Latest news with #HindiFilm
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sholay: The Bollywood epic roars back to the big screen after 50 years
Fifty years after it first exploded on Indian screens, Sholay (Embers) - arguably the most iconic Hindi film ever made - is making a spectacular a landmark event for film lovers, the fully restored, uncut version of Ramesh Sippy's 1975 magnum opus will have its world premiere at Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy, on Friday. This version includes the film's original ending - changed due to objection from the censors - and deleted screening will take place on the festival's legendary open-air screen in Piazza Maggiore - one of the largest in Europe - offering a majestic setting for this long-awaited cinematic by writer duo Salim-Javed and featuring an all-star cast led by Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar and the unforgettable Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh, Sholay draws cinematic inspiration from Western and samurai classics. Yet, it remains uniquely 204-minute film is a classic good-versus-evil tale set in the fictional village of Ramgarh, where two petty criminals, Jai and Veeru (Bachchan and Dharmendra), are hired by a former jailer, Thakur Baldev Singh, to take down the ruthless bandit Gabbar Singh - one of Indian cinema's most iconic it first released, Sholay ran for five uninterrupted years at Mumbai's 1,500-seater Minerva theatre. It was later voted "Film of the Millennium" in a BBC India online poll and named the greatest Indian film in a British Film Institute poll. Half a million records and cassettes of RD Burman's score and the film's instantly recognisable dialogues were sold. The film is also a cultural phenomenon: dialogues are quoted at weddings, referenced in political speeches and spoofed in adverts. "Sholay is the eighth wonder of the world," Dharmendra, who plays a small-town crook and is paired up with Bachchan in the film, said in a recent the film was an "unforgettable experience," Bachchan said, "though I had no idea at the time that it would become a watershed moment in Indian cinema."This new restoration is the most faithful version of Sholay, complete with the original ending and never-before-seen deleted scenes, according to Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation. In the original version, Gabbar Singh dies - killed by Thakur, who crushes him with spiked shoes. But the censors objected. They balked at the idea of a former police officer taking the law into his own hands. They also found the film's stylised violence too excessive. The film faced unusually tough censors because it hit the theatres during the Emergency, when the ruling Congress government suspended civil failed attempts to reason with them, Sippy was forced to reshoot the ending. The cast and crew were rushed back to the rugged hills of Ramanagaram in southern India - transformed into the fictional village of Ramgarh. With the new, softened finale - where Gabbar Singh is captured, not killed - in place, the film finally cleared the road to the three-year-long restoration of the epic was far from easy. The original 70mm prints had not survived, and the camera negatives were in a severely deteriorated condition. But in 2022, Shehzad Sippy, son of Ramesh Sippy, approached the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation with a proposal to restore the film. He revealed that several film elements were being stored in a warehouse in Mumbai. What seemed like a gamble turned out to be a miracle: inside the unlabelled cans were the original 35mm camera and sound excitement didn't end there. Sippy Films also informed the Foundation about additional reels stored in the UK. With the support of the British Film Institute, the team gained access to archival materials. These were carefully shipped to L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, one of the world's premier film restoration the loss of the original 70mm prints and severely damaged negatives, archivists sourced elements from Mumbai and the UK, collaborating with the British Film Institute and Italy's L'Immagine Ritrovata to painstakingly piece the film back together. The effort even uncovered the original camera used for shooting the film. Interestingly, Sholay had a rocky start when it first hit the screens. Early reviews were harsh, the box office was shaky, and the 70mm print was delayed at customs. India Today magazine called the film a "dead ember". Filmfare's Bikram Singh wrote that the major problem with the film was the "unsuccessful transplantation it attempts, grafting a western on the Indian milieu"."The film remains imitation western - neither here nor there".In initial screenings, audiences