New Delhi, Aug. 4 -- In a world flooded with algorithms, franchise fatigue, and forgettable content, one Indian film continues to do what new-age brands desperately chase: command recall, spark emotion, and drive engagement across five generations.

That film is Sholay. And it turns 50 this month.

For many, Sholay is the definitive Bollywood blockbuster. But for marketers, it's something more powerful, India's first mass-market cinematic IP, long before the term became jargon. It didn't just make box office history. It gave India a language of branding before we knew what that was.

"Sholay isn't a film that finds its identity solely as a commercial blockbuster-it's an iconic fixture in Indian cinematic memory. So relevant, it has transc...