'Everyone Wanted To Know Why I Had killed off Amitabh'

'I make films which I think have the possibility of being liked by a majority of people, and present them with the right emotions.'

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Sholay was a box office behemoth that ran for five years in Mumbai's Minerva cinema house. But its enduring appeal lies in the fact that it is both a crowd-pleaser of gigantic proportions as well as a film for cineastes. Sholay's iconic dialogues are forever quotes and memes, and scenes like the revelation of Thakur's amputated arms can make you feel the emotional impact like a whiplash.

Director Ramesh Sippy is a reticent filmmaker, who isn't given to grand proclamations in public. But he flashes back to the classic to commemorate 50 years of Sholay. "I made the film with passion and worked almost like a mad man."

Creative people want to keep polishing their creations. Is there even a single thing you would want to change about Sholay, given the chance today?

Not really. I would not change anything in Sholay. Ultimately, the film was released with my consent, and I decided what was to be retained and what had to be edited. Sholay was released in the year of the Emergency (1975) and we could not argue much with the censors but the final cut I gave was what I wanted. Initially, everyone wanted to know why I had killed off Amitabh Bachchan. But, as a director, you can't keep thinking 'yeh badal do' or 'woh badal do'. You have to have a certain sense of judgement.

How true is it that Sholay didn't catch on immediately upon its release?

As far as we were concerned, the houses were full everywhere.

I was dazzled when I watched it in the first week with 70 mm and stereophonic sound.

When the coin dropped on screen, I remember looking down to see if I had dropped my change.