When first released, Sholay received negative critical reviews and a tepid commercial response, but favourable word-of-mouth publicity helped it to become a box office success. It broke records for continuous showings in many theatres across India, and ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre.

Is Sholay a hit or flop?

The Ramesh Sippy directorial became the first Indian movie to celebrate a silver jubilee (a 25-week run in a single theatre). But did you know it was declared a major failure by media critics in its first week?

Was Sholay copied?

It is alleged that 'Sholay' was a duplicate of the well-known film 'Seven Samurai'. The film was the story of seven fighters who collect villagers and struggle towards the bandits.