendary duo Salim-Javed, “Sholay” masterfully mixes the action, the thriller, the drama of revenge, comedy and tragedy, all underlined by the emblematic musical score of Dr Burman. The film was inspired by the Western classics, notably “Once Upon a Time in the West” by Sergio Leone, “Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa and “The Magnifiment Seven” by John Sturges.
The story follows the former police officer Thakur Baldev Singh, who enlists two short weather – the charismatic Veeru and I introspective – to capture the famous Dacit Gabbar Singh, who terrorizes the village of Ramgarh. The film presents an overall distribution, notably Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan, an unforgettable tour of Amjad Khan as a bad Gabbar Singh.
The careful catering, a three -year collaboration between film Heritage Foundation and Sippy Films PVT. Ltd., brings the multi-starrar to its planned form. The film, which took place for five consecutive years at the Minerva cinema in Mumbai, was hailed as the biggest Indian film ever made in a British Film Institute 2002 survey and named “Film of the Millennium” of the BBC India in 1999.
“Some things in life are permanently engraved in your mind. ‘Sholay’ is one of these films,” said Bachchan. “The shooting of the film was an unforgettable experience, but at the time, I did not know that it would be a watershed for Indian cinema. His dramatic change in the fortune of being declared an unsuccessful company, in its record race at the box office was an emotional mountain for all of us.”
Despite a modest initial reception, the 204-minute epic dominated the Indian box office for 19 years after its release. Its dialogues reached the legendary status and remain immediately recognizable half a century later.
Dharmendra said: “Sholay” is the 8th wonder of the world. I am delighted to learn that the film is restored and I am sure it will be the same success as 50 years ago. Who can forget the dialogues of Salim-Javed and the management of Ramesh Sippy? Gabbar and Thakur, but I was clear that I wanted to play the role of Veeru because he is so like me. [water tank] Scene, the temple scene, and so many others, but the most powerful scene I feel was the death of Jai, which is always engraved in my mind. »»
The restoration was faced with significant challenges, as the original camera negative has been seriously deteriorated. Instead, the team worked mainly from interpositives found in London and Mumbai. A crucial breakthrough occurred when an intermediary of color inversion discovered in London contained the original end and two sticked scenes.
“It took us three years, but we were able to find the original end and certain scenes removed that the world will see for the first time during the great first,” said Sippy Films producer Shehzad Sippy. “It was a work of love to resuscitate the film and it is a tribute to the vision and the inheritance of my grandfather GP Sippy.”
Technical restoration has proven to be complex, with materials from both Mumbai and Iron Mountain warehouses. The team even consulted the director of veteran photography Kamlakar Rao, who had worked on the original film, to determine the report of aspect 2.2: 1 suitable for the image of 70 mm.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, film director Heritage Foundation, thought about the personal meaning of the project: “My first memory of” Sholay “dates back to the time when I was six years old and I remember lamenting because my mother refused to allow me to go to the movies to watch the film. I would never have imagined that 50 years later, I would have had the opportunity to work on the restoration of the film. ”.
Catering represents a technical achievement in the preservation of Indian cinema. “Sholay” was the first 70 mm film in India and the first Hindi image to present a stereophonic sound. The restored version incorporates elements of two interpositives and two color reversal intermediaries, with the 5.1 final sound mix using original magnetic sound elements found at the Sippy film office.
The Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, renowned for presenting restored classics, provides an ideal place for this historic first. The Maggiore piazza screening should draw thousands of moviegoers from around the world.
Film Heritage Foundation, a non -profit organization based in Mumbai created in 2014, has built an international reputation of excellence in catering work. The organization previously restored forgotten jewels, including works by Aravindan Govindan, Aribam Syam Sharma, Shyam Benegal and Satyajit Ray, with several restorations receiving the world’s first world carpets at the Cannes Festival.
The cinema found takes place in Bologna, Italy, from June 21 to 29.
