Making of Yeh Dosti

This is the nation's most love friendship anthem. Watch how we added to the music without taking away the soul of the song.

Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge

Sholay Theme Music and Whistle

Sholay's theme music sets thepace of the movie as dacoits gear up to rob a train. Here is how we went about recreating the signature tune and whistle.

Sholay's Theme Music

How we recreated The Sound of Sholay

Just about the time that we were offered Sholay 3D, we attended a seminar by Dolby Atmos. After it concluded, a young gentleman in the audience asked if the coin toss in Sholay would sound any different in Atmos. Here is how we went about recreating that coin toss.

Jai's Coin Toss recreated for Sholay 3D

Basanti's Tonga being chased by dacoits is one of Sholay's most iconic scenes. Watch how we went about recreating it.

Chal Dhanno

Gabbar Singh redefined the Bollywood Baddie... He was terrifying. Here is how we went about recreating the sound of his footsteps in Sholay 3D.

Kitne Aadmi The

In the scene where Gabbar Singh kills Thakur's family, there was an eery sound of an empty swing that added to the fear factor. Here is how we went about recreating it.

The Eery Swing Sound

Stay tuned for more videos on making of The Sound of Sholay.

Thankyou Mumbai Mirror

That's Mumbai Mirror's article on out journey as we recreated The Sound of Sholay

What Godfather is to Hollywood, Sholay is for the Hindi cinema," says sound designer Kunal Mehta, who with Parikshit Lalwani and music composer Raju Singh, meticulously redesigned the sound of Sholay in its recent 3D avatar over two years. "For many Sholay is a religion. We couldn't go wrong. The idea was to upgrade the quality while retaining the soul."

It was an arduous task as the original print of the 1975 classic wasn't in good condition which made it nearly impossible to reconstruct the sound. To add to their woes, it came with a mixed soundtrack. To work on the background score, Raju had to separate it from the dialogues.

"It was like separating sugar, milk and water after the tea has been brewed. We somehow managed to do it using state-of-the-art software. Also we had a generous budget which was used judiciously," Raju explains.

How did he recreate the score? "We used the same instruments that were used during the mixing of the original film - whether it was the violin, sitar, shehnai or the mouth organ," Kunal says.

They hit a roadblock when they couldn't get the sound of the steam engine, in the famous opening scene, right. "My mind was blocked, I had looked everywhere. Then one day, in the kitchen, I heard the pressure cooker go off with a loud whistle. It was the Eureka moment."

Another scene that gave them sleepless nights was the one in which Basanti dances on glass shreds. "We just couldn't get the sound right. Finally a team member pointed out that there was only one way to do it - somebody had to walk on glass. And one of our sound guys actually did so," adds Kunal.

The 3D conversion started in 2011. Hemant Shinde who oversaw the VFX, admits that it was scary in the beginning. But the team at Ketan Mehta's Maya Digital Studio painstakingly worked towards converting this dream project into reality, taking references from films like Alice in Wonderland and Avatar.

"We thought the action and chase sequences would be difficult, but even a simple romantic scene between Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) and Jayaji (Bachchan) was quite challenging as the right depth had to be created," he says. "During the process, I must have seen the film over a 100 times, many times sans sound! But after each viewing, I was moved to tears. We don't make such films anymore," he signs off.

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Dear Roshmila and Ankur,

Thankyou for this lovely article. We are glad to see you are as passionate about Sholay as we are.

Warm regards,

Team Sholay 3D

Economic Times loves us!

Economic Times article on our movie

NDTV's Review of Sholay 3D

Cast:Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Amjad Khan
Director: Ramesh Sippy 

SPOILERS AHEAD

Large swathes of popular Hindi cinema are no longer what they used to be when Ramesh Sippy’s all-conquering Sholay was released nearly four decades ago.

Yet, all these years later, the film remains a benchmark that commercial filmmakers in Mumbai can only aspire to match, let alone outstrip.

Why on earth then, one might wonder, would anybody be interested in watching a 3D version of a megahit that is part of Indian cinema folklore?

Hasn’t Sholay been watched, written about, celebrated, imitated, parodied, cannibalised and butchered ad nauseum?

Yet, there are several good reasons why Indians who are not old enough to have ever seen the film on the widescreen should go out and watch Sholay 3D.

Thirty-eight years on, the saga of Ramgarh and its bitter battle with the dreaded Gabbar Singh holds up pretty well.

The film has enough innate strength to this day to be able to salvage itself from the raging fire that one Ram Gopal Varma ill-advisedly sought to consign it to a few years ago. The embers of the original still glow as bright as ever.

