VJ Anoushey Ashraf couldn't contain her excitement at the prospect of watching the movie. “Yes! I am definitely going to go and watch the film since I haven’t seen it before. I am a huge Amitabh Bachchan fan and would love to watch him in digital 3D.”
Another local celebrity who has not seen the film is actor Mikaal Zulfiqar, “Unfortunately I am amongst the few actors in the Pakistani entertainment industry who haven’t seen the movie as I wasn't around (in Pakistan) during my childhood.”
He added that despite not having seen the movie he was still familiar with the characters, songs and iconic dialogues of Sholay due to its impact on popular culture.
On the other hand VJ-turned-actor Ali Safina, who recently appeared in crime-caper Jalaibee, had his doubts.
“I don’t think Jai and Veeru have that charm any more and won’t appeal to present day audiences. I’d recommend audiences to go and watch Billu and Bugga in Jalaibee if they want to see a better friendship than that of Jai and Veeru.”
Even those who have previously seen the movie did not mind going to watch it again. Screenwriter Vasay Chaudhry who has seen the movie several times said that he would "definitely" go and watch Sholay in cinemas, taking care to add "provided that no Pakistani film is being screened at that time."
When he was asked about whether the film had had any impact on the filmmaking and local culture of Pakistan he replied, “I don’t think the film impacted our filmmaking culture. Lollywood and Pakistan were witnessing the rise of their own phenomenon in the form of Maula Jatt at the time of Sholay’s release. Both the films were quite similar and were a reflection of the socio-political situation at that time.” He asserted that not many films like Sholay have been made in India but in Pakistan filmmakers have made a lot of films of the same style as that of Maula Jatt.
Director-cum-actor Azfar Ali felt differently. Having already seen the movie in an Indian cinema he felt that it would be a waste of his time to watch the movie in Pakistani theatres. Recalling his experience, he said, “Almost everyone in the cinema had seen it and was repeating its dialogues. People were laughing before the funny scenes as they already knew what would happen.”
Sholay is all set to release on April 17 across cinemas in Pakistan. You can watch the trailer here:
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