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VijayDinanathChavan wrote:
Isn't/wasn't it 70mm always Cinemascope?
no
both are widescreen formats, but not the same!******************************************************************
NewDeep wrote:
the debate was also abt cinemascope
i still maintain sholay (rel in theatres in 1975) was never cinemascope except for the recent redone version (in the last few years) that also had dolby sound remastering and which was screened only in select theatres in mumbai.
This is the "redone version" I was ref to:: TIMES OF INDIA; 13 Aug 2004, 0402 hrs IST, Shabana Ansari, TNN Twenty-nine years after India's first 70 mm film created history all over the country, cinegoers can savour the magic of its digitally
spruced-up avatar.
'Sholay', Ramesh Sippy's 1975 curry western that went on to acquire quasi-cult status, is all set to hit Mumbai's cinema halls today.
Rehmat Enterprises, a little-known distribution house, which acquired the distribution rights in January, is also set to re-release 'Shaan', another Sippy multi-starrer, next month.
The distribution rights for both films, however, have been granted for only one year and only for Mumbai - after which Sippy Films plans to re-release them on a bigger scale all over India.
Released on August 15, 1975, with novelties like a 70 mm format and stereophonic sound, 'Sholay' ran for five successive years at Minerva.
The film has subsequently been telecast several times but Liaqat Gola, MD of Rehmat Enterprises, is undeterred by the possibility that the re-release may not re-capture audience attention.
"Our target viewers for this cult film are the youth who have only heard of the 'Sholay magic' from their parents," he says.
So will the youth be captivated? "It's hard to predict whether the upgraded version will be able to recreate the earlier magic, because it takes business acumen to sell a product," says Amitabh Bachchan.
"And since I am neither the producer nor the distributor but simply one of the actors in one of the greatest movies of all times, I can only hope that the film does well even today. But it is exciting to know that it's creating a buzz even after 29 years."
Javed Akhtar, who scripted the film along with Salim Khan, says that the 'Sholay' magic is "timeless and deeply embedded in the Indian psyche".
"In the history of Indian cinema, no other film has enjoyed Sholay's stature," he says. "There have been innumerable spoofs and references, not just on print and television, but also in other movies."
The film has been upgraded to a cinemascope version with four-track sound, using a software called 'Liquidgate' at a reported cost of Rs 80,000 per print.
Meanwhile, city theatres on Thursday were all geared up to revive the Jai-Veeru magic. Minerva's general manager Sushil Mehra-who, incidentally, was working at the same post when 'Sholay' was first released-is optimistic about the success of the upgraded version.
"But though it will attract audiences in hordes, it won't be like the first time," he says. "It was pure madness back then."
Veteran actor A K Hangal, who played the blind 'maulvi' in the film, feels that the new version will be able to recreate the old magic. "It is very sad that stalwarts like Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan, who carried the film on their shoulders, are not around to see that 'Sholay' remains one of the most-talked-about films even after three decades," he says.
At Imax Adlabs in Wadala, 50 per cent of the tickets for the two shows have been sold out.
"Judging from the good response, the film will gain a new theatre-going audience, especially the younger generation, who may have seen the film on TV but might not have had the chance to catch the action on the big screen," says Sachin Shetty, GM of Imax.
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BTW, Around The World was also 70mm and it came out before Sholay.
Till date, no known VHS or DVD of Sholay has a Censor Cert saying, "Gauge = 70mm" . Neither does any Censor Cert of any version of Sholay, barring possibly the Rehmat Enterprises version noted above, says "Sholay - Cinemascope". All known Censor Certs say "Gauge = 35mm" --- And all refer to the title of the movie not as Sholay but as Sholay Revised or Sholay Sanshodhit -- this indicates the final theatrical version. Check out your dvd or vhs!
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