Bollywood's phenomenal all time blockbuster 'Sholay' starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini and Amjad Khan will turn 40 on 15th August, 2015.
The iconic film directed by Ramesh Sippy, which released four decades ago on this day in 1975, refuses to age as compared to many other films which age with time. Since its release, the film has proven to be simply timeless and an inspiration to the Bollywood fraternity.
Our very own B-Town stars got all nostalgic about this moment. Here's what a few of them had to say.
Abhishek Bachchan: "The thing I love about Sholay is even if you see it today, it's very contemporary. A lot of films age, I feel Sholay is ageless. It is as close to what we can get to a perfect masala potboiler that we have. Even if you see it today, it's very believable. It's an iconic film, my entire childhood has been full of hearing stories of Salim-Javed uncle, Ramesh uncle, my parents and those were such wonderful stories. I believe the film was shot over three years. There were great anecdotes. Rohan, Ramesh uncle's son went to school with me and we did films together as well. Sholay is the greatest film we have ever made and we are very happy that it is here, 40 years down the line. To make a film 40 years ago, that even today's youth can connect with, I think that would be something all of us would aspire to do at some point."
Salman Khan: "I remember we went to see the premiere of Sholay. Arbaaz and I were in Scindia school, so we were dressed in our school blazers when our father took us there, the film surprisingly for two weeks was a huge disaster. Apparently, they went back to shoot the climax to make Bachchan saab relive in the movie but after two weeks, it just took it to the next level."
Akshay Kumar: "It will be injustice to remake 'Sholay', No actor can do justice to the roles played by Bachchanji and Dharmendra ji. The film is very close to my heart and 'Gabbar is Back' was the result of my attachment to 'Sholay'."
Indeed what the stars had to say about the film is true as the film had some of the most iconic dialogues ever written and it also made the late great Amjad Khan an overnight sensation and a household name through his role of 'Gabbar Singh', a character which is still remembered today.
Well, all said and done, 'Sholay' has indeed stood true to its name since its release as the film was a raging inferno at the box office and still to this day has the capability to be a crowd puller.