At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier this month, cinephiles saw Sholay (1975) as filmmaker Ramesh Sippy had first envisioned and shot it. To mark 50 years of the blockbuster’s release, the Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, and Hema Malini-starrer was screened at TIFF with its original ending where Kumar’s Thakur kills Gabbar Singh. Now, this version will be screened at the Indian Film Festival of Sydney (IFFS), which will run from October 9 to 11.
Ahead of its release, Sholay’s original ending was deemed too violent by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), leading the makers to shoot another ending where Thakur hands Singh over to the police. The action drama’s restored version has retained the original ending.
Insiders at IFFS said that the demand for the shows increased when it was announced that the original version will screen in Sydney on October 9 and 10. Mitu Bhowmick Lange, director of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, which is presenting the festival, said, “To bring back the film’s original ending, after all these years, is to restore not just a different final scene, but the full vision of its creator.”
Oct 9-11
When Indian Film Festival of Sydney will be held
