The makers of Sholay have confirmed the release date for the newly restored 4K version of the 1975 classic. This edition, which includes director Ramesh Sippy’s original climax exactly as he envisioned it fifty years ago, will arrive in Indian theatres on December 12, 2025.
The announcement comes shortly after veteran actor Dharmendra returned home from the hospital following a recent health scare. The actor is now recovering under medical supervision.
The restoration has been carried out by the Film Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Sippy Films. The team sourced a rare colour reversal print from London, located the original camera negatives, and even recovered long forgotten deleted scenes from a warehouse in Mumbai. The result is a 4K restoration that brings back the visual grandeur of the original 70 mm format.
This version of Sholay premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and is headed next to the Indian Film Festival of Sydney in October. The newly announced India release will bring the restored masterpiece to a much wider audience.
One of the biggest attractions of this version is the return of the original climax, where Thakur kills Gabbar Singh. This ending was removed at the time because of censorship restrictions during the Emergency.
Speaking about it, Ramesh Sippy said in an earlier interview that the team had no choice but to comply during that period. He explained, “The end that I had planned had to be changed at the last moment. The police arriving and saying stop was a very typical ending for that time. It was not the creative end I wanted.” He added with humour, “The censors said an officer cannot take the law into his own hands. I could not even use the word hands because my character did not have any.”
With the restored version now confirmed for December 12, audiences will finally get to experience Sholay in all its original scale, spirit, and storytelling intent.
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