Director Ramesh Sippy on Sholay’s status as a ‘Pan-India’ film: It appealed to the whole of India

Even after more than four decades since its release, Sholay still holds an unshakeable place in pop culture today. The popular Bollywood film had gone on to become one of the most successful films of all time at the time of its release, and is considered by many to be one of the first ‘Pan India’ films to come out of the industry at a time when the term had not even been coined. Director Ramesh Sippy recently opened up about the film’s pan Indian status.

In conversation with Hindustan Times, Sippy spoke of how the country had become a lot more ‘global’ now, with the younger generations going out and experiencing more new cultures and learning newer things. As a result, they were able to helm films that appealed to a wide range of audiences across the country. He also mentioned the success witnessed by dubbed films as well.

Regarding Sholay’s status as a pan India film, Sippy said “If it means appealing to a wide audience, then yes. It was pan-Indian in the sense that it appealed to the whole of India”.

The director believed that films mounted on a large scale were not the only movies which could have pan India appeal. He spoke of how smaller, specialised films could also work as there were audiences for all kinds of movies these days, be it a small tale set in a village or an imposing story catered to a larger audience. “It all depends on the content, in the end. If that works, the film works”, he added.

Sholay starred Dharmendra,Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri in pivotal roles. The action film is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.