Uncut ‘Sholay’ set for global premiere

Shehzad Sippy, the grandson of "Sholay" director Ramesh Sippy, says they have added six more minutes to the restored version of the movie, including its original ending where Gabbar is killed.

In the original version of the 1975 movie, Sanjeev Kumar's Thakur extracts his revenge by killing Gabbar in the final moments but it was changed by the censor board during Emergency. In the released version, Thakur walks away from an injured Gabbar as cops swoop in to arrest him.

"In 1975, there was Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, there were some three to four scenes that were not passed by the censor board at that time, including the ending, where Gabbar Singh is killed.

"As in the movie, Thakur is a citizen then and no longer a police officer, they did not want a private citizen to take the law into their own hands during that climate of the country,” Shehzad told PTI.

Now 50 years, the original scene and other unseen moments from the movie will be screened in the restored and uncut version of the Salim-Javed classic, which will be showcased at Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy.

Shehzad, who was at the forefront of the restoration efforts of the movie, said the new version is about six minutes longer than the one that was released in theatres on August 15, 1975.

"There will be a few additional scenes which we will have this time. We want to keep it under wraps... We’ve tried to do the best job possible with the original elements, and not cut anything,” he said.

The screening of "Sholay", commemorating its 50th anniversary, will take place on June 27 at the open-air Piazza Maggiore.

The movie's ensemble cast also included Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan.

The film is considered an inalienable part of Indian pop culture due to its popular characters like Jai, Veeru and Thakur, as well as Gabbar Singh, one of the iconic villains of Hindi cinema, and plenty of dialogues and action sequences.

Its restoration process was spearheaded by Film Heritage Foundation and Sippy Films Pvt Ltd and took three years.

Shehzad lauded the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) and the British Film Institute for helping with the movie’s restoration process.

"It’s restored in its original form and recreates the experience of what it's like to watch the film the way it was intended to be seen.

"It’s a beautiful restoration that’s being done in Bologna, Italy, at the lab over there; they are the best in the world at restoring classic cinema. I’m hoping people will like it,” he said, adding that a decision has not yet been made to release it in theatres yet.