Veteran film maker G P Sippy, passed away in Mumbai at the ripe age of 93 last week. Gopaldas Parmanand Sippy started off as a carpet merchant, turned a construction magnet and then plunged into filmmaking in 1951 with the Dev Anand film Sazaa. In a career spanning over five decades, Sippy had produced 17 films and directed six. In his hey days he was known as Mr Blockbuster. But Sholay remains his landmark best yet.
Screen pays homage to the filmaker who was known for his “outspokennessâ€' and who held his own.

Brahmachari (1968)
Written by Sachin Bhowmick, directed by Bhappi Sonie, starring Shammi Kapoor, Rajashree, Mumtaz, Sachin and Asit Sen, the film ran into trouble as Sippy locked horns with his director Sonie over creative differences. The film was almost shelved and Sippy had but renounced filmdom then. But good sense prevailed, the two made amends and Brahmachari turned out to be a big blockbuster with memorable storyline and music. Years later, it inspired another kiddie flick Mr India which was also a hit.

Andaz(1971)
The directorial debut of Sippy’s son Ramesh who worked in both the production and direction departments in films like Johar-Mehmood in Goa and Mere Sanam that were home productions.Written by Javed Akhtar and Sachin Bhowmick this unusual romance starred Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini. The endearing story coupled with melodious music appealed to the audience and the film turned out be a huge hit. A great take off for the young maker.

Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)
Directed by Ramesh Sippy, written by Salim-Javed , the story was inspired by the basic plot of The Prince And The Pauper where two identical twins get swapped. Essayed by Hema Malini, the twins grow up in two different environments. Hema’s two partners in the movie were played by Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar. A light-hearted comedy of sorts, the film turned out to be Ramesh’s second hit. It was boom time for G P Sippy.

Sholay (1975)
Inspired by various Western spaghetti Westerns like The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance-Kid and the Japanese c lassic The Seven Samurai, it turned out to be the biggest blockbuster in the history of Indian cinema . Starring Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini , Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan as the ageless villain, Gabbar Singh, it remains Ramesh Sippy’s magnum opus and a box-office phenomenon. It enjoyed an unbroken run of more than five years in Mumbai’s Minerva theatre alone. Sholay racked up a record of 60 golden jubilees across India and re ran during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Sholay was the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate silver jubilee at over 100 theatres all over India.

Shaan (1980 )
Expectations were sky-high from Sholay maker Ramesh Sippy. This Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Sunil Dutt and Kulbhushan Kharbanda film was written by Salim-Javed. The film took three years to complete because of the juggling around of star’s busy schedules. Even though it didn’t match up with the phenomenal success of Sholay, it garnered average box-office collections. Shaan was inspired by James Bond films with fancy sets and hi-tech gadgets. The bald meancing villain Shakaal was based on the James Bond villain Blofeld.

Saagar(1985)
A comeback film for Dimple Kapadia that paired her opposite her Bobby hero Rishi Kapoor and Kamal Haasan. This triangular romance became famous for it’s litling songs as well as a fleeting topless shot of Dimple. High on sensuality and curiosity factor, the film notched up good numbers at the turnstiles. Ramesh Sippy proved his directorial supremacy yet again.

G.P.SIPPY THE GODFATHER
*He introduced Rajesh Khanna and Babita in Raaz.
*Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman was the first signed film of Shah Rukh Khan.
*Raveena Tandon was introduced in Patthar Ke Phool.
*Salim-Javed made their debuts in Andaz. So did playback singer Sushma Shrestha.
*Apart from son Ramesh Sippy, producer G.P.Sippy launched the careers of directors Narendra Bedi (Bandhan), Anant Balani (Patthar Ke Phool) and Aziz Mirza (Raju...)
*His Ahsaas (1979) was Indian cinema’s first coming-of-age film.
*His Buniyaad (1986) was the first colour soap in the history of Indian television and introduced artistes like Alok Nath.- RV

Screen India