Ramesh Sippy attends special screening of 'Sholay' at Raj Mandir Cinema

Jaipur: On the sidelines of the 2025 International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards here, veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy attended a special screening of his 1975 blockbuster "Sholay" on Sunday, marking the film's 50th anniversary. Jaipur's famous Raj Mandir Cinema is hosting the multi-starrer movie's screening.

Sippy, who directed "Sholay" from the script penned by Salim-Javed, said it was great to see the 50 years of his film coincide with the silver jubilee celebrations of the IIFA Awards which kickstarted on Saturday.

"The 25 years of IIFA are as important today as the 50 years of 'Sholay'. Together we had a wonderful start last night and it will continue not just tonight but on and on," the veteran director told reporters here.

The screening of the film also commemorates Raj Mandir's five-decade journey.

"Sholay", regarded as one of the greatest Hindi films of all time, featured Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, and Jaya Bachchan. Produced by Sippy's father, late producer GP Sippy, the movie was released on August 15, 1975.

Director Sooraj Barjatya, who also attended the screening of "Sholay" in Jaipur, fondly remembered watching the film as a child back in 1975.

"I was in 5th standard (when the film released). 'Sholay' is a pillar of Indian cinema. No matter how many times we watch it, it continues to educate us. The film was made at a time when there were no VFX (visual effects).

"Even today if we see that train sequence (in the film), we learn a lot of things like characterisation, Ramesh Sippy's work and (the art of) filmmaking. There are very few films of such calibre and we are here to celebrate that. And it's 50 years of Raj Mandir too, so it's cherry on top," Barjatya told PTI.

IIFA Awards 2025 will conclude on Sunday.

With PTI inputs