[Archivio]
La locandina è pura meraviglia e ne vorrei una gigantografia a casa. Il film è un magnifico classicone. Amitabh Bachchan è DIO e ciò vi basti. Insomma: impossibile averne abbastanza di Sholay, il titolo più celebre e amato della cinematografia popolare in lingua hindi e forse del cinema indiano. Il 24 luglio 2010 Hindustan Times pubblicava un bell'articolo, 35 years on, the Sholay fire still burns, dedicato alla pellicola:
'It drew its inspiration from multiple Hollywood movies but went on to become the quintessential Indian film, perfectly balancing drama and tragedy, romance and violence, comedy and action. (...) Sometimes described as an Indian curry western, Sholay is still a reference point for Indian cinema and impossible to pin down to any one genre. (...) Director Ramesh Sippy was called a magician for the spell he cast. (...) "We had no idea that this will become such a huge film. We conceived an idea and when we started working on the screenplay, gradually it dawned on us that the film has more than two important characters," Javed Akhtar, who co-scripted the cult film with Saleem Khan, told IANS. "After 35 years, even the minor characters are used in ads, promos, films and sit coms," he said.
Ironically, there were few takers when Sholay, which translates to fire, released Aug 15, 1975. At three hours and 20 minutes, it was deemed too long. But, in an era where there was no television and no effective visual marketing tools, word of mouth worked. It ran for five years straight at Mumbai's Minerva theatre, for instance. "No multistarrer worked as Sholay did. It's got everything. It was a complete package. Initially, in the first two weeks, it didn't do well but it picked up from the third week onwards and became an overnight sensation," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh. "It remains the box office gold standard, a reference point for both the Indian film-going audience and the film industry. For Sholay is not merely a film, it is the ultimate classic," film critic Anupama Chopra wrote. (...)
Technologically, too, the movie was one of its kind - Sholay was India's first 70mm film and also the first stereophonic sound movie. (...) Produced by G.P. Sippy at a budget of about Rs.3 crore at that time, it was completed by Ramesh Sippy over a period of two-and-a-half years. It was released with as many as 250 prints. Scriptwriter duo Salim-Javed wrote themselves into posterity, their dialogues being mouthed across the country. They were at their creative best, from scripting action scenes, to flavouring it with romance and comedy, they served the tastiest ever curry for Indian audiences. (...) Sholay still has to its credit a standing record of 60 golden jubilees across India. It was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate a silver jubilee at over 100 theatres across the country. The plaudits have never stopped. In 1999, BBC India declared it as the film of the millennium. Its run at the Bollywood box office even caught the attention of the Guinness Book of World Records, where it was inducted for its five-year run'.