sat in silence - no laughter, no tears, no applause. "Just silence," writes film writer Anupama Chopra in her book, Sholay: The Making of a Classic. By the weekend, theatres were full but the response remained uncertain - and panic had set the next few weeks, audiences warmed up to the film, and word of mouth spread: "The visuals were epic, and the sound was a miracle…By the third week, the audience was repeating dialogues. It meant that at least some were coming in to see the film for the second time," writes Chopra. A month after Sholay hit screens, Polydor released a 48-minute dialogue record - and the tide had turned. The film's characters became iconic, and Gabbar Singh - the "genuinely frightening, but widely popular" villain - emerged as a cultural phenomenon. Foreign critics called it India's first "curry western".Sholay ran for over five years - three in regular shows and two as matinees at Mumbai's Minerva. Even in its 240th week, shows were full. Sholay hit Pakistani screens on April 2015, and despite being 40 years old, it outperformed most Indian films over a decade old - including the 2002 hit Devdas starring Shah Rukh film distributor Shyam Shroff told Chopra: "As they used to say about the British Empire, the sun never sets on Sholay." Why does Sholay still resonate with audiences, half a century later? Amitabh Bachchan offers a simple yet profound answer: "The victory of good over evil and… most importantly, poetic justice in three hours! You and I shall not get it in a lifetime," he told an interviewer.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
India Box Office: ‘Sitaare Zameen Par' Among Global Top Scorers
Indian star Aamir Khan poses with the cast of his new Hindi film 'Sitaare Zameen Par' on a poster of ... More the film. Indian film Sitaare Zameen Par hit theatres worldwide on June 20, amid much discussion, and the Aamir Khan film ranked among globally top-grossing films for the weekend ending June 22. Directed by RS Prasanna, the Hindi film is about a former coach and his team of players with intellectual disabilities. Sitaare Zameen Par: Aamir Khan film crossed $10 million in three days Headlined by Aamir Khan, Sitaare Zameen Par took a decent start on Friday and a good word-of-mouth contributed to a major rise in the collections over the weekend. On Saturday, its second day at the box office, the film earned double the opening amount. Sitaare Zameen Par is loosely inspired by Champions (2018). The real-life story of American basketball coach Ron Jones formed the inspiration for the Spanish film Champions. Sitaare Zameen Par tells the story of a suspended basketball coach (Khan). A court orders him to coach a team of players with disabilities as they prepare for a tournament. Aamir Khan is the coach while Genelia D'Souza is his onscreen wife in the film. Sitaare Zameen Par is a spiritual sequel to Khan's 2007 surprise hit Taare Zameen Par. Brijendra Kala and Dolly Ahulwalia also play important parts in the film. The latest Hindi release, Sitaare Zameen Par, had an impressive start at the ticket windows. It collected more than $10 million worldwide in just three days at the box office. With limited shows on June 20, Sitaare Zameen Par had a decent collection of $1.4 million in India and $2.4 million worldwide. The film saw a record hundred percent jump in the collections on Saturday, June 21. The Hindi movie made a gross collection of $4.6 million in the Indian markets alone on Saturday. The two-day global total of Sitaare Zameen Par stood at $6.4 million. On Sunday, Sitaare Zameen Par earned $10.2 million and made it to the eighth slot on Comscore's weekly list of top-scoring films worldwide for the weekend. In India, the film closed its first weekend a little above $8 million. In the US markets alone, Sitaare Zameen Par grossed a little more than $1 million in three days. It ranked at the twelfth slot on Comscore's list of top-grossing films in the US. Dhanush-starrer Kuberra and Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par have both ranked among the top-grossing films worldwide, as per Comscore's latest list. Both the films managed to cross $10 million collections at the global ticket windows in the first three days. Directed by Sekhar Kammula, Kuberaa is produced by Sree Venkateswara Cinemas and Amigos Creations. It is headlined by Dhanush and Nagarjuna. Co-written by the director and Chaithanya Pingali, Kuberra also features Jim Sarbh, Rashmika Mandanna, and Dalip Tahil. Ranking at the ninth slot on Comscore's list of top-grossing films worldwide, the film earned $10.08 million worldwide. It also collected $1.7 million in the US markets in its first weekend, making it to the top ten highest-grossing films in the US this weekend.
