Editing Sholay (section)

=== Box office ===
''Sholay'' was released on 15 August 1975, [[Independence Day (India)|Indian Independence Day]], in Bombay. Due to lackluster reviews and a lack of effective visual marketing tools, it saw poor financial returns in its first two weeks. From the third week, however, viewership picked up owing to positive [[word of mouth]].{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=169}} During the initial slow period, the director and writer considered re-shooting some scenes so that Amitabh Bachchan's character would not die. When business picked up, they abandoned this idea.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=164}} After being helped additionally by a soundtrack release containing dialogue snippets,{{sfn|Banerjea|2005|pp=177–179}} ''Sholay'' soon became an "overnight sensation".<ref name="ndtv" /> The film was then released in other distribution zones such as [[Delhi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[West Bengal|Bengal]], and [[Hyderabad district, India|Hyderabad]] on 11 October 1975.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=173}} It became the highest-grossing [[Hindi film|Hindi language film]] of 1975, and film ranking website [[Box Office India]] has given the film a verdict of ''All Time Blockbuster''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Box Office 1975 |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=181&catName=MTk3NQ== |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020122136/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=181&catName=MTk3NQ%3D%3D |archive-date=20 October 2013 |access-date=12 October 2012 |publisher=Box Office India}}</ref>

''Sholay'' went on to earn a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees{{efn|A golden jubilee means that a film has completed 50 consecutive weeks of showing in a single theatre.}} across India,<ref name="ndtv" /> and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee{{efn|A silver jubilee means that a film has completed 25 consecutive weeks of showing in a single theatre.}} at over 100 theatres.<ref name="ndtv" /> It was shown continuously at Bombay's Minerva theatre for over five years.<ref name="nyt" /> ''Sholay'' was the Indian film with the longest theatrical run until ''[[Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge]]'' (1995) broke its record of 286 weeks in 2001.{{sfn|Elliott|Payne|Ploesch|2007 |p=54}}<ref name="telegraph" />

Exact figures are not available on the budget and box-office earnings of ''Sholay'', but film trade sources provide estimates of its success. According to Box Office India, ''Sholay'' earned about {{INR|150 million|link=yes}} in net income{{efn|name=nettgross|According to the website Box Office India, film tickets are subject to "[[entertainment tax]]" in India, and this tax is added to the ticket price at the box office window of theatres. The amount of this tax is variable among [[States and territories of India|states]]. "Nett gross figures are always after this tax has been deducted while gross figures are before this tax has been deducted." Although since 2003 the entertainment tax rate has significantly decreased, as of 2010, gross earnings of a film can be 30–35% higher than nett gross, depending on the states where the film is released.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Box Office in India Explained |url=http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=315&catName=UmVhZCBNb3Jl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020180004/http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=315&catName=UmVhZCBNb3Jl |archive-date=20 October 2013 |access-date=14 May 2013 |publisher=Box Office India}}</ref>}} (valued at about US$16,778,000 in 1975){{efn|name=exchange}} in India during its first run,<ref name="Boi70s" /> which was many times its {{INR|link=Indian rupee}}30&nbsp;million (valued at about US$3,355,000 in 1975){{efn|name=exchange}} budget.{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=143}}<ref name="Boi70s" /> Those earnings in India were a record that remained unbroken for nineteen years, which is also the longest amount of time that a film has held [[List of highest-grossing Indian films#Highest-grossing films by year|the record]] for being the highest grossing film in India. Its original gross was increased further with re-releases during the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Inflation Figures&nbsp;– BOI |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=323&catName=QWJvdXQgSW5mbGF0aW9uIERhdGE= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106184319/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=323&catName=QWJvdXQgSW5mbGF0aW9uIERhdGE%3D |archive-date=6 January 2014 |access-date=24 February 2012 |publisher=Box Office India}}</ref> The film's total gross revenue in India amounted to {{INR|350 million}}<ref name="indiatoday" />{{sfn|Chopra|2000|p=139|loc=Epilogue: ''Yaah Rakkhunga, Tujhe Yaad Rakkunga''}} ({{US$|39.15 million|long=no}}).{{efn|name=exchange}} Box Office India estimates the film's total footfalls in India as over 100{{nbsp}}million tickets sold.<ref name="footfalls" /> The film was also an [[List of highest-grossing Indian films in overseas markets|overseas success]] in the [[Soviet Union]], where it was released in 1979.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rajagopalan |first=Sudha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpoLAQAAMAAJ |title=Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin |date=2005 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-22099-8 |page=191 |quote=One of his films, screened successfully in the Soviet Union, was Sholay. Sholay (Embers/Mesf i zakon; 1979), made in 1975, is an adventure film and 'India's best-known "curry" western patterned on Italian westerns'. |access-date=25 January 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626205210/https://books.google.com/books?id=cpoLAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film sold 48.4{{nbsp}}million tickets during its initial run at the [[List of Soviet films of the year by ticket sales|Soviet box office]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 December 2011 |title=Афиша Воздух: "Месть и закон" |work=[[Afisha]] |url=https://daily.afisha.ru/archive/vozduh/archive/gorelov-sholay/ |access-date=11 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215172357/https://daily.afisha.ru/archive/vozduh/archive/gorelov-sholay/ |url-status=live }}</ref> before eventually selling 60{{nbsp}}million tickets including re-runs.<ref name="soviet" /> The film was also released in China, as two parts in 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 April 2018 |title=印度片現在這麼火也不是沒有原因的 |work=Xuehua |url=https://www.xuehua.us/2018/04/07/%E5%8D%B0%E5%BA%A6%E7%89%87%E7%8E%B0%E5%9C%A8%E8%BF%99%E4%B9%88%E7%81%AB%E4%B9%9F%E4%B8%8D%E6%98%AF%E6%B2%A1%E6%9C%89%E5%8E%9F%E5%9B%A0%E7%9A%84%E7%89%B9%E5%86%B7%E9%97%A8/zh-tw/ |access-date=6 March 2019 |archive-date=6 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506110618/https://www.xuehua.us/a/5eb6092386ec4d433b2c89ea?lang=zh-tw |url-status=live }}</ref>

