Mumbai: The Ramesh Sippy directed GP Sippy’s film Sholay, released in August  1975 has proved that 31 years later, the popularity of the blockbuster has not been marred. A poll by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s (IRIB) Research Centre showed that Sholay had drawn the most audience attention as the Iranians voted it as their favourite film.

Sholay stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan , Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan and managed to draw in the audiences in Iran as well. Sholay
was telecast on the television network between June 22 and July 22 and did better than films by Iranian directors.
Kiumars Purahmad’s Strange Sisters and Kamal Tabrizi’s Maternal Love, both aired during the same period stood second and third respectively for audience attention.