That 44 year old film, which had 8 superstars, was India’s most expensive film flop, but became a cult classic

New Delhi. ‘Sholay’, directed by famous filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, is still counted among the biggest films of Indian cinema. After its release, this film broke all records in terms of box office earnings. The pairing of Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan was popular in ‘Sholay’. He had made a special place in the hearts of the audience in the characters of Jai and Veeru. After the success of ‘Sholay’, Ramesh Sippy made a multi-starrer film which flopped at the box office but earned the tag of cult classic.

The name of that movie is ‘Shaan’. Eight big stars worked in this film, released in the year 1098. Stars like Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Rakhi Gulzar, Parveen Babi, Bindiya Goswami, Johnny Walker were seen in important roles. At the same time, Kulbhushan Kharbanda created a stir by playing the villain in ‘Shaan’. He played the role of Shakal, who is still remembered as a famous villain.

‘Shaan’ was India’s most expensive film
According to reports, ‘Shaan’ was the most expensive film of that time. The movie was made with a budget of Rs 6 crore, which was almost twice the cost of ‘Sholay’. ‘Shaan’ held the record of the most expensive film for three years until Kamal Amrohi’s film ‘Razia Sultan’ was made for Rs 7 crore. However, after release, ‘Shaan’ failed at the box office. It is said that the film had a good start at the box office, but due to negative reviews and bad word of mouth, the collections were adversely affected.

Cult classic became after knocking on TV
Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor’s ‘Shaan’ may have failed at the box office, but the film left a deep impact on Bollywood. Kulbhushan Kharbanda’s character Shakal in the film is included in the list of most popular villains of Hindi cinema. This role got the same popularity as Gabbar Singh got in ‘Sholay’. However, by re-releasing ‘Shaan’ in theatres, the makers had earned more than the cost. The final total collection of the movie was Rs 8 crore and when the film came on TV in the 80-90s, it became a cult classic.

Tags: amitabh bachchan, Entertainment news., Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunil Dutt