A rather simplistic yet irresistibly immersive good-versus-evil tale that drew inspiration from alien filmmaking traditions and yet did a masterful job of dovetailing a borrowed genre into the indigenized narrative structure of the dacoit film, Sholay wasn’t obviously made with 3D in mind.

So, apart from adding depth to the frames, the added dimension does not actually ‘add’ any significant value to the movie experience. Here, 3D is no more than superficial embellishment at best. At worst, it seems to rob Sholay at times of the natural panoramic sweep of 70mm Cinemascope and lend it a caged-in feel.

However, a few of the action sequences do acquire life-like proportions, especially when bullets, shrapnel, rock splinters and other missiles fly at the audience. But that does not happen often enough to make a lasting impression.

The effect of 3D is felt only occasionally, but this is a restored print that should do the rounds in 2D format as well.

Sholay was a landmark Hindi film, and a repeat run can only help today’s moviegoers appreciate the sheer scale of the ambition and achievement that it represented.

Lines like Basanti, inn kutton ke saamne mat naachna or Chal Dhanno, aaj teri Basanti ki izzat ka sawaal hain may sound quaintly risible today, and yet they still strike a chord because they have continued to live in our midst like timeless taglines.

The two aspects of Sholay that no amount of modern-day technical wizardry can match are the outstanding cinematography and the on-screen performances.

Director of photography Dwarka Divecha, who passed within three years of the release of Sholay, left an indelible mark on the film.

He pulled off many a sequence that would have seemed very difficult, if not impossible, at the time.

Remember that Divecha did not have today’s CGI or SFX to fall back on. So you can only marvel at the goods train raid sequence early in the film or the horse carriage chase in the run-up to the climax.

It is common knowledge that Sanjeev Kumar as Thakur Baldev Singh and Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh towered over everyone else.

Basanti, Jai and Veeru, too, are talked about whenever Sholay is mentioned.

But another viewing serves to reveal the depth that Jaya Bachchan brought to bear upon her interpretation of the character of the widowed Radha.

Many moviegoers, even oldtimers, might not have seen the pre-marriage Holi scene involving Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Iftikhar and Satyen Kappu. It is very much a part of this three-and-a-half version of Sholay – it is a flashback that highlights how sprightly and full of life the now speechless widow was as a young spinster.

You also sense the intrinsic quality of the screenplay in the fact that virtually every cameo in the film – notably AK Hangal’s Imam Sahab and Leela Mishra’s mausi – is sharply etched out.

Sholay was an event when it hit the screens way back in the mid 1970s. Its reappearance in a new format may not create quite the same ripples, but Sholay, 3D or not, is definitely worth a revisit. 

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Dear NDTV,

Thankyou for the lovely review. We hope you enjoyed our movie.

Sincerely,

Team Sholay 3D

Thank you Indian Express

Movie Review: 'Sholay 3D', go-to movie this weekend, no ifs, no buts

Cast: Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan, AK Hangal, Asrani, Jagdeep, Leela Mishra, Viju Khote, MacMohan

Director: Ramesh Sippy

This is not a review. This is why I think 'Sholay', re-released in a 3D version, needs to be your go-to movie this weekend, no ifs, no buts. And that's because, `Bharat desh ke vaasiyon', 'Sholay' is the greatest Hindi 'masala' entertainer ever made, 3D, 2D or no D.

For those who saw it back when it released (75), it is a crackling refresh, and for those who have only seen re-runs on television, this is your chance to experience a genuine, panoramic wide screen, and how riveting a story and how memorable every single character can be. How songs and dances can add up, and how wonderful it is to anticipate the dialogues—oh those chart-busting dialogues packed into `cassettes' which sold briskly for years after—and mouth them along with the characters. Basically, why 'Sholay' is everything that it is cracked up to be.

I watched it yesterday in 3D, fully prepared to moan and groan about how it ruined the film for me. But nothing took away from my viewing ; I even enjoyed a few of the 3D bells and whistles, despite the darkened screen. And of course I cheated, by whipping off those glasses every few minutes and catching it as it was meant to be.

Best friends and small-time thieves Veeru ( Dharmendra) and Jai ( Amitabh) rolling along in that ridiculous twin-seater scooter, the meeting with Thakur Baldev Singh ( Sanjeev Kumar) in the train, that opening fast-paced `daku'-chase scene, the `paan-chewing' Soorma Bhopali ( Jagdeep), the `angrezon ke zamaane ka jailor' ( Asrani), the rocky-outcropped picturesque `gaon' Ramgarh and its residents, the chatterbox `taangewaali' Basanti ( Hema), the diminutive, sad-eyed Radha ( Jaya), and the glowering, vengeful `thakur'.

