What Sholay did for India, The Legend of Maula Jatt did for Pakistan, says Nadeem Mandivalla, one of the biggest exhibitors in the neighbouring country.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Nadeem Mandviwalla said when Ramesh Sippy's Sholay released in 1975, its gradual success turned the tide for Indian exhibition business, taking the market valued at Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 crore.
With barely 60 cinemas across the country and a declining film industry in Pakistan, it is the Fawad Khan-starrer The Legend of Maula Jatt that is still playing Pakistani cinemas even after almost three years after its release. It's the highest earning Pakistani film of all time with Rs 125 crore in box office earnings, making it an "unbelievable" feat, he added.
Sholay had a star-studded cast of Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Mailini, and Jaya Bachchan. It follows a former police officer Thakur who hires two outlaws called Jai and Veeru to capture the notorious bandit Gabbar Singh who kills his family in cold blood.
The Legend of Maula Jatt, based on Pakistani folklore, too featured the who's who of Pakistani film industry. Besides Fawad Khan, the film starred Mahira Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Humaima Malik, Gohar Rasheed, and Ali Azmat, among others. In the movie, Maula Jatt (Fawad Khan) takes on his arch nemesis and the leader of a brutal clan, Noori Natt (Hamza Ali Abbasi).
The Legend Of Maula Jatt - Pakistan's Own Sholay
Nadeem Mandviwalla told NDTV that The Legend of Maula Jatt is "Pakistani Sholay".
"For us, in 75 years, we finally made a Sholay. We had made great films but we hadn't made a Sholay. Now, I can say we have a Sholay of our own. There are two-three films in India that changed the course (of Indian cinema).
"The concept of your market being Rs 25 crore and it suddenly becomes a market of Rs 100 crore that was a game changer, which Sholay did in 1975 -- from a Rs 5 crore market to a Rs 20 crore market. After Sholay, Maine Pyar Kiya came in 1989 and then Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! in 1994. India couldn't believe they could have a market of Rs 100 crore, now you're at Rs 500 crore," he said.
Pakistan could have never thought about making more than Rs 50 crore in terms of its film market. "Maula Jatt is now playing at Rs 125 crore (PKR) in Pakistan with 60 cinemas. It's unbelievable," added the distributor, who backed the film via Mandviwalla Entertainment.
The Shock And Awe Factor That Unites Sholay And The Legend Of Maula Jatt
Besides superb box office performances, what also makes one compare Sholay and The Legend of Maula Jatt is the feeling of shock and awe the audiences were washed by after they watched both the movies when they released.
According to Nadeem Mandviwalla, when he released The Legend of Maula Jatt in 2022 in his theatres, "Sholay was the reference" he used while talking about the Pakistani movie.
"Bilal Lashari has made two films in Pakistan. One was in 2013, it was called Waar and in 2022, we released The Legend Of Maula Jatt. Both the films were distributed by our company in Pakistan. So, when I saw the film with Bilal, I told him that there are different ways of looking into films.
"How the public sees them. There are very few films in the world which create an element which is rare. I told him Waar had an awe factor and that was enough for the people to come to the theatres. It's a very, very rare case in the world where pictures create a shock factor and you can just pinpoint those films in the world where the audience has gone into shock..."
When the viewer is shocked by a film, they go silent, added the Karachi-based exhibitor.
"You don't say anything because you are unable to digest what you have seen. That it has gone beyond your expectations. Sholay was that. In the interviews, Ramesh Sippy said that in the first week, they thought the picture was a flop so they stopped producing the prints. Then suddenly everything changed...
"This is what exactly happened with Maula Jatt. The Pakistani public went into shock (after watching the film) that 'How can Pakistan make a picture of this calibre'. We don't have a market to make a picture of this calibre," he recalled.
The Legend Of Maula Jatt - The Reimagining
Sholay was set in Ramgarh, a fictional village, and was primarily shot in and around the town of Ramanagara, Karnataka. The Legend of Maula Jatt may be an adaptation of the 1979 Lollywood film Maula Jatt, but unlike its predecessor, the film is not set in Punjab, said Nadeem Mandviwalla.
"The brilliance of Bilal Lashari in that film was how he presented those characters 30-40 years later... The original film was all real Punjab. Bilal Lashari's film is no Punjab. It's all fictional. You can't say which Punjab or era is this and that became its biggest beauty. He went into Game of Thrones and Gladiator."
It may be a film from across the border but The Legend of Maula Jatt has some similarities with Sholay. Nadeem Mandviwalla came close to releasing the Fawad Khan-starrer in India, his last attempt being October 2, 2024. Sholay released for the first time in Pakistan in 2015 after a generation already watched the film on VCR and TV through re-runs. But Indian audiences are yet to watch The Legend of Maula Jatt in Indian cinemas.
Also Read | Fawad Khan-Vaani Kapoor's Abir Gulaal To Skip India Release, To Hit Screens Globally On August 29
