Sydney October 1 (IST) The Indian Film Festival of Sydney (IFFS), presented by the team behind the globally renowned Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), is proud to announce that the newly restored version of Sholay will be its centrepiece film this October. The festival, running from 9 to 11 October, will celebrate Indian cinema across three vibrant days.
One of the most iconic films in Indian cinema history, Sholay has been meticulously restored in 4K by the
Film Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Sippy Films. The process, years in the making, involved
locating a rare colour reversal print in London and recovering original camera negatives and long-lost
deleted scenes from a warehouse in Mumbai. The result is a visual and audio revival of extraordinary
quality, returning the film to its original 70mm glory. Most significantly, the restored film features the original ending envisioned by director Ramesh Sippy, in which Thakur avenges his family by killing Gabbar Singh.
The restored Sholay had its world premiere earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival
(TIFF) and now will screen in Sydney.
Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange expressed her excitement at bringing this milestone screening to
Sydney, saying, “Sholay is more than a film—it is woven into the fabric of Indian storytelling, memory and
myth. To bring back its original ending, after all these years, is to restore not just a different final scene, but the full vision of its creator. As we mark 50 years of Sholay, we honour the courage of cinema to challenge, to endure, and to be reborn in its truest form. We are thrilled that Sydney audiences will now see the film as it was always meant to be seen.”
In addition to Sholay, the festival will present a carefully curated selection of over 15 films spanning
languages, genres and formats, alongside filmmaker conversations, retrospectives and panels celebrating
the legacy and future of Indian cinema. The Indian Film Festival of Sydney continues its mission of bridging
cultures through storytelling, honouring the past while championing contemporary voices.
The screening of the restored Sholay at IFFS is made possible through the support of NH Studioz
Related News
MATTANI, NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, PAKISTAN - DECEMBER 22, 2009: New recruits being trained under the authority of Abdul Rehman, who claimed they were part of the Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist militant group, however this claim was later denied upon verification by senior contacts within that group. Part of their training program was a 15km hike with weapons training. The best recruits will be sent on to a commando training camp in Kashmir, before taking up jihad in Afghanistan, India or Iraq. Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistani jihadist group created in the 1980s to fight in Afghanistan, and especially in Indian Kashmir. Their members have often claimed they were trained by former military officers. They were also allegedly employed by the Pakistani intelligence agency called the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in India and Afghanistan. They were officially banned in 2001, following an attack on parliament in New Delhi, India, so they regrouped under the name Jama'at-ud-Da'wah. It is widely claimed that the group was responsible for the Mumbai bombings in November 2008, which killed nearly 200 people. Since then, they have been on the UN list of terrorist organizations. The US authorities liken them to al-Qaeda, and as much of a security risk. The Pakistani authorities in Islamabad state that they have dismantled Lashkar-e-Taiba, however overseas intelligence services state this is not possible. The group's fighters are implicated in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and India, however they are not currently in battle with the Pakistani authorities, due to a supposed good relationship with the military there. They fight alongside the Taliban against NATO forces, and are the best trained and most battle-hardened fighters in the region. Their training is very military and regimented, compared to that of the Taliban which is more basic. (Photo by Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)