And Gabbar Singh, who deserves a whole paragraph to himself. `Sholay's bad guy is Hindi cinema's most enduring, fearsome, charismatic villain, no contest. Legend has it that Bachchan wanted to do this role, but it went to the debutant Amjad Khan. Without his outstanding Gabbar, togged out in olive green fatigues, rotten teeth and clattering boots, and his inimitable delivery, the film wouldn't have been what it was.

It was many years after I watched it first that I discovered in a genuine spaghetti Western, a couple of scenes which seemed like they were completely transplanted onto 'Sholay'. The soundscape, with the trademark goose-pimply keening, was very Sergio Leone-sque. Village Ramgarh looked as if it was fashioned like a Hollywood western outpost. But the way director Ramesh Sippy, writers Salim-Javed, cinematographer Dwarka Diwecha, and music director R D Burman crafted this film, those couple of imitative scenes were so beautifully knit into the fabric of the film that you felt they were always part of it. Real-life dacoits in their dhoti-kurtas, post 1975, must have cursed Gabbar for forever stamping his wardrobe imprint on them, as well as wondering where they could find a campfire and item queen Helen and the very colourful Jalal Agha whooping it up to Mehbooba, Mehbooba.

'Ooo, ooo, ooo'. `Kitnay Aadmi Thay'? `Poore pachaas hajaar, sarkaar'. `Tumhara naam kya hai, Basanti'? `Yun toh hamein zyaada baat karne ki aadat nahin hai'. `Budhiya jail mein chakki peesing and peesing'. `Itna sannaata kyon hai, bhai'? The dialogues, and there are so many more, are iconic, and have seeped into our pop culture. The mournful mouth-organ tune and the growing, silent smoulder between Amitabh and Jaya, the more earthy equation between Dharmendra and Hema, the camaraderie between the two denim-clad male leads, and how well they horsed ( we saw more of it many more films, especially 'Chupke Chupke'), the tragic backstory of the `thakur', and all the gun play which still has the power to thrill, nearly 40 years later.

I found bits of the long jail sequence dull, like I had before, and a flashback involving Jaya wisely taken out at the time it first released, made me wince this time around. But only for that moment, because I was caught up with the rest again, and enthralled all over again. It feels surprisingly undated, and fresh.

You can divide Hindi cinema into two eras, pre-and-post 'Sholay'. It is a landmark. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

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Dear Shubhra,

Thankyou so much for this beautiful review. You must really love Sholay a lot. Thank you for watching our movie.

Sincerely,

Team Sholay 3D

CNN IBN's Rajeev Masand Reviews Sholay 3D

India's Favourite Film Critic Reviews India's All-time Favourite movie

Sholay 3D

Cast: Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan, AK Hangal, Asrani, Jagdeep, Leela Mishra, Viju Khote, MacMohan

Director: Ramesh Sippy

How many times have you seen Sholay? Does it matter? Sholay is a classic because you know at precisely which second to say, "Kitne aadmi the?" along with Gabbar Singh. It's considered the greatest Hindi film ever made because you can still feel your adrenaline pumping as you watch Jai and Veeru's stunts during that thrilling dacoit attrack on a speeding train, or feel the dread when you see a child look at Gabbar as a swing creaks ominously. It depicts wonderful love - in the comic romance between Veeru and Basanti, or the unspoken longing between Jai and Radha.

38 years after it first opened with stereophonic sound on 70 mm, Sholay has been converted into 3D for re-release this week. Another generation will experience Sholay for the first time on the big screen. Putting on 3D glasses and watching Sholay again, presented in Dolby Atmos, its sound redesigned, was an enhanced experience no doubt, but I believe the film's magic remains in Salim-Javed's masterful story-telling and Ramesh Sippy's inspired direction. This is a spaghetti western like no other because of its characters, its dialogues, the gripping action, the menacing villain and the story of how he was crushed by two fearless men who dared to take him on.

Sholay on the big screen is an exhilarating 3 hour 24 minute-movie event, with or without 3D glasses. It is wildly entertaining, unforgettable cinema, and I'm willing to bet that it'll probably be the best film you'll see in the theatres this year. Don't miss it.

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Dear Rajeev,

You are as much a part of Indian Cinema as is Sholay. We would like to thank you for this lovely review. We are glad you loved the new and improved experience of an old classic.

