It is impossible to recreate ‘Sholay’: Hema Malini
Yesteryear dream girl Hema Malini , who dazzled in the role of ‘Basanti’ in the cult classic Sholay , says that it is impossible to recreate such a classic.Talking to newspersons after inaugurating a jewellery showroom in Bangalore on Wednesday, she said it could happen only once and any such attempt would end up as mere imitations.
She said though she had not seen the recently released Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag , the remake of ‘Sholay’, directed by Ram Gopal Varma , ”Nobody can recreate the characters and the plot, as the time and ambience of the 1970s mega hit film could not be repeated.”Hema said it was all right for the directors to be ambitious of producing a better version of the old hits, but ego could be bad. ”Some directors have ambitions that they can surpass the quality of old hits . It is fine if they are confident, but the egoist attitude and lofty claims will not help. Even Ramesh Sippy cannot make another Sholay, that can match the original,” she said.She regretted that the ‘mystery and value’ of yesteryears’ heroines was missing in today’s leading actresses.”During our time, the heroine never used to be seen outside. There was that exclusivity among them during my time. That value is lost now. This is mainly because of over exposure on television and the starlets becoming brand ambassadors. My time was the golden era that cannot come back,” she said.
Hema was not happy with ‘exposure’ and obscenity in ‘dance numbers’ in the films being produced these days. ”This is not good. People have forgotten classical dances and can’t see beyond ‘filmi’ dances. Children are obsessed with such a style and even their parents seem to be happy about it. It is sad,” she said. To ‘lift’ the people’s taste, she was conducting dance ballets based on popular themes that had a classical touch, she said.”I produced a ballet on ‘Krishna Ras’ in Delhi on Saturday. Though it looked modern, it had elements of classical dance and people received it very well. The Indian classical dance originated from temples but unfortunately it has lost most of its connoisseurs and people are happy with the present day ‘filmy’ dances.””I have decided to include dances with good taste in the three films, I am planning to produce. I know people will not like pure classical dance. It will be a moderated version,” she added.
Hema was planning to produce three films with her daughter Esha Deol as the leading actor in all of them. ”I am trying to rope in frontline heroes for the films, but finding it difficult because they are so busy.””The first film will have a big budget. Thanks to corporate funding, I need not worry about finances and will concentrate on creativity. I want to launch the first film in November,” she said.She felt sorry for the new crop of heroines, who find it difficult to maintain their body shape. ”In our times it was not so difficult. I was hardly doing much physical exercise. I used to have good ‘nashta’ (breakfast) and go straight for the shoot. I was quite active and did not face any problem in maintaining a slim figure,” she said.