When Sholay was released initially it was advertised that it was shot in 70mm--

Ali

What this gang is trying to persue is that the producers made false statements-Why was it not questioned at that time.Or is it just RANA_ARSH et DRAGUN trying to regain their lost glory..

Is there a disagreement on this thread--
Argument does not hold.
How successful was the gang warfare on the BEI thread.Even the BEI dvds freeze..Come on gang wake up and smell the coffee

wake up and smell the coffee

Actually, the poster says "70 mm AND Stereophonic Sound"

Sholay was India's first 70mm widescreen film and also boasted stereophonic sound. However, since actual 70mm cameras were deemed too expensive to be used to shoot the epic actioner, the movie instead was shot on traditional 35mm film and the 4:3 picture was subsequently blown up, cropped and matted to a 2.20:1 frame. This also proved cost-effective in that separate 35mm prints would be needed anyway since few theatres in India were equipped to show widescreen films.

Now, here's where the complications set in. In the weeks leading up to Sholay's premiere, India's censor board revealed that they were refusing to clear the film for release as they objected to its violent final scene and ordered director Ramesh Sippy to shoot a more 'sanitised' climax if he wanted his hard work to make it to the cinema halls...
The original, unedited cut of the film finally saw the light of day in 1990 on a British VHS release taken from a 35mm open matte print (the 70mm negatives for the director's version are no longer in usable condition) and, unfortunately, it is from this same video source that Eros have brought Sholay in its uncensored form to DVD.

I do remember the scene but has to depend on Subtitles so miss lots of the dialogue.Also when this movie was hown in the theatre it was always sold out with most of the audience cheering.Watching movies was more a social thing plus leaving the cinema at intervals etc etc....

While the coffee invitations go around, let me post a poser,

Does your DVD (Eros, DEI, Ultra, Carlotta) or VHS or any other media have Amitabh saying the first line or the second line (when Dharam is trying to teach Hema how to shoot)

"Tatiya tope ke potay hai" << First

"James Bond ke potay hai’’. << Second

Try to remember what you heard in the theatre too

I do beleive you and I was not trying to offend you in any way.
You are welcome anytime-
By the way is the invitation mutual.

I have Eros/DEI dvd, which has James Bond dialog, where as my friend has Sholay VHS (recorded from TV Asia channel), has Tatya Tope dialog.

I thought, James Bond/Tatya Tope dialog may have something to do with patent/trade mark issue in USA.

'Sholay' grew from paper into plans, and it gained weight and size and ambition.The Sippy's wanted to make 'Sholay' the biggest and the best adventure film ever, and they would make no compromises. The traditional 35mm format, they felt, wouldn't do justice to their vision. They were aiming for epic grandeur. So a decision was made: 'Sholay' would be India's first 70mm film with stereophonic sound. The 70mm film format offered double the size. The major Hollywood action movies at the time, such as 'Mckenna's Gold', were shot in this format because it gave the viewer, quite literally, a big movie experience. But the decision to do 'Sholay' in this format added another layer of compliations. Shooting in 70mm wasn't easy. It required huge camera's which could take 70mm film. Importing the camera's was an expensive proposition. The most practical solution was to shoot on 35mm and then blow it up for 70mm. The format was screen-tested. Divecha suggested putting aground glass in front of the camera lens, on which Kamlakar Rao, a young but technically skilled cameraman, made markings so the margins of the 70mm frame could be identified. Ramesh's brother Ajit, who lived in London, forwarded the test to Paris, where a 70mm print was made. The print came back with further instructions on how to perfect the technique. A 70mm film also required bigger screens, and most theatres in India weren't equipped for it. The Sippy's decided to have two sets of negatives, one in 70mm and the other one in 35mm. In practical terms, this meant that every shot would have to be done twice. Each decision added to the cost.

This explains why the movie was very different when it was shown at the city cinema after it completed its run at the contry one.
Explanation==
The contry cinema was in existence long before had smaller screen and had binding contracts with the distributers to have first release always.
The city cinema was newer with a larger screen and sterephonic sound and catered for the American or Brish films.
Sholay changed the future for both cinemas..

'Sholay' grew from paper into plans, and it gained weight and size and ambition.The Sippy's wanted to make 'Sholay' the biggest and the best adventure film ever, and they would make no compromises. The traditional 35mm format, they felt, wouldn't do justice to their vision. They were aiming for epic grandeur. So a decision was made: 'Sholay' would be India's first 70mm film with stereophonic sound. The 70mm film format offered double the size. The major Hollywood action movies at the time, such as 'Mckenna's Gold', were shot in this format because it gave the viewer, quite literally, a big movie experience. But the decision to do 'Sholay' in this format added another layer of compliations. Shooting in 70mm wasn't easy. It required huge camera's which could take 70mm film. Importing the camera's was an expensive proposition. The most practical solution was to shoot on 35mm and then blow it up for 70mm. The format was screen-tested. Divecha suggested putting aground glass in front of the camera lens, on which Kamlakar Rao, a young but technically skilled cameraman, made markings so the margins of the 70mm frame could be identified. Ramesh's brother Ajit, who lived in London, forwarded the test to Paris, where a 70mm print was made. The print came back with further instructions on how to perfect the technique. A 70mm film also required bigger screens, and most theatres in India weren't equipped for it. The Sippy's decided to have two sets of negatives, one in 70mm and the other one in 35mm. In practical terms, this meant that every shot would have to be done twice. Each decision added to the cost.

The original camera negative (OCN) is the film in a motion picture camera which captures the original image. The size of a standard roll varies depending on the film gauge and whether or not a new roll, re-can, or short end was used. Typically the film lab will then assemble the camera rolls into lab rolls of 1200 to 1500 feet. Workprints may be made for viewing dailies or editing the picture on film. Once the picture has been "locked" in editing, a negative cutter will conform the negative using the keycode as a reference, cutting the OCN and any opticals, and cementing it together into several rolls. This is then quickly copied to create a safety backup print. At this point, an answer print will be created from the OCN, and upon its approval, interpositives (IPs) and internegatives (INs) are created, from which the release prints are made. Generally speaking, the OCN is considered too important and delicate to be used for any processes more than necessary, as each pass through a lab process carries the risk of further degrading the quality of the negative. Once an answer print is approved, the IPs and INs are regarded as the earliest generation of the finished and graded film, and are almost always used for transfers to video or new film restorations. The OCN is usually regarded as a last resort in the event that all of the intermediate elements have been compromised or lost. Ironically, the more popular a film is, the higher the likelihood that the original negative is in a worse shape, due to the need to return to the OCN in order to strike new IPs to replace the exhausted ones and thus create more INs and release prints.

10. Interesting the film was shot both in 35mm and 70mm for two reasons. First - most of the theatres in india were 35mm and second - Blowing up 35mm to 70mm made no sense because it would effect the quality. So all the talkie scenes excpet the action ones were shot twice. Maybe thats why there r two versions of the dialogues when Amitabh says ’’ Tatiya tope ke pothe hai’’ and the other version ’’ James Bond ke pothe hai’’.

Plus, if the 70mm version indeed is different, how would we ever know how the smoke blew during 70mm shoot, because all DVDs seem to be from 35mm source But then, none of this is proven... it's all mythology

I'm not sure, but I thought that DEI-EROS and/ or other widescreen DVDs are from '70mm print' or from '70mm converted to 35 mm cinemascope' print ??