Sincerely,

Team Sholay 3D

DNA's Sarita Tanwar Reviews Sholay 3D

Film review: 'Sholay' 3D - The epic adventure is back, rush to the screens now!

Film: Sholay
Rating: *****
Directed: Ramesh Sippy
Starring: Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini,
Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan

When Sholay first hit the screens in 1975, it was pegged as the greatest story ever
told and  the greatest star cast ever assembled. 39 years later, nothing has changed.
A film, that’s quite easily the most influential movie-going experience of our times,
does not need a review. So let’s just stick to an update only for the enjoyment of
reliving the adventure.

The legendary story of Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) who hires two small-time
crooks, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) to fight the might of Gabbar
Singh (Amjad Khan) is back – and this time,  in 3D. For those who didn’t get the chance
to watch this epic drama when it was first released in 70mm and  stereophonic sound,
now is the time. That’s because no amount of DVDs and Blu Rays can ever do justice
 to the magnificence and the opulence of Sholay on the big screen. Plus, the novelty of
watching it in 3D brings  a different flavour to all those unforgettable scenes, dialogues
and characters that will be etched in our memories forever.

Be prepared for the ride of your lives – it’s time to rejoice the everlasting dosti between
Jai and Veeru; the hysterical antics of Basanti (Hema Malini); the silent love of Radha
(Jaya Bhaduri); the emotional resilience of Thakur and the awe-inspiring aura of Gabbar.
Not to mention the varied other characters in the movie that became  an integral part of
film history – Sambha (Macmohan), Soorma Bhopali (Jagdeep), Jailor (Asrani), Kaaliya
(Viju  Khote) and many others.

The 3D conversion could’ve been more polished for a film of this stature. Still, the effect
is spellbinding. The train sequence (still the best train sequence ever shot in Hindi cinema)
is the highlight – new effects have been added to enhance the 3D element. With a length
of over 3 hours, the 3D gets tiresome in parts but the sheer grandeur of the film keeps
you going. The songs and background score have been re-created by Raju Singh and
that’s a huge plus in the new version. Without losing the essence of the original, Singh
delivers a spectacular punch. Technically, Sholay 3D is par excellence – it’s great to see
a crystal-clear, polished version of your favourite film in a new avatar.

Sholay is also a prominent film because of the people associated with it. Director
Ramesh Sippy is remembered to date, for this offering, which remains unparalleled
even in his career. Salim-Javed, the greatest writer duo India has known, consider it one
of their finest works. RD Burman’s music, Dwarka Divecha’s cinematography,
MS Shinde’s editing and Ram Yedekar’s production design continue to remain a class
apart.

India’s epic adventure is back – rush to the screens now!

Watch the trailer: 

Dear Sarita,
We are grateful for this generous review. Thankyou for recognizing the technical 
team's hard work. We are glad you loved our movie.
Sincerely,
Team Sholay 3D

Sound Box loves The Sound of Sholay

SHOLAY 3D - With impeccable composing, sound mixing and designing by Raju Singh Panesar, Kunal Mehta & Parikshit Lalwani the Dolby Atmos effects has made a huge difference to the sound scape!!

Sound Box Magazine - December 30th, 2013 Issue
E- Magazine 30th Dec Issue

Afternoon - The Legend R.D. Burman

Afternoon  - The legendary R.D. Burman
News Write Up

R. D. Burman - A Legend

R.D. Burman - A Legend
Mid Day - R. D. Burman

The Magic of Sholay

Cafe Sholay: Our movie is truly the peoples' movie

Different people have different ways of showing their love for Sholay, but this cafe near Babulnath temple in south Mumbai takes it to a whole new level. The cafe is named after the movie! Cafe Sholay may look like a hole in the wall, but we love it because the owners love us so much that they named their cafe after our movie. Next time you are in the area, drop in for some cutting chai.

Cafe Sholay... thank you for your love!

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Nothing says dance till you drop like, "Jab tak hai jaan, jaan-e-jahaan, main nachungi". The iconic climax song from Sholay has inspired movie titles, but nothing matches up to the desperation of young love, battling all odds, attempting to keep one's love alive even if it means dancing on broken glass!

When Sholay was being remastered in Dolby Atmos, the sound team had a huge challenge. "Dolby Atmos is to sound what 3D is to visual images. We were redoing the entire sound of Sholay in Dolby Atmos to add
something special, something extra to cater to a whole new generation of Sholay viewers. So when you see Basanti dance on broken glass, we had to ensure you could hear the sound so as to feel the character's
pain," says Parikshit Lalvani of the famous Kunal-Parikshit duo that designed the sound of Sholay 3D.

