Sholay to strike back on the big screen

By IndiaFM News Bureau, July 29th, 2004 - 1230 hrs IST



The old is gold trend seems to be getting revived. So after K.Asif's Mughal-e-Azam and B.R.Chopra's Naya Daur are being brought back to life on the big screen in brand new prints and colored formats, Ramesh Sippy's blockbuster hit Sholay is the latest to join the league. Sippy's plans to make a sequel to Sholay may have gone bust but the re-release of his classic film is sure to happen next month.

Rehmat Enterprises have acquired the rights of Sholay from G.P.Sippy Productions and are upgrading the film to the current cinemascope version with fourth track sound, from its original 70 mm print and stereophonic sound format. They are planning to re-release the film in theatres on August 13. Incidentally the film was released on around the same period (August 15, 1975), 29 years ago. The film ran to packed houses for a period of 6 years in the Minerva theatre of Mumbai and created a record of sorts at that time.

The company is quite optimistic that the classic film in new version would gain a new theatre-going audience esp. the younger generation, who though may have seen the film on TV/VCD/DVD several times, but might not have had the chance to catch the action on the big screen. The company is also planning to revive Sippy's another cult classic Shaan a month after Sholay's re-release.

hopefully
BEI gets the rights for these newly made prints for dvd

get ready for eros super edition, 3 disc on dvd!

No Hungama in Zulm on the re-release of Sholay yet?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/812630.cms

Bollywood's I-Day gift: 'Sholay' re-run

Reviving old classics seems to the latest fad in Bollywood. Even as BR Chopra's Naya Daur and K Asif's Mughal-e-Azam are being digitally spruced up for a re-release, another cult film Sholay is all set to hit cinema halls this Friday, 29 years after its initial release.

Rehmat Enterprises, a little-known distribution house, is re-releasing an upgraded version of Ramesh Sippy's record-breaking film in Mumbai theatres on August 13, to coincide with the 29th anniversary of Sholay 's first release.

The company acquired the distribution rights in January from CEEPEE Films, a sister concern of Sippy's production house GP Films. Rehmat Enterprises has also acquired the rights of another Sippy blockbuster Shaan and will re-release it in September this year.

The distribution rights for both the films are however granted only for a year and only in Mumbai after which GP Films plans to rerelease Sholay and Shaan on a bigger scale all over India. Both parties are tight-lipped about the figures involved in the deal.

Released on August 15,1975 on 70 mm film with stereophonic sound, Sholay reached cult status after it ran for five successive years at Minerva, three years in the regular shows and two in the matinee.

The film has also been shown on various satellite channels. However, Liaqat Gola, MD of Rehmat Enterprises is undeterred by the possibility that the re-release may not re-capture audience attention.

"Our target viewers for this cult film are the youth who have only heard of the Sholay magic from their parents," Gola says.

The film has been upgraded to a cinemascope version with four-track sound using a software called 'Liquidgate' at a reported cost of Rs 80,000 per print

Meanwhile, city theatres on Thursday were all geared up to revive the Jai-Veeru magic. General manager of Minerva, Sushil Mehra who incidentally was working on the same post during Sholay 's release in 1975, is optimistic about the success of the upgraded version.

"Though it will attract audiences in hordes, it will not be like the first time. It was pure madness back then," recalls Mehra.

At Imax Adlabs in Wadala, 50 per cent tickets for the two shows have been sold out. "Judging from the good response, the film will gain a new theatre-going audience especially the younger generation, who may have seen the film on TV but not on the big screen," says Sachin Shetty, GM of Imax.

Sholay re-released in Mumbai circuit on 15 prints gets a better initial than KHGN on seat utilization basis.The first day saw a 85-90% response for this classic blockbuster.

thats a pretty good opening for Sholay.....

one of my fave films, I wish it was releasing in the US...