Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ one film which was B’wood’s cult classic
Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ one film which was B’wood’s cult classic
Ramesh Sippy’s action directorial “Sholay” is one film that turned out to be the cult classic of Bollywood, and the only one action film which comes to mind.
The unsurpassable
blockbuster film created havoc at the box office after its hit the theatres in 1975. The film featured the Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead roles. Notably, the success of Sholay marked this twosome as the success charm for the producers.
They shared screen space in several films in lead roles, cameos or guest appearances. Chupke Chupke, Hum Kaun Hai, Guddi and Charandas are some of them. Their last film together was Ram Balram written-directed by Vijay Anand released in 1980.
After this, they appeared in brief roles i other films but never shared the screen as a lead duo. The pairing of Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, the then superstars of Bollywood, has been liked by the people a lot. On hearing the names of these two, people would rush to the ticket window to watch the film. Any film in which this pair appeared was guaranteed to be a hit. Ram Balram also grossed high at the box office.
Ram Balram was a typical masala film featuring four seasoned actors. Besides Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, the film also featured Zeenat Aman and Rekha in the lead roles. Interestingly, amidst the film’s shoot, India was under a state of emergency. The filmmakers believed that had it not been for the emergency, they could have chosen even more impressive shooting locations.
Regardless this challenging circumstance, approximately 95 per cent of the film had been completed by the time the emergency was lifted.
And also notwithstanding the challenging conditions in India like the Emergency at that time, this film was a super hit. The budget for Ram Balram was approximately Rs 2 crore 10 lakh. In terms of box office collections, the film performed exceptionally and grossed over Rs 4.5 crore in India and
Rs 7 crore worldwide.
The success positioned Ram Balram as the third-highest-grossing film of 1980, underlining its popularity with audiences amidst that time.
News Edit KV Raman