The entire foley was done at Aradhana Recording studio in Mumbai. The sound of breaking, had not been added initially. But when the team was putting everything together at the Media Artists's studio in Chennai,
they felt that something was amiss. So foley artist Iqbal was roped in to recreate the sound of glass being crushed under feet at Mumbai's Sunny Super Sound studio.

Elaborates Kunal, "We tried many different sounds and even got a foley artist to break glass in a sound studio. But everytime we could hear the sound of Iqbal's shoes on the glass. After several attempts the
brave man volunteered to break glass with his bare feet!"

Such was the dedication of each member of the team, that they shed both sweat and blood for this once in a lifetime project.

Meet the Men who created Background Score & Sound Designing for Sholay 3-D - Entertainment Trade

Lights, Camera, Action!

Parikshit gets a call that changed our life!

The story so far: You know that we were just a bunch of ordinary blokes bobbing around till the Universe decided that we must put our secret super-powers to good use and work on recreating the Sound of Sholay... But if doing the impossible wasn't enough, Parikshit got a call that made sure that an entire army of butterflies started camping in our stomachs... We were to do a photo shoot!

Serious contemplation

We know we are kind cute (actually chicks dig us ;-P), but a photoshoot required careful planning. Parikshit needed more colour in his wardrobe (he just wears black and blue... some inexplicable Saanwariya hangover), Kunal actually shuddered at the thought of having to wear formal trousers, but Raju maintained that no matter what he wore, the girls would only drool over his goofy grin. So we retired for the night only to face the arc lights the following day.

We're the cool dudes

It was actually a lot of fun! Us three, just being ourselves, having fun while the camera went clickity-click-click. Parikshit aced it. He's a natural!

Yeah! It's all under control

Finally our whole team, even our producers joined in the fun. The next gen Sippys are something else. Not only can they spot talent and take risks, they also know how to make their people feel special. Sholay 3D wouldn't have happened without Shaan Uttam Singh and Shehzaad Sippy.

Say hello to the team

Stay tuned for more pictures from our photoshoot.

Sneak Peek into the music of Sholay 3-D - Sound Box

 

Buzz

Sneak Peek into the music of Sholay 3-D

by Swagata Panjari (December 23, 2013)

Sholay is a landmark film, but would you watch the 3-D version? With impeccable composing, sound mixing and designing by Raju Singh Panesar, Kunal Mehta and Parikshit Lalwan, the Dolby Atmos effects had made a huge difference to the soundscape. Sound Box gets a sneak peek into the making of this mammoth project to watch out for

When Sholay was being re-made in 3-D, it aroused many emotions among its fans, the media and the film/music industry alike. There were doubts, cynicism, opposition and also proposition to do it in a certain fashion. Some did not approve the idea and were repelled by the very thought, “Arre it is Sholay! How dare anyone remake it?” But now that the deed has been done, the question is to see how this offering is different.

The Magical Burman

Burman da’s genius is evident through Sholay. Recorded in the 1970s with limited resources, compositions such as Mehbooba Mehbooba and Yeh Dosti continue to mesmerise music composers and aficionados alike. While it is a challenge in itself to remake the original songs, the complexities are now audible and rather heightened. The music directors Raju Singh Panesar, Kunal Mehta and Parikshit Lalwan have doctored the original soundscape with the help of Dolby Atmos 7.1. One can now catch every sound easily — from shattering of glass in the track Jab Tak Hai Jaan, to the whistling of the steam engine in the first half of the film.

On a Musical Quest

Imitating styles and mannerisms is always a task; and when the project demands exact replication of someone as legendary as RD Burman, the stake rises music higher. One has to pick a composer who can do justice to the project, by bringing freshness yet keeping the essence of the movie intact.

Stating that choosing a music composer was not an easy job, the film distributor and presenter Jayantilal Gada Chairman of Pen India mentions, “We had a qualification test to have best music director, and asked composers to send a sample of their work. Some denied sending the samples, while we didn’t like the work of some others. We decided to offers the project to Raju Singh Panesar after going through his portfolio.”

Though Panesar had an opportunity to work with Burman da earlier, refining the soundtrack of Sholay was still the most challenging task. “Sholay is not just known for its screenplay but also for its music. We had to be careful as everyone remembers the film. We did not want to mess with the authenticity of the film, and neither of the producers wanted to edit the film. Receiving a project that not only deals with recomposing the music, but the whole film was the most exciting yet challenging job,” shares Panesar. The director’s work and credibility was also vouched for and recommended by the writer of Sholay, Javed Aktar. “Kunal and Parikshit were approached first, and I am grateful that Javedji recommended me for the project. After that, the producers asked us to work on the train sequence of the film to see what we can do. We took 20 days to submit the sample edit,” says Panesar.

