Epic Sholay’s restored version premieres at Toronto film festival
Epic Sholay’s restored version premieres at Toronto film festival
Reportedly, the screening of the film is scheduled for four hours on Sept 6, and the additional hour includes scenes deleted from the theatrical release along with the original ending.
Sholay, released in 1975, the year the festival kicked-off.
A still from the Indian cinema classic Sholay, as a restored version will have a gala premiere at the 50th edition of Toronto film festival in Canada.
With their anniversaries coinciding, it was no surprise that TIFF sought out a newly restored version of Sholay for a gala screening during the festival. Sholay is one of two blockbuster classics from 1975 featured at TIFF this year; the other being Jaws, director Steven Speilberg’s breakthrough vehicle.
The screening of the Ramesh Sippy directorial film is scheduled for four hours on September 6, and the additional hour includes scenes deleted from the theatrical release along with the original ending, and given the length, an intermission.
According to TIFF’s director Robyn Citizen,
with anniversaries lined up, they feel honoured to share the organisation’s birthday with a film of this magnitude.
TIFF’s director of programming Robyn Citizen told the media persons.
The screening will be at TIFF’s premier venue, Roy Thomson Hall. “We felt like we needed to put something like this in a venue of a proper scale. So, it’s a gala and it’s their biggest venue.
The screening came about as TIFF’s CEO Cameron Bailey, a champion of Indian cinema, was informed about the restoration by the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation, which described the venue for the screening as “befitting the legendary status of the epic film”.
The digital 4k restoration came about due to collaboration between the Foundation and Sippy Films Pvt Ltd.
In a statement, the Foundation stated that audiences will have the unique opportunity to see the original ending and previously deleted scenes that were not part of the widely distributed theatrical cut, offering a fresh perspective on a cinematic masterpiece.
Regardless the fact that we could not use the original camera negative and that not a single 70mm print survives, they have left no stone unturned to ensure that this historic film has not only been beautifully restored, but that the restored version will have the original ending and some never-before-seen deleted scenes.
As per Foundation’s director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur wait to watch the film at the gala premiere in Toronto. Notedly, Visual and audio elements were recovered from a Mumbai warehouse and from the United Kingdom, before the “meticulously restored version” came alive at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna. That complex process took nearly three years after Sippy Films’ producer Shahzad Sippy initiated discussions with the Foundation. He said, “I can’t wait for Sholay to begin its new lease of life.”
The film’s stars may be unable to attend the premiere at TIFF, though their Amitabh Bachchan’s son Abhishek and Dharmendra’s son Bobby Deol are expected to be present.
The festival runs from September 4 to 14.
News Edit KV Raman
