The movie ‘Sholay’, a grand milestone in the movie arena, is geared up for four versions. A Bollywood studio is spending around $100 million to make four versions of the timeless - ‘Sholay’. The project is termed as one of the biggest in the industry, which operates on low profit margins and spends an average of $1-2 million on a film. The plan is to film a remake, a prequel, a sequel and an animated version of ‘Sholay’.

It’s official now. The rights of ‘Sholay’ will finally go to Pritish Nandy Communications following a $100 million deal between Pritish Nandy and Sascha Sippy. PNC will makes its sequel along with an animated version as well.

The 1975 super - duper blockbuster, backed by a strong story line, and adding to its glory was the terrific star cast. The story of a cop’s revenge, to save a village from the clutches of a neurotic, foul-mouthed bandit by two reformed crooks, who were as well the best of friends. The movie in fact set new trends for others to follow. It did not merely rule the theatres for a limited span, but till date, its magic follows on.

The 3D animated version of the movie in all probabilities will not be made by Florida based Motion Pixel Corporation with whom PNC has already got into a deal for eight animation features. “We haven’t decided yet who will be the animation arm for this project. Sholay is an iconic movie and a number of generations have seen the movie, and we are in talks with quite a few studios”.
The project of the new ‘Sholay’ was repackaged various times, but an official remake is now going to be made by the Pritish Nandy Communications which has signed a deal with the producers of the original.
According to Nandy, the production of the movie will begin next month and is expected to release towards the end of 2008. The budget of the movie is still being contemplated, and in addition to the animated version of the movie, PNC intends to remake the movie in live action as well.
‘As for the size, it could be $100 million. It could be more, we really don’t know at this stage, but yes, $100 million seems reasonably close to it’, says Nandy.
Unlike the other animated features of PNC (Pritish Nandy Communications) which will be a blend of new ideas and creativity, this feature will remain loyal to the original script of this movie giving a realistic feel to the characters as well as the plot, with an ideal adaptation of the original story including actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini all in animated form.
On being asked about the revenue sharing model, Nandy remarked, “The revenue sharing model will be based on the terms and conditions of the licensing and acquisition agreement.”
Sholay Media & Entertainment, headed by Sasha Vijay Sippy, holds the official franchisee rights of Sholay which was produced in 1975 by his grandfather GP Sippy and directed by Ramesh Sippy.
However the latest attempt to remake ‘Sholay’ sparked a copyright controversy.
Vinay, a student comments, ‘I did not like Aag only Big B’s performance is worth a look otherwise it is nothing in comparison to Sholay.! However, I would like to see an animated version of Sholay.’
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who reversed roles of some of the characters in his remake and has added his own creativity ends to the story, has renamed the film as ‘Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag’, but didnot recreate the same magic as of the orignal Sholay.

picture: Google .com