Replicating the Soundscape

There was a time when audio cassettes of Sholay were played in every nook and corner of the country, to such an extent that people knew each dialogue, scene-by-scene by heart. Even when Dolby launched their format, the Atmos, a sound designer apparently asked, “If weare watching Sholay then how will the coin toss sound?” That makes Sholay a landmark reference in its own right.

Mehta reveals that they only had the main print and not the separate dialogue and music tracks to work on. The sound designers filtered the dialogues before working on the music track, without employing any new dubs and that took almost eight months. Produced 36 years ago, the mixing style of the film was also very different. The dialogue track had music as well, but one cannot hear it as the film was produced with four stereos. As 3-D conversion added finesse, eliminating dialogue track music was not an easy job for them. They couldn’t eliminate everything from the dialogue, and instead had to camouflage some portions. The producers had to restore the negative film first and upgrade it to HD (high definition), and then go into the conversion process, to rework the sound

Lalwan reveals, “At times, the tracks were so meticulously placed that it was difficult to figure whether the dialogue has music or not. How will you know if there is music behind the dialogue? We had to hear each frame repeatedly and if there was sound, we had to

insert, shift, play, and detune the music, as we cannot do much. Sometimes, we pitched the dialogue too. It took almost a year to finish the design, so that people don’t feel it is all mixed. ” India’s first female re-recording mixing engineer Geeta Gurappa from Media artists, Chennai has mixed the film.

Amplification of sound due to Dolby Atmos 7.1 mix and stereoscopic sound was another added concern for the trio. “Earlier, the sound was audible only through the side speaker. But now, high end technology has added height to the sound; one can hear the music from the top as well,” Mehta points out.

For a composer, it is always grueling to work on a defined sound palette as it limits their creativity. It is even more challenging when one has to work on a decade old cult, classic sound and replicate the work of a legend. In order to retain similarity, Panesar had to record everything on a keyboard and mark each portion. The task took two months. It was only then that he replaced the acoustic and checked what was played, which instruments were used. “We sketched the procedure by working on 10 to 20 seconds of a section, and then rewinded to see if it was seamless. We had to recompose some portions, as the music wasn’t audible in some sections. We have no new dubs; the music and effects are exactly the same,” Panesar says.

Rewinding To An Era

It was also a task for the trio to recreate sounds of that particular era such as that of guns and steam engines.

So, how did they generate the sounds that were no longer in use?

“In the track song Mehbooba, Burman da had used a customized instrument; the sound of the same instrument was also used for Gabbar’s theme. We tried to replicate it on electronic, but couldn’t, so we found the person who made the instrument. Unfortunately, he passed away, so we got in touch with his son and thankfully he it. That’s how we replicated the sound,” divulges Lalwan. He further adds, “Also, we have kept the voice on centre track and got musicians to play with it. The crystal wasn’t there in old times everything was handheld, so the tempo was very random. We created surround sound with the help of live musicians. The violinists who played were the children of the violinists of the original film.”

Sholay is dear to everyone, and working on the movie not only motivated the composer or designers but the whole crew. Giving an instance on how their foley guy actually bled for obtaining the exact sound, Panesar shares, “The people in the industry are quite emotional when it comes to Sholay. For the track Jab Tak Hai Jaan Main Nachungi, the foley guy took off his shoes for the acquiring the sound of crushing of glass, as we could not get the proper sound when he was dancing with his shoes on.”

Financial Engagement

To re-introduce the 70s classic film Sholay in a 3-D format, producer Jyantilal Gada has invested approximately Rs 25 crore in the project. Stating that they wanted to provide viewers the best experience, Gada says, “Sholay is a cult classic and popular among Indians. The Indian public loves the movie, and we didn’t want to fall short of the audience’s expectations. While remaking the movie, we made sure that we would bring out a fine product. We didn’t want to compromise on any element. We employed the best technology at high cost for the same.” Since Sholay is widely known for its music and background score, Gada further stated that he has invested approximately one crore in remaking the music of the film.