Pink Villa
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
EXCLUSIVE: Hera Pheri 3 producers sue Paresh Rawal for Rs 25 crore for unprofessional attitude
Earlier in the month, Paresh Rawal announced an exit from Hera Pheri 3, leaving everyone, including his co-stars Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty shocked. At first, it was cited that the actor has walked out due to creative differences. This act of Paresh Rawal has been termed unprofessional and several users on the social media have called out the same. Soon after, Paresh Rawal took to the social media to confirm that he is no longer a part of Hera Pheri 3, but it has got nothing to do with creative differences. 'I wish to put it on record that my decision to step away from Hera Pheri 3 was not due to creative differences. I REITERATE THAT THERE ARE NO CREATIVE DISAGREEMENT WITH THE FILM MAKER. I hold immense love, respect, and faith in Mr. Priyadarshan the film director,' Paresh Rawal tweeted. At first, most people thought of this to be a prank, but as days passed by, one's coming to terms with the fact that Paresh Rawal is no longer the 'Babu Bhaiya ' in the world of Hera Pheri. Pinkvilla has exclusively learnt that the producers of Hera Pheri 3 – Cape of Good Films – have sent a legal notice to Paresh Rawal claiming damages worth Rs 25 crore, for the amount invested in the film, that's now lost due to his unprofessional behaviour. A source shares, 'Cape of Good Films had procured the rights of Hera Pheri 3 from multiple stakeholders, and even repaid all the debts existing on the film. The amount splurged was in crores, as the intent was to get back Hera Pheri on the big screen after 20 years to the audience. Paresh's unprofessional behaviour has cost a bomb to the film. Hindi Film Industry has gone the Hollywood way, as the producers are no longer kowtowing to the demands of actors. In the modern world, contracts are in place to avoid situations like this, and actors backing out at the last minute spells danger.' The source further adds, 'All the amounts invested by Cape of Good Films, to make a debt-free product, was done only after the OG trio of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and Suniel Shetty had agreed to be a part of the third Hera Pheri film. In-fact, Hera Pheri 3 also went on floors as the team reunited to shoot for an extremely funny announcement video. The one-day shoot also resulted in an investment of money and all of that stands still at the moment, as Paresh Rawal has decided to take a backseat, all of a sudden. The act is unprofessional, and uncalled for. Paresh has given logical reason for his exit to the team, leaving everyone furious and disappointed. Why should a producer suffer due to an unprofessional exit of another actor? He has to pay for the losses caused by sudden exit.' While the exact reasons for his exit still remain a mystery, we hear that the producers of Hera Pheri 3 feel it's extremely unprofessional of him to step back, more so after shooting for the film for a day and knowing that a lot of effort and money went into buying the rights. As a result, a legal notice demanding Rs 25 crore has been sent to Paresh Rawal. 'As much as they didn't want to take a legal route, and act of backing out has forced them to send a legal notice claiming damages. Paresh signed a contract to do the film, and even took a signing amount. The makers agreed to all his demands, and even paid him much more than the market value. He has been a part of all the core meetings taking Hera Pheri 3, and the intent is to take action as he has backed out after committing to the film and even shooting for it,' the source concludes. Akshay Kumar too has played a major role in making Hera Pheri 3 a reality for all the fans, as he went out of the way to have all the claims settled. More updates on this are awaited. Meanwhile, Hera Pheri 3 will be directed by Priyadarshan and is the most awaited film of Indian Cinema. The franchise features Akshay, Paresh, and Suniel in their iconic parts of Raju, Baburao, and Shyam. The third Hera Pheri film was confirmed by Paresh Rawal at multiple instances, including his own social media platforms. Backing out after all the confirmations, just make us wonder about the intentions. Stay tuned for more updates.
