Ramesh Sippy (Born - 23 Jan 1947): In Gabbar Singh’s introductory scene in Sholay, one can only see his legs atop some tall boulders, in line with the faces of his three henchmen. The power equation is immediately established. Deviating from the norm of pan and scan cinematography, Ramesh Sippy used the camera to read between the frames. Producer G P Sippy’s son, Ramesh, began as the seventh assistant to H S Rawail, during the making of Mere Mehboob. His first job was to carry heroine Sadhana’s slippers. After working as the executive producer of Brahamchari he turned director with Andaz (71), a love story between a widow (Hema Malini) and a widower (Shammi Kapoor). When Andaz was rejected in small towns, Sippy’s disappointment found a reflection in Sholay, where he preferred to show Amitabh being shot down rather than being married to widow Jaya Bhaduri. Ramesh Sippy now approached a hesitant Hema Malini for Seeta aur Geeta, a Salim-Javed version of Ram aur Shyam. Hema’s reaction was, “How can l do a role done by Dilip Kumar earlier?” But with Sippy (the only director who would bring me out of my shell and not allow me to return into it), she made the film a rollicking success. However, Sippy’s crowning achievement was Sholay (75), an unmanageable success that ran for five consecutive years at Minerva, Bombay. A four line idea by Salim-Javed had interested Sippy immensely because of the wild possibilities offered by an outdoor adventure. Newcomer Amjad Khan was pencilled in as dacoit Gabbar Singh when Danny backed out of the project. A pre - Zanjeer Amitabh did everything possible (including asking Dharmendra to recommend him) to get into Sippy’s film. Sippy, an atheist, became the box-office god with Sholay. The disastrous hype-inflated, star-studded Shaan (80 but now a cult fav) was followed by the psychodrama Shakti (82) which suffered because of the larger-than-life star images. It was viewed as a Dilip versus Amitabh, instead of the intended father-son conflict. Saagar was planned as Dimple’s and probably his own, comeback. However, this ode to love did not bode well for either. Though Sippy made a record-breaking TV series Buniyaad, subsequent films like Akayla and Zamana Deewana showed that he had yet to return to cinematic form. Immortality assured, his reputation continues to rest on Sholay which is as good as it gets for anyone. Nobody has been able to better Sholay, not even Sippy himself. On behalf of a grateful nation, we wish you a happy birthday Mr. Sippy.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 14:32:37 +0000
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