Bologna, Italy: Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay, widely regarded as the greatest Indian film ever made, is set to receive a landmark golden jubilee tribute with the world premiere of its fully restored, uncut version at the prestigious Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy, on June 27.
The 1975 classic — a defining film in Bollywood history — will be screened in the festival’s iconic open-air venue, Piazza Maggiore, offering global audiences their first look at the original ending and deleted scenes that were removed from the widely released theatrical version.
The restoration is the result of a meticulous three-year collaboration between Film Heritage Foundation and Sippy Films Pvt. Ltd. A technical and archival feat, the project involved reconstructing the film from degraded elements including interpositives found in Mumbai and London, and a crucial color reversal intermediate discovered in the UK containing never-before-seen footage.
Originally released to modest box office response, Sholay went on to become a cultural juggernaut — running uninterrupted for five years at Mumbai’s Minerva cinema, remaining on box office charts for 19 years, and achieving cult status in India and abroad. In a 1999 BBC India poll, it was declared the “Film of the Millennium,” while a 2002 British Film Institute survey crowned it the greatest Indian film of all time.
Written by the iconic screenwriting duo Salim-Javed and featuring R.D. Burman’s unforgettable music, Sholay fused elements of Westerns, action, tragedy, and comedy into an epic revenge drama. It drew inspiration from international classics such as Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, and John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven.
The plot follows retired police officer Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) who recruits two petty criminals — the boisterous Veeru (Dharmendra) and the brooding Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) — to bring down the ruthless bandit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) in the fictional village of Ramgarh. The film also starred Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri, and introduced India to some of its most iconic film dialogues.
The restoration team overcame several technical hurdles — the original camera negative was found to be severely damaged, forcing reliance on alternate archival sources. Elements were sourced from Iron Mountain facilities in London and local Mumbai vaults. Cinematographer Kamlakar Rao, who worked on the original, was consulted to retain the intended 2.2:1 aspect ratio designed for the 70mm format.
As India’s first 70mm film and the first Hindi feature with stereophonic sound, Sholay holds a unique place in Indian cinematic history. The restored version integrates footage from two interpositives and two color reversal intermediates. The audio restoration includes a newly mastered 5.1 surround mix created from original magnetic sound elements archived at Sippy Films.
The Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, which runs from June 21–29, is globally recognized for premiering landmark restorations of cinematic classics. The inclusion of Sholay in its 2025 edition underscores the film’s enduring legacy and the rising international visibility of Indian film preservation.
Film Heritage Foundation, founded in Mumbai in 2014, has emerged as a leading force in restoring Indian cinema. Its past work includes celebrated restorations of films by Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Aravindan Govindan, and Aribam Syam Sharma — many of which have been showcased at the Cannes Film Festival.
The upcoming screening is expected to draw thousands of film lovers and restoration experts from around the globe, reaffirming Sholay’s place as a timeless masterpiece of Indian — and world — cinema.
