How ‘Sholay' became India's OG brand IP, and why marketers still can't let go

Mint

6 days ago

New Delhi: In a world flooded with algorithms, franchise fatigue, and forgettable content, one Indian film continues to do what new-age brands desperately chase: command recall, spark emotion, and drive engagement across five generations.
That film is Sholay. And it turns 50 this month.
For many, Sholay is the definitive Bollywood blockbuster. But for marketers, it's something more powerful, India's first mass-market cinematic IP, long before the term became jargon. It didn't just make box office history. It gave India a language of branding before we knew what that was.
'Sholay isn't a film that finds its identity solely as a commercial blockbuster—it's an iconic fixture in Indian cinematic memory. So relevant, it has transcended cinema, TV, OTT and made its way into the meme-world," says Harikrishnan Pillai, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of digital marketing agency TheSmallBigIdea. 'Advertising has milked its charm time and again: Gabbar selling cement, Veeru promoting mobile networks, Basanti endorsing scooters. Gabbar's voice has been recontextualised in Gen Z reels, now yelling at interns and customer care executives. The characters often show up in cameos and callbacks in newer films."
And marketers have plugged in. In 2023, Coca-Cola India launched a limited-edition 'Basanti's Orange' retro can, a quirky nod to Hema Malini's iconic character. It sold out within days. Bharti Airtel's #KitneAadmiThe reels challenge clocked over 12,000 user-generated videos in 72 hours. Hyundai created an AI filter that let fans 'race' Jai and Veeru's bike through Ramgarh, leading to a 25% bump in test drive leads—no influencer needed.
Released on 15 August, India's Independence Day, in 1975, Sholay was made on a then-massive budget of ₹2.5 crore and grossed ₹30 crore, a record at the time. Adjusted for inflation, it's worth over ₹3,000 crore today. But more than money, it left behind something far stickier: memes before memes, content before content.
This was Bollywood's ultimate action epic, where revenge, friendship, and fearless outlaws collided. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, powered by R.D. Burman's music and Salim-Javed's razor-sharp script, the film starred Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan as the unforgettable Gabbar Singh.
'Gabbar Singh was India's first pop-culture villain. He wasn't just feared, he was quoted, spoofed, and adopted into everyday language," says Neelesh Pednekar, co-founder at Social Pill, a digital media agency. 'That's what gives Sholay its Teflon stickiness in marketing. You don't need to explain the reference. It just lands."
And land it does. From corporate presentations to cricket banter, 'kitne aadmi the' has outlived most jingles and hashtags. Political speeches, stand-up comedy, boardroom rants, Instagram reels—you name it.
Even television hasn't let go. From The Kapil Sharma Show to Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Sholay characters routinely show up in parody, cosplay, or catchphrase form.
But the obsession isn't just emotional, it is data-backed. According to Meta, nostalgia-based content sees 25% higher click-through rates and 30% longer watch times than generic messaging.
Spotify says retro Bollywood music, including tracks from hits like Sholay, remains one of the most streamed genres.
'Nostalgia isn't retro—it's ROI (return on investment)," Pillai adds. 'Millennials treat it like a rewind button. Gen X finds comfort. Gen Z eats it up for meme aesthetics and vintage cred. Sholay serves them all."
Prof. Khyati Jagani, faculty of marketing at FLAME University, believes Sholay succeeded because it was never just entertainment; it was emotive storytelling with mass dialect, grounded in 1970s India. 'The film maps to major life stages for many Indians. That's why it works for both memory and discovery," she says.
That duality is gold for marketers. Older consumers relive. Younger ones remix. Gabbar has yelled at daku, dacoits, interns, and startup bros. Veeru's banter has sold everything from data packs to dairy. It's open-source nostalgia, and brands love it.
At Shemaroo, which runs channels and a streaming platform built on classic Bollywood content, Sholay-related content continues to clock strong engagement. 'It bridges two cohorts seamlessly," says Mohan Gopinath, head – Bollywood business, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. 'It works as comfort content and cultural discovery at once."
This also explains why, despite the rise of streaming-era icons and billion-dollar marketing budgets, no Indian film has replaced Sholay as a marketing shorthand.
That timelessness is also showing up in product design and packaging. Apart from Coca-Cola's retro campaign, several apparel and lifestyle brands have dabbled in Sholay-inspired graphics, slogans, and capsule drops. Gabbar T-shirts, Ramgarh road-sign merch, and even pop-up cafes themed around the film have found traction in metros. Marketers point to the film's visual iconography—the jacket, the shotgun, the train robbery—as instantly recognisable cues.
'If you're building something quirky, rooted in nostalgia, and inherently desi, Sholay is your shortcut to instant cultural legitimacy," says a Mumbai-based brand consultant who has worked on retro-themed campaigns.
Even in corporate storytelling, Sholay has quietly entered the brand playbook. From startup founders referencing Veeru's antics in pitch decks to VC partners invoking Gabbar's ruthlessness in performance reviews, the film's scenes often show up in internal comms, offsites and ad copy decks. 'It's intergenerational glue," the consultant adds.
And perhaps it's because Sholay was accidentally perfect. It wasn't part of a cinematic universe. It didn't get reboots or algorithmic sequels. Yet it created more brand language than most content factories could dream of.