Career
Ramesh visited the sets of the film Sazaa, his father's first film, when he was 6 years old. His first film job came when he was 9 years old, when he played Achala Sachdev's son in Shahenshah. He worked in both the production and direction departments in films like Johar-Mehmood in Goa and Mere Sanam, which his father was producing. He worked for 7 years as an assistant before becoming the director of Andaz, in 1971. Although this was only a moderate success, his second film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) was highly successful.
In 1975 he directed Sholay which went on to become the biggest blockbuster in Bollywood film history and won lots of acclaim. Sholay still remains one of the biggest blockbuster films in Hindi film history and remains one of the favourites for Hindi film audiences globally. The film is notable for the memorable performance of the late actor Amjad Khan in the legendary villain role of Gabbar Singh. While Sholay was a tribute to Westerns, his next film Shaan in 1980 was inspired by the James Bond films. This film was notable for the villain Shakaal (portrayed by Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who was inspired by the James Bond villain Blofeld. In 1982 he brought together veteran actor Dilip Kumar and the current superstar of the time Amitabh Bachchan in Shakti. While the film was only moderately successful, it won the Filmfare Best Movie Award. In 1985 he directed Saagar which was considered a comeback film for Dimple Kapadia.
He directed a successful television serial titled Buniyaad which focused on the India and Pakistan Partition and originally aired on Indian television channel Doordarshan in 1987. The last three films he directed, Bhrashtachar (1989), Akayla (1991), and Zamana Deewana (1995) were box office flops and he has since not directed any film.
His string of hits with Amitabh made him one of the golden directors who had a special working relationship with Amitabh Bachchan (Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, and Hrishikesh Mukherjee being the other four). In 2005 he received the Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years award for his legendary film, Sholay.
He has since produced films directed by his son Rohan Sippy which were Kuch Naa Kaho (2003), Bluffmaster (2005) and Dum Maro Dum (2011). In 2006 he produced Taxi No. 9211 which was directed by Milan Luthria. In 2008 he produced Kunal Roy Kapoor's The President is Coming as well as the Akshay Kumar-Deepika Padukone film, Chandni Chowk to China, directed by Nikhil Advani.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)
“He was at a starting point which makes many a man’s career a fine subject for betting, if there were any gentlemen given to that amusement who could appreciate the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose, with all the possible thwartings and furtherings of circumstance, all the niceties of inward balance, by which a man swings and makes his point or else is carried headlong.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)