It was the [[List of highest-grossing Indian films|highest-grossing Indian film]] ever up until ''[[Disco Dancer]]'' (1982),<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 July 2018 |title=From Dangal to Sanju! Top 10 films that crossed the Rs 200 crore mark fastest |work=[[Business Today (India)|Business Today]] |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/trending/entertainment/from-dangal-to-sanju-top-10-films-crossed-rs-200-crore-mark-fastest/story/279979.html |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215173256/https://www.businesstoday.in/trending/entertainment/from-dangal-to-sanju-top-10-films-crossed-rs-200-crore-mark-fastest/story/279979.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[List of highest-grossing films in India|highest-grossing film in India]] up until ''[[Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!]]'' (1994).<ref name="indiatoday" /> In 1985, ''[[India Today]]'' estimated that the film drew a total audience of 250{{nbsp}}million over the years,<ref name="indiatoday1985">{{Cite news |last=Mitra |first=Sumit |date=31 July 1985 |title=After series of box-office duds, Ramesh Sippy strikes back with romantic venture Saagar |work=[[India Today]] |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19850731-after-series-of-box-office-duds-ramesh-sippy-strikes-back-with-romantic-venture-saagar-770238-2013-12-27 |access-date=7 February 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209135521/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19850731-after-series-of-box-office-duds-ramesh-sippy-strikes-back-with-romantic-venture-saagar-770238-2013-12-27 |url-status=live }}</ref> which is comparable to the [[List of films by box office admissions|number of tickets sold]] by some of the world's [[List of highest-grossing films|highest-grossing films of all time]] adjusted for inflation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Records |first=Guinness World |url=https://archive.org/details/GuinnessWorldRecords2015/page/n161 |title=Guinness World Records |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-908843-70-8 |edition=2015 |volume=60 |pages=160–161|publisher=Guinness World Records }}</ref> It is often cited that, after adjusting the figures for inflation, ''Sholay'' remains one of the [[List of highest-grossing Indian films|highest-grossing films]] in the history of Indian cinema, although such figures are not known with certainty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Biggest Blockbusters Ever In Hindi Cinema |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=350 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014214254/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=350 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |access-date=13 April 2013 |publisher=Box Office India}}</ref> Box Office India estimated {{INR|1.63 billion}} as ''Sholay'''s adjusted domestic net income in 2008,{{efn|name=nettgross|}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top Earners 1970–1979&nbsp;– BOI |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=124&catName=MTk3MC0xOTc5 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118030716/http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=124&catName=MTk3MC0xOTc5 |archive-date=18 January 2008 |access-date=24 February 2012 |publisher=Box Office India}}</ref> while ''[[Times of India]]'' estimated over {{INR|3 billion}} as the adjusted domestic gross in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kazmi |first=Nikhat |date=12 January 2009 |title=Sholay adjusted gross |work=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Box-Office-With-Rs-200cr-in-kitty-Ghajini-rewrites-records/articleshow/3965713.cms |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430071524/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Box-Office-With-Rs-200cr-in-kitty-Ghajini-rewrites-records/articleshow/3965713.cms |archive-date=30 April 2014}}</ref> ''[[Mid-Day]]'' estimated the film's total adjusted gross as {{INR|15 billion}} ({{US$|{{To USD|15000|IND|year=2014|round=yes}} million|long=no}}) in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |title=B-Town rewind: The tale of the first Bollywood crore |work=[[Mid-Day]] |url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/b-town-rewind-the-tale-of-the-first-bollywood-crore/15162064 |access-date=16 March 2014 |archive-date=16 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316114251/http://www.mid-day.com/articles/b-town-rewind-the-tale-of-the-first-bollywood-crore/15162064 |url-status=live }}</ref>