By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
Ramesh Sippy is a name to reckon with in the Hindi cinema. The director, who learnt the intricacies of film making from his father, is known for blockbuster “Sholay” ( 1975) featuring Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini & Amjad Khan. Initially Danny was to enact Gabbar Singh but owing to his busy schedule it went to Amjad Khan & what a role he played . He virtually ruled the roost. The cinegoers in general and those coming from villages and smaller towns in particular, liked his style of dialogue delivery. The film which was earlier declared a run- of-the- mill stuff , began doing wonders simply by word-of-mouth publicity, thereby making it super-duper hit. The film cost 3.5 crore and earned 35 crore. In 1940s “Kismet” (1943) directed by Gyan Mukherjee featuring Ashok Kumar & Mumtaz Shanti, and “Rattan” ( 1944) Produced by A. R. Kardar and directed by M. Sadiq starring Karan Dewan and Swaran Lata held the record of being the most successful films ever made. ‘Mughal-E-Azam” (1960) & ” Ganga Jumna” (1961) were the other highest grossing films.” Sholay” received 9 Filmfare Nominations winning 1 for Best Editing (M. S. Shinde). I saw “Sholay” In Bombay in February 1976;an old gentleman helped me get the ticket.
“Andaz” ( 1971), ” Seeta Aur Geeta”( 1972), “Shaan” (1980) & “Shakti” ( 1982) were some of the other films directed by Ramesh Sippy whose father G.P. Sippy produced most of his films including some others like “Mere Sanam” (1965) and “Brahamchari” (1968). Ramesh Sippy also directed a successful teleserial ” Buniyaad” in late 1980s. Two of his above mentioned films- “Seeta Aur Geeta ” & “Andaz” received major chunk of profit from Soviet Union. The former won Best Actress Award ( Hema Malini) & Best Cinematography (P.Vaikunth) at the 20th Filmfare Awards. The latter won Best Lyricist Award (Hasrat Jaipuri) for “Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana”.His other films “Shaan”(1980) & “Shakti”(1982) ,though multi-starrer, released after “Sholay” could not repeat the same charisma. The latter surely won 4 Filmfare Awards out of 8 Nominations. “Saajan” & “Phool Aur Kaante” (1991) did far better business than “Akayla” (1991). After “Zamaana Deewana” (1995) his last release was “Shimla Mirchi” (2020). Ramesh Sippy & Hema Malini were also invited to take part in one of the episodes of KBC.
Married to actress Kiran Juneja, Ramesh Sippy was Bestowed with Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.His directorial venture “Saagar” also produced by G. P. Sippy, starring Dimple Kapadia ,Rishi Kapoor & Kamal Haasan, received 10 Filmfare Nominations winning 4 – Best Actor (Kamal Haasan), Best Actress (Dimple) Best Playback (Kishore Kumar) & Best Cinematography (S.M. Anwar) in 1986.Honoured with Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years Award for “Sholay” in 2005. Also honoured with Padma Shri in 2013.
Born this Day in 1947.
