BIRTHDAY SPECIAL G.P SIPPY: WHO MADE MANY GREAT FILMS BY ALI PETER JOHN

It was August 15, 1975! I turned twenty-five in June and had fulfilled a promise I had made to myself. I got a steady job at the “Screen” weekly after spending two of the best years of my life with the biggest one-man organization called Khawaja. Ahmed Abbas (K.A. Abbas) from whom I learned more than anything I had learned in all the years before I was extremely blessed to meet him and work with him. I told myself that, before the age of twenty-five I would give my life some meaning or I knew I would do nothing in life! It was not an idea that came from a book or a guru, it was an idea that came from a village boy who decided that he would pursue a goal and not be defeated by what or who might happen... It was Abbas Saheb who gave me my first assignment to write the cover story of a leading magazine called “Debonair” and I don't know how I excelled in it and the management came to celebrate the success of the sales of the magazine. He organized a party for it, which he said was because of my story. The party took place at The Oberoi and the best part for me was the presence of Abbas Sahab (whom I always refer to as Abbas Sahab) and the reaction I got from some of the older people was so heady that I found myself dead in a drunken stupor Went! A police constable sat on a wooden bench at a distant railway station and had to pay a hundred rupees to sleep on that bench till the first train arrived.

It was August 15, 1975 and there was an atmosphere of excitement throughout the country! It was Independence Day and it was also the day when “Sholay” was about to release. A grand premiere was arranged at The Minerva in Bombay and like all big premieres the industry was invited, but I was not part of the industry and I was no body to be invited to such a grand event. , but I wanted to attend this one event. I couldn't sleep that night and kept making desperate plans about entering Minerva. I reached the office a little early and was surprised to find my editor, Mr. S.S.Pillai, in his cabin. Job at “Screen”, he was kind enough to keep me in the job, even when I failed to keep my promise to learn typing (something I still haven't learned fifty years later and will regret all my life), He gave me the kind of work I could not even dream of, he sent me by air to foreign places and let me stay in five star hotels when I was living in a “hut”. Well, they paid me four hundred and fifty rupees when I was expecting only one hundred and fifty rupees! On the way to my cabin, I wondered if he could do another miracle for me and arrange for me to attend the premiere of “Sholay”. He made me sit and asked for two cups of tea and then his eyes lit up. He asked me if I would like to go to the premiere of “Sholay”. What could I tell him? Before I could answer him, he put his ticket in my hand and said,

When I reached Minerva my still young eyes were dazzling. The movie started. It was supposed to be a 70. mm print, but the print did not arrive on time and a 35.mm print was screened. It was shocking to see the audience becoming restless and by the time the interval came, people had already given their verdict on “Sholay”. It was a flop, he said, and there was no chance of saving it. The decision was very serious and became more serious with every scene, dialogue and song. The worst happened when people from the industry refused to even congratulate the unit members. There was silence of the graveyard all around.

On the way to Grant Road station, some learned critics were heard talking about how the film was a poor copy of some western films of the other or a black and white called “Khote Sikki” made and directed here with Firoz Khan. There was also a copy of the film. By Narinder Bedi, the man who after watching “Godfather” openly said that he could make ten films or be inspired by it. And some even went to the cruel extent of comparing the climax with the climax of Dara Singh's film. And some criticized Ramesh Sippy for his choice of Amjad Khan to play the role of Gabbar Singh and felt that his original choice of Danny Denzongpa or Shatrughan Sinha would have been far better. There were trade magazines like “Trade Guide” and “Film Information”. "Which were supposed to be the last words to the box-office and their editors,

Shri B.K. Adarsh ​​and Shri Ramraj Nahata said that “Sholay” will not run for more than three days….

Yes, they were right. “Sholay” did not run for three days. It gained momentum on the third day. And then it didn't stop running for the next five years and still continues to run to full houses whenever and wherever it is released.

Now it's been forty-five years and Sholay itself is history. Gpsippy, the producer made many other films before and after, but he will always be remembered as the producer of “Sholay”. Ramesh Sippy, his son has directed “Andaz”, “Sita Aur Geeta”, “Shaan”, “Saagar”, “Shakti”, “Akayla” and other films and major serials like “Buniyaad” and recently “ “Shimla” has been directed. Mirch” is a small film that went completely unnoticed, but he would have to live the rest of his life as the producer of “Sholay”. Salim and Javed have separated long ago. Sanjeev Kumar, Jalal Aga, A.K.Hangal, Mac Mohan, Major Anand, Viju Khote and Amjad Khan are all now part of history and so are RD Burman, Anand Bakshi and Dwarka Divecha and K. There is Vaikuntha. The only witnesses to a grand piece of history are Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jagdeep, Sachin and Amitabh and his wife Jaya.

Why couldn't we make another “Sholay” in the last forty-five years? Will this question be answered? Will this question echo in the corridors of time and the pages of history?

It takes time to recognize good work, but it definitely happens. “Sholay” will also be remembered on this 15th August and as long as films are made, no one will be able to forget “Sholay”.