By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
हवा के साथ साथ घटा के संग संग
ओ साथी चल मुझे लेके साथ चल तू
यूँ ही दिन-रात चल तू सम्भल मेरे साथ चल तू
ले हाथों में हाथ चल तू ओ साथी चल
In Ramesh Sippy’s ” Sholay” 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 starring Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini & Amjad Khan 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 for being the most successful films ever made. Kardar’s “Rattan” cost the producer 75000 rupee and the music composer Naushad was reportedly paid 25000,an exorbitant sum, as his fee.
“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.I watched “Sholay” in Bombay in February 1976;an old gentleman helped me get the ticket.