 Link - http://www.soundbox.co.in/sneak-peak-into-the-music-of-sholay-3-d/2/

Raju Singh on re-creating the sound of Sholay -By Rajiv Vijayakar, Bollywood Hungama

Movie Features

Raju Singh on re-creating the sound of Sholay

By Rajiv Vijayakar, Dec 25, 2013 - 08:09 IST

You could call the honor pre-destined and otherwise very appropriate. His father, eminent veteran musician Charanjit Singh, had worked as a musician on Sholay with R.D. Burman, and now Raju Singh is re-doing the sound of the songs and background score of the 3D version that is set to release on January 3, 2014.

Composer Raju Singh has been best known for his imaginative remix albums in the late '90s as well as some standout original albums like Alka Yagnik's Tum Yaad Aayeand Jagjit Singh's Unique later. He got his biggest fame as one of Hindi cinema's finest background music composers (Chandni Bar, Ishq Vishk, Page 3 and almost all films of the Bhatts including Zeher, Gangster and Raaz 3 to this year's biggest hit Aashiqui 2. He has also been composer in a few films, like Khichdi - The Movie, and has composed the title songs or music of cult shows like Indian Idol, C.I.D. and Boogie-Woogie, besides doing jingles galore. 

In a freewheeling chat at his Juhu home, Raju Singh Panesar, to give his full name, enlightens us on the Sholay experience. 

Destiny apart, how did you land up with Sholay?
Kunal Mehta and Parikshat Sahni, who are eminent in this field as Sound Designers, were approached by the Sippys family that has converted the film into 3D. They suggested my name for the music. Jayantibhai Gada, who is presenting the film, happened to call Javed-saab for something else, and since he was one ofSholay's writers, asked him what he thought of me. Javed-saab told him, "Trust Raju with your eyes closed!" I owe this assignment to Javed-saab as much as to my colleagues! 

We - Kunal, Parikshit and I - then made a demo of the train sequence and Gabbar Singh's entry, and we were on! And it is very gratifying to know that Gada-ji has been praising me to the skies everywhere! 

What was your initial thought when asked to do this film?
The first thought was that this was my way of reconnecting with Pancham-da, the man who taught me so much. In his last phase, I had worked with him for over seven years, apart from his long association with my father. I was never approached by anyone to talk about Pancham-da tributes, but now it seemed as if he had reserved his best for me and decided that "Mera baccha Raju Singh hi Sholay karega!" 

We were very clear that the music would not be changed into anything modern and just be a restoration of his work, so my credit reads "Music Re-Composed and Re-Created by Raju Singh". 

Having said that, the foremost emotion was anxiety - about living up to the film and Pancham-da in India's greatest-ever film! At that point of time, none of us three knew what kind of creative freedom, time and money would be available to us. But both Gada and the Sippys gave us everything that we wanted and the film needed. Today, after 18 months of painstaking efforts, we three feel blessed for being the chosen ones! 

Did you get anyone from the original team on board?
No, most of them are no more. But we took guidance from key names who were with Pancham-da on the film who are, however, not active today - like Kersi Lord, and like singer Bhupinder Singh, who had played the guitar in the opening sequence. My father is otherwise active but here he only guided me when asked for advice. 

And how did you go about restoring Sholay?
For every advantage we had, like Dolby Atmos Sound and better reverb machines, we faced some grave and real challenges. 

The foremost was the problem that there is only one print that is now existing with the Sippys. And music was missing either for seconds or a couple of minutes from many parts! One example was that despite the film being in Stereophonic Sound, as the train sound increased in the robbery sequence, the music could no longer be heard! So I had to compromise on my resolve not to use electronics and program the whole film on my keyboard along with my musician Sourabh, and then imagine and replicate what must have been there in those gaps and insert it just right. 

But the biggest handicap was the fact that power supply used to fluctuate in the '70s. So, unlike today, when we use a click track for the timing, those tiny ups and downs in the current used to minutely alter the speed of the tape up and down and this would change the pitch! For the lay audience it was barely noticeable, but we noticed it more and had to work upon it. 

What else?
We kept the original song or sound track in the center and reproduced the music with live musicians. Yogesh Pradhan was of invaluable help in the notations. The song 'Mehbooba O Mehbooba' in particular was very much affected and needed a lot of work. 

What Kunal and Parikshit did was clean the entire track, removing the background music, songs and sound effects, so that only the dialogues were left - we had thought of getting the dialogues dubbed but gave up the idea as many actors were dead and we did not want mimics. This laborious process took us seven months! Then we had to work on our add-on tracks and put everything back in. We also had to do six months of acoustic work in music at Chennai's Media Artistes Studio with Geeta Kurupa. When we started out, we did not know what level of perfection we could achieve, but I think we have managed, thanks to Sascha, Shehzad and Shaan from the Sippy clan, who understood what we were after and stood by us in providing or facilitating everything. 

