Synopsis
Thakur
Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar), once a senior police officer,
hires two small-time crooks, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jaidev
(Amitabh Bachchan) to bring the dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh
(Amjad Khan) to him alive. Gabbar had been caught by the
Thakur and sent to jail. He escaped soon after and had gunned
down the Thakur's entire family barring the youngest daughter-in-law,
Radha, who was away at the temple. In a violent rage, the
Thakur rode unarmed to the ravines where Gabbar Singh reigned
to confront him. Thinking humiliation a better revenge than
death, the bandit hacked off the Thakur's arms. In the village,
Veeru falls in love with the garrulous but winsome Basanti
(Hema Malini), while the more serious Jaidev feels drawn
to Radha. When Veeru goes late to a tryst with Basanti,
he discovers she has been kidnapped by Gabbar's men. Walking
into a trap, he is saved by Jaidev, who gives him cover
to get Basanti away. Fatally wounded, Jaidev pretends he
is mildly hurt, and sends Veeru away with Basanti. He manages
to blow up a bridge and kill most of the bandits before
he dies. Veeru comes back and corners Gabbar in the ravines,
and is about to kill him when the Thakur arrives on the
scene. He insists on fighting Gabbar alone, and hits out
at Gabbar with his hobnailed shoes. Gabbar's life is saved
only when the police arrive and remind the Thakur that he
cannot take the law in his own hands. Veeru decides to leave
Ramgarh, but in the empty compartment of the train he finds
Basanti waiting for him.
The film
Sholay
became a legend, and by far the most successful
film of its time, which ran for five consecutive
years in a theatre in Bombay. Often described
as India's best known "curry" western, Sholay
was 'patterned' on American spaghetti westerns
but the addition of romance, comedy, and
songs gave it the ambiance that one expects
of a Hindi film. Ironically the film opened
to a lukewarm response and distributors
asked the director to trim the film because
of its length but soon the word of mouth
spread and the rest as the cliché goes is
history.
Sholay
had all the elements of a Western - rugged
countryside (the film was shot in the rocky
landscape of Ramnagaram a small village
about 30 miles from Bangalore), bandits
on horseback, fierce gun fights etc. But
unlike the Hollywood westerns which had
moral issues as their core, Sholay
like Sergei Leonne's 'Spaghetti Westerns'
was strewn with corpses and brutality. In
fact Sholay took film violence to new heights.
A key factor in this was the villain, the
cold-blooded killer, Gabbar Singh. Unlike earlier villains who
were content to bring about a misunderstanding
between the lovers' families, Gabbar seems
to pursue evil as an end in itself. Played
by newcomer Amjad Khan, Gabbar Singh was
by far the most popular character of the
film with his dialogues remembered till
today! In fact along with the music cassettes
and records of the film, cassettes and records
of the film's dialogues too were released
and were extremely popular. Sholay
was merchandised on water bottles, belts,
jackets etc.
In
a brilliantly executed sequence, Gabbar
in his hideout taunts three of his men on
a failed mission. In a form of Russian Roulette,
he randomly removes three of the six bullets
from his gun and holds the barrel of the
gun to a man's temple and fires. When the
gun doesn't go off he exclaims almost in
child-like glee 'Bach Gaya Sala.' (The Bastard
is saved) Similarly this happens with the
other two men. Laughing at his own cruel
joke, his men too think they have got away
with it and the other dacoits too join in.
When the laughter reaches a feverish pitch,
the entire ravine echoing it, he turns around
and shoots them. A deathly silence follows…
The
film made use of several interesting innovations.
This included its spectacular cinematography,
with shots panning over rocky heights and
barren canyons, often under menacing clouds.
This lends the movie much of its eerie tension.
One of the long opening scenes, which shows
a train being defended by Baldev Singh against
an attack by bandits, is quite spectacular
in its effects, and is reminiscent of similar
scenes in westerns, most notably John Ford's
Stagecoach (1939). (Though it would
be fair to mention that a stunt director
came down from abroad and was responsible
for the amazing action scenes of the film)
Sholay, likewise, plays upon themes
of nature versus culture, the encroachment
of nature upon culture, and the meaning
of civilization in wilderness.
Though
the film depicts the usual Indian themes
of loyalty in friendship and love, what
is notable is an almost total absence of
family values. The two heroes have no visible
family ties, neither has the heroine Hema
Malini. One expects this of bandits,
but not of those who are 'good'.
Technicaly
too the film was a trailblazer. Shot in
70mm with stereophonic sound, Sholay
was the ultimate big screen experience.
(It was India's first film in 70 mm with
stereophonic sound) Mention must be made
of Dwarka Diwecha's stunning camerawork
and R.D. Burman's
evocative background score, