Mumbai, August 14: Director Ramesh Sippy, the director of the iconic film ‘Sholay’, has spoken up on the bromance of the film’s legendary pair, Jai and Veeru. The director spoke with IANS, a day prior to the film’s 50th anniversary on Friday. The director was relatively unaware of the word ‘Bromance’ as it’s a part of the new age lingo. He confused it with the word “Romance”, which is non-platonic in nature.

When he was informed that the audience from the current generation is in awe of the bromance between Jai and Veeru, he said, “It's up to people. We have not suggested anything like this. It was a good friendship. And we showed that both have their own romantic interests (with other women). There was no such tendency”. ‘50 Years of Sholay’: Hema Malini Says She Will Show the Film to Her Grandchildren (Watch Video).

Ramesh Sippy Speaks On ‘50 Years of Sholay’

He told IANS, “But if someone hugs you with love, or sits with you on a motorcycle, it does not mean that there is something else in it”. Elsewhere in the conversation, the director shared an interesting anecdote from the time, he saw the audience’s reaction to the film in the theatres upon its release. He shared how he was invited by a cinema owner to witness the first-hand reaction of the audience while it was being projected to the audience.

He said, “A cinema person called me. He said, ‘Come to my cinema’. It was City Light cinema. He said, ‘Can you see there? No one is coming here to have a cold drink’. There was an interval. No one came. He said, ‘Do you know why? Because those who were inside the hall were super-attentive. They were behaving as if they have never seen anything like this’. I said, ‘Are you sure?’. He said, absolutely. ‘I see it every day. They do not come in the interval’”. Sachin Pilgaonkar Spills the Beans on 50 Years of ‘Sholay’, Shares Inside Stories About Five-Star Amenities on Film Sets.

‘Sholay’ is recognised as the first Western Spaghetti film of Hindi cinema. It starred an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Amjad Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, A. K. Hangal, Sachin and Hema Malini.

The film is considered as one of the greatest movies in Hindi cinema for its grandeur, performances, technical brilliance, action, music and direction. The film was written by the legendary screenwriting duo Salim-Javed, and went on to become one of longest running films of Indian cinema.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2025 03:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).