Mumbai, Aug. 15 -- Ramesh Sippy's "Sholay" (1975) today completed half a century since its release, continuing to be a towering milestone in Indian cinematic history, an epic that redefined the grammar of mainstream Hindi filmmaking.
Backed by G.P. Sippy and penned by Salim-Javed, the film drew inspiration from Hollywood Westerns like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Once Upon a Time in the West", as well as Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". This audacious blend birthed what critics later dubbed a "curry Western", a dacoit drama infused with masala entertainment and cinematic flair unprecedented in its time.
To match the magnitude of the American westerns, "Sholay" was to be India's first 70 mm film with stereophonic sound, but d...