'Sholay should not be made again'

Bollywood actress Hema Malini feels that classics like Mughal-e-Azam and Sholay shouldn't be touched.

There is nothing wrong in remaking old movies, but classics like Mughal-e-Azam and Sholay shouldn't be touched, says Bollywood star Hema Malini.

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The actress-danseuse, who was in town to present her ballet Draupadi to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the Madhya Pradesh assembly, told reporters Monday: "The remakes of films like Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam will not be able to bring back the era in which they were originally made. They should be seen again and again and not made again."

Asked if she would like daughter Esha to play Basanti in Ram Gopal Varma's version of Sholay, she said: "There has been no such proposal so far. In case such an offer comes, I will go through the script before taking any decision."

However, Hema was confident that Amitabh Bachchan, who was Jai in the original, would do justice to his role as Gabbar Singh in the new version.

"Amitabh Bachchan is a great actor and he is capable of doing justice to any role, including Gabbar."

She said she was unhappy that classical music and dance was disappearing from films, but confident that this was just a temporary phase. "It will return to the movies one day," said the actress who hopes to open a classical dance institute in Bhopal one day.