Nepal, Dec. 25 -- The eulogies continue to flow in for Indian film actor Dharmendra, who passed away a month ago at the age of 89. It was a loss felt by aficionados of Hindi films everywhere. But perhaps we from that fraternity can all take comfort in the fact that the original 'he-man' of Indian cinema lived long enough to experience the golden jubilee year of Sholay, arguably the biggest Bollywood blockbuster ever and the film he will always be remembered for.

Much has been and will continue to be written about Sholay, but only those who lived through its heyday will have experienced what a phenomenon it was. Records were broken aplenty as the film's characters became household names. It even spawned a whole new business opportunity in...