Any standout memories in these months?
Oh, there were plenty! Remember that electric scene where Sanjeev Kumar comes with gifts and finds his whole family massacred that swinging jhoola, the wind blowing and Gabbar against the landscape? 

For the music for Sanjeev's walk to his home, a very unusual 'instrument' had been invented by Pancham-da! He had got iron rods welded all around a car differential (the ball-like structure under the chassis) that was filled with water, so that when they were strummed with a violin string, a specific pitch - which you have heard in the film - is emitted. As far as we knew, this 'instrument' was never used in any film again. Thanks to my musician friend Sameer Phatarphekar, we traced the son of the late musician who had played it and actually got him to play it for us! 

Another incredible feat was one of our team members actually dancing barefoot on glass fragments in our studio to reproduce Hema Malini's climactic dance, because nothing else could have got us that identical sound! 

Finally, since the credits for all the new names involved in the 3D version have been placed against a black frame even before the original and much-loved opening credits, I decided to musically connect the two parts with a flugelhorn that was played by Kishore Sodha and pads. They flow seamlessly into Bhupinder-ji's guitar in the original. 

We heard that Dharmendra was very moved when he saw the completed film.
I was actually working on the background music of Dharam-ji's Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 when I showed him some sequences and what I had done. He was almost in tears and said, "This is the best possible gift to 100 years of Indian cinema."

Article Link: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/5946

Creative Sound Design

Kunal Mehta

Kunal and Parikshit are nothing short of demi-gods in the sound industry. The awesome twosome have conceptualized and designed sound for hundreds of movies in multiple Indian languages. The boys really know how to add boom to block-busters as evidenced in their latest outing Goliyon Ki Raas Leela Ram Leela.

The two are also virtually inseparable. They always work together, a strategy that has worked well for the talented duo.

Explains Parikshit, "We work in sync with each other. There are things Kunal can handle better and there are some things I can handle more deftly."

Adds Kunal, "Sholay was a test of our talent and it was only because we stuck together and constantly encouraged each other that we were able to take on such a huge challenge."

The duo had near-insurmountable odds against them with the original unmixed version of the movie having gone up in flames in a freak accident in London two years ago. Plus there were challenges in recreating the sound of many things that are no longer in existence.

Parikshit Lalvani

Parikshit elaborates, "We don't have steam engines today and we had to create the sound associated with the puffing out of the smoke, the chugging of the engine and the clatter and clang of the wheels on the track from the scratch!"

"Sometimes, we would spend days together in our Chennai studio. Feel happy at the end product. Then hear it after a while and realize it is not working and then spend a few more days re-doing everything", shares Kunal.

The product of their efforts is Sholay 3D which is being released in Dolby Atmos on Jan 3, 2014. When you watch the movie, remember, there are the boys behind the Sound of Sholay 3D.

An Audacious Attempt

Raju Singh

I was overjoyed when I was given the opportunity to compose music for Sholay 3D. But as the days went by, my enthusiasm began to give way to trepidation. I was after all expected o walk in the footsteps of the legendary RD Burman.

This was Sholay 3D... The objective was to make it bigger and better without eroding the soul of the original. There was no way we could improve on perfection. It would be sacrilege to attempt to even change a note from the original. Yet, I had to recreate the music, as the original print had undergone much wear and tear and the music was barely audible in many places.

The challenges were near insurmountable, as back in the day when Sholay was made, the entire group of musicians would play to the hand movement of a single conductor, who would stand before them, guiding them. 

Today, we have equipment to time each beat and rhythm, but when Sholay was made rhythm depended on the rise and fall of the human hand! Add to that electrical fluctuations that would leave their own signature on the recording.

Raju Singh

We had to recreate the music from the scratch, ensuring that the flaws were maintained, so that the true character of the music could be preserved. These flaws actually added to the beauty of the music and without them the sound of Sholay 3D would sound hollow and emotionless. 

I'm grateful to the producers of Sholay 3D for placing so much faith in me and letting me take on challenges like recreating the magic of Mehbooba-Mehbooba. You have no idea how many sleepless nights I have spent on that one! The press has always been eager to write the obituary of anyone who messes up an RD number.

Then of-course was the challenge of the melancholy mouth-organ that Jai played. I actually used three different people to play the instrument and still somewhere deep down inside, I felt that something was missing. 

It is now upto the audience to decide... My dear movie lovers... Go watch Sholay 3D on Jan 3... and tell me if you feel the magic.