After months of talk in the media over whether it would see the light of day, work on the remake of the cult film 'Sholay', being directed by Ramgopal Verma, will begin later this month.

However, rather than a frame-to-frame copy of the Ramesh Sippy's 1975 blockbuster, Ramgopal verma's 'Sholay' will be part of an effort by the filmmaker to revive the "long-forgotten" genre of action films and the "intense angry young man" that characterised the films in the 70s and the 80s.

Ending all speculation over the status of the 'Sholay' ramake, Ramgopal Verma has said the shooting the film would begin later this month or early next month.

"Shooting for the remake of 'Sholay' will commence later this month or early next month,"the filmmaker told.

With the movie's cast, except for Basanti, having been finalised; Ajay Devgan will play Veeru (played in the original by Dharmendra), Mohit Ahlawat the quiet Jai (played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original), Katrina Kaif will play the widow Radha (Jaya Bachchan essayed the role in the 70s classic), Mohanlal being cast for the role of Thakur (played by Sanjeev Kumar in the original) and Sushant Singh cast as Gabbar's henchman, Sambha; Ramgopa, Verma plans to wrap up the film in two month's time.

"I plan to complete the shooting of the film by December. The film will be ready for release early next year,"Verma said during a promotional visit to the capital for his new film 'Shiva', which releases across the world today.

Though staying true to the original, which introduced the trend of action films in Hindi cinema with its "never-before-seen' action sequences, the new 'Sholay' will be made keeping in view the changed times. So while, the story will be the same, the settings will be different from the original.

For Ramgopal Verma, 'Sholay', following close on the heels of his 'Shiva', is past of his efforts to revive the genre of action films and the "angry young hero" of the 70s and the 80s.

"The intention of making 'Shiva' , as also the remake of 'Sholay', is to bring back the intense angry hero who ruled the 70s and the 80s.

It was that hero who made films of that era "larger than life" with Amitabh Bachchan leading the brigade and, in varying degrees, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty and Sunny Deol," Ramgopal Verma said at the press meet of 'Shiva' in the capital, where the film's lead actors Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari were also present.

Talking about his new film 'Shiva', the filmmaker said,"most of us accept injustice mutely. But every once in a while, a rebel comes along who will hit back. Through 'Shiva', I want to once again catch the spirit of "one man taking on the odds" when his principles and convictions are under threat,"he said.

'Shiva' deals with the story of a young police officer, played by Mohit Alhawat who joins the Mumbai police force and realizes that the real world is far removed from what he had been taught at the police academy.