SHOLAY - THE FINAL CUT

Described as a “curry western,” filmmaker Ramesh Sippy’s SHOLAY is a landmark of Indian cinema that is a mosaic of all genres: an action-thriller, revenge drama, comedy and tragedy told through song and dance, set to music by the iconic composer R.D. Burman. The film tells the story of former police officer Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar), who recruits his best friends and small-time crooks — the charming Veeru (Dharmendra) and brooding, taciturn Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) — to capture the dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), who is terrorizing Thakur’s village, Ramgarh. Inspired by films like Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, Akira Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI and John Sturges’ THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, SHOLAY is a monumental epic that was one of the first Indian films shown in 70mm. The film took two-and-a-half years to make and became an enormous hit, setting a national box office record that would not be broken for 19 years. (Note adapted from the Film Heritage Foundation.) DIR Ramesh Sippy; SCR Salim—Javed; PROD G. P. Sippy. India, 1975, color, 204 min. In Hindi with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Restored by Film Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Sippy Films. Funding provided by Sippy Films. SHOLAY was restored using the best surviving elements: an interpositive and two-color reversal intermediates found in a warehouse in the UK and a second interpositive dating from 1978 deposited by Sippy Films and preserved by Film Heritage Foundation. The sound was restored using the original sound negative, and the magnetic soundtrack preserved by Film Heritage Foundation. The film was originally shot on 35mm and blown up to 70mm for release. No 70mm prints of the film survive. The original camera negative was severely damaged due to heavy vinegar syndrome with coil adhesion and halos, overcoat deterioration both on the base side and emulsion side, and base distortion. This restoration of the film in 4K includes the original ending as well as two deleted scenes and with the original 70mm aspect ratio of 2.2:1.

Run Time: 204 Minutes

Opening Date: Saturday, May 23, 2026

Genre: Action

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