Sholey maker G P Sippy passes away

Mumbai, Dec 26: Noted film producer G P Sippy passed away here late last night after a prolonged illness. He was 92.

Gopaldas Parmanand Sippy was born in Hyderabad, now in Pakistan's Sind Province, in an illustrious Sindhi family in September 1915. In his career spanning nearly five decades, he produced 17 films and directed six. ''Sholey'', produced in 1975, was the most memorable and landmark film of his banner. The other blockbusters included 'Seeta aur Geeta', 'Brahmachari' and 'Andaaz'. Some of his other productions were -- Saaz (1951), Mere Sanam (1965), Bandhan (1970), Trishna (1978),Ehsas (1979), Shaan (1980), Sagar (1985), Bhrashtachar (1989) Patthar Ke Phool (1991), Raju Bangaya Gentelman (1992), Aatish (1994), Zamana Deewana (1995) and Hamesha (1997). He also directed films like Marine drive (1955), Chandrakanta (1956), Shrimati 420 (1956), Adl-E-Jahangir (1956), Light house (1958) and Bhai Behen (1959).

Sippy was the president of Film Federation of India (FFI) on four occasions from 60s to 90s. He also bagged Filmfare awards for best producer in 1968 and 1982. Sippy had started earning his livelihood by selling carpets and later moved into construction. He had asked his son Ramesh, to quit his studies at the London School of Economics and help him in film production. The father-son duo worked as producer-director, making some of the most memorable films of Bollywood like ''Sholay'' and ''Seeta aur Geeta''.

According to film industry sources, for ''Sholay'' the Sippys had invested Rs three crore and churned out a revenue of whopping Rs 34 crore, besides making box-office record that remains unbroken till today.

His funeral will be held at Chandanwadi, this afternoon. UNI