Right next to the parking lot at the IFFI (International Film Festival of India) venue in Goa – just past the security checkpoint – stands the Sholay motorcycle, displayed inside a glass enclosure. The iconic 1942 BSA WM20 is pulling more fans than the red-carpet this year. The motorcycle, which Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra rode through the Yeh Dosti song sequence, has been brought out of the archives by Karnataka’s Department of Information and Public Relations to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, and cinephiles can’t get enough of it.

Cinephiles heading to screenings pause to pose beside the motorcycle, snapping photos of the registration plate – MYB 3047 from the erstwhile Mysore state. Most of them are heard asking the same questions: “Is this really the bike from Sholay ?”, “Does it still run?” and “Is it a replica?”

Replica or not (yes, it’s the real bike), very few installations across the festival grounds have drawn cinephiles at IFFI like this motorcycle. Following Dharmendra’s demise on November 25, more festival-goers have been flocking to see it.

Grace, a cinephile who went behind the motorcycle to get a shot with it, said, “If not for the Sholay poster, we would’ve walked right past it. It’s so iconic, I can’t believe it’s the same motorcycle. But I wish the sidecar was there too!” Another festivalgoer, Jacob Verghese, said, “No matter which generation you are from, you know the Yeh Dosti song. You know that bike. Seeing it here at IFFI is like a piece of movie history on display.”

The song Yeh Dosti was shot over 20 days. Director Ramesh Sippy and cinematographer Dwarka Divecha added a sidecar to the bike to emphasize the friendship and filmed the sequence with a 180-degree effect – making viewers feel as if they were riding with Jai and Veeru.