#DidYouKnow: Ramesh Sippy didn't have MONEY for Sholay!

Sholay has been one of the most hit films from the yesteryear days. Director Ramesh Sippy, who directed the 1975 Bollywood classic "Sholay", says that he did not have enough money to finance the film at that time and had to depend on his father late G.P. Sippy for it.

"While making 'Sholay', I was very lucky to have my father back me," Sippy said here on Tuesday at the fifth edition of "CII Big Picture Summit 2016".

"I remember, when Dilip Kumar took Rs 1 lakh for doing a film, at that time everybody said that the industry would close down.

"At the time of 'Sholay', I didn't have a budget. I had something in my mind which I shared with my father. The last film he did was 'Seeta Aur Geeta', which cost him Rs 40 lakh. It turned out to be a hit. I said to him that I want a crore to make a film and ended up with Rs 3 crore," he added.

Ramesh said that many people were skeptical about film's box office performance. He says, "The actual cost of the star cast in the film was Rs 20 lakh, as compared to those Rs 3 crore. People even doubted our sanity at that time".

"Today if you make a film of Rs 150 crore, out of that Rs 100 is gone to actors. There is something lopsided about the movie-making business today," he said.

"Sholay", starring Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan in the lead, was a massive box office success and is considered as a cult classic in Indian cinema.

(Credits: IANS)