Sholay 1975
As the week wore on the anxiety of the crew turned into depression. On Monday morning, when the second week advance booking opened, there were modest queues outside Minerva and Excelsior where the 70mm prints were showing. At other theatres, hardly two or three people stood for tickets. In most of the suburban theatres, matinee shows had less than fifty per cent collections. For Ramesh, this was confirmation that all was lost. He was devastated. That evening he walked into Film Center, where more prints were being made, and told Anwar, 'Printing band kar do. Abhi kuchh samajh main nahin aa raha hai (Stop the printing. I don't understand what's going on.)' At home the unflappable demeanour cracked. It was the first time in his remarkable career that he was facing a flop. 'I think I've failed,' he told Geeta.
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