Ramesh Sippy, director of the 1975 Bollywood classic cinderReminisced about the making of the film and said that he ‘couldn’t make another film.’ cinder When he delivered the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival.
,cinder What started as a two-line idea, maybe a four-line idea… this is a film that Salim-Javed put on paper very well. Once we had finalized the entire script, Javed [Akhtar] Saheb came to the office… I told him only one thing: the character of Gabbar, I envision a very impulsive, very narcissistic kind of character, who will smile and lash out the next moment,” Mr Sippy said, talking about the introduction of one of the most important characters of the film by the film’s screenwriter duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.
He said that, after that conversation, Mr. Akhtar wrote the first scene and narrated the scene to Mr. Sippy. “I knew immediately that he had caught it, it was what I wanted,” Mr Sippy said on KIFF.
This year, cinderAn action-adventure Bollywood epic, directed by Mister Sippy and written by Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, is celebrating 50 years of its release on August 15, 1975. The film’s soundtrack was designed by the renowned RD Burman, who Mr Sippy, in his address at KIFF, called by his nickname ‘Pancham’ and emphasized that he was from West Bengal.
He said, “There were no lines between Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. There was silence, there was a lamp and there was music, which Pancham – RD Burman of Bengal – played beautifully. He created a mouth organ piece and it was a masterpiece.”
Mr. Sippy said that in the beginning, the story of cinder It was initially conceived around two “mischievous boys and a military gentleman who misses them”. But he said it was changed to the name of a former police officer because the filmmaker feared difficulties in consulting and obtaining permission from the Indian Army during filming.
Mr. Sippy also recalled the casting process behind cinderHe said that actor Dharmendra, who played the role of Veeru in the film, had initially proposed to act in the role of Thakur Baldev Singh, for which Sanjeev Kumar was cast, and the role of Gabbar Singh, which was eventually given to actor Amjad Khan. Amidst laughter, Mr Sippy claimed that Mr Dharmendra finally decided to play the role of Veeru after hearing that Basanti, played by Hema Malini, was Veeru’s love interest.
,[Dharmendra] There was a lot of light-heartedness about it, but it was a real feeling with all of them… All the roles were well conceived, well presented, well written,” Mr Sippy said while addressing the audience at Sisir Manch in Kolkata on Friday, November 7.
cinder The director also talked about people’s expectations on making ‘Ek Aur’ cinder as a sequel to his box-office magnum opus, saying he couldn’t do that when people haven’t forgotten the original film.
“I recently had the opportunity to be in Toronto a few months ago for the Toronto Film Festival. The audiences in Toronto reacted exactly the same way they did in Bombay 50 years ago. How can you beat that? It’s not possible. It’s better to keep trying something else… but it can’t cinder” Mr Sippy said in his address.
He said people’s “expectations are such” that a second Sholay would not be possible.
Mr Sippy also spoke about the films that inspired him during production cinderReferring to B.Uch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) also the magnificent Seven (1960). ,the magnificent Seven was inspired by seven samurai by Akira Kurosawa… I saw Akira Kurosawa’s film later, but at the time I was making [Sholay]I had seen the magnificent Seven,” He said.
In his address as part of the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture, Mr Sippy advised current filmmaking students to do their best and not think that “cinema’s time is over”.
“There will be more cinema in the times to come, and I am sure, it will make its place again… not every person may have the same taste… so please carry this with you as a very positive feeling. Don’t think that cinema is dead, it is very much alive. And then when that hit comes, you wonder, where did that audience come from? They come, they always come back when there is a good film,” Mr Sippy said.
published – November 09, 2025 08:14 am IST