Sholay - Legacy

Legacy

Sholay has inspired many films and television broadcasts, and has spawned a whole sub-genre of films, namely the "Curry Western", which is a play on the term Spaghetti Western. Sholay is also considered the most important of the early Masala films, which popularized this genre in India. The film was also a watershed for scriptwriters, who were not paid very well until Sholay. Film scriptwriting has become a more respected and lucrative profession since then.

After Sholay, Amitabh Bachchan went on to become one of the biggest stars in the Indian film industry. Sholay is often credited with making Bachchan a "Superstar", two years after he became a star with Zanjeer (1973). The success of the film cemented Bachchan's status as the biggest superstar of the Indian film industry thereafter. However, some of the supporting actors never escaped the shadow of their hit film. After three decades, even the minor characters are used in ads, promos, films and sit coms. Amjad Khan, who played the bandit Gabbar Singh played many villainous roles later in his career. He played Gabbar Singh again in the 1991 spoof Ramgarh Ke Sholay. He also reprised the role in a commercial for biscuits. Comedian Jagdeep, who played Soorma Bhopali in the film, attempted to use his Sholay success to create a spinoff. He directed and played the lead role in the 1988 film Soorma Bhopali. Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan also played cameos in the film.

Another attempt to trade on Sholay's fame was Ram Gopal Varma's film Aag (2007), which was pulled from theaters after two weeks. Aag was originally also called Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay and was apparently meant to be a tribute to and "in the spirit of Sholay." The name was changed to Aag after legal action was taken by the makers of the original Sholay. Amitabh Bachchan played the villain, Babban Singh. The film was a disaster.

Due to television and home media, Sholay is widely available and still popular. In 1996, Sholay was first shown on the Indian government-run Doordarshan television channel, and drew good ratings. To this day, a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where the film was shot) is offered to tourists traveling through Ramanagara, located on the road between Bangalore and Mysore.

Sholay has been the subject of at least two books. Wimal Dissanayake and Malti Sahai's Sholay, A Cultural Reading (1992), attempts a comprehensive scholarly study that sets the film within the broader history of popular cinema in India. Anupama Chopra's Sholay: The Making of a Classic (2001) is an inside look at the film's production, based on interviews with the director, stars, and crew members.

In 2004, Sholay was digitally remastered and shown again to packed theaters in India, including the Minerva, where it had run successfully 29 years earlier. As of 2011, Subhash Ghai was reportedly in negotiations to convert the film to 3D format, but in March 2012, it was reported that Shaan Uttam Singh, the grandson of GP Sippy said he was bringing the film to 3D, to be released on 15 August 2012, however the release was delayed to avoid competition with another highly anticipated film Ek Tha Tiger. It is not known exactly when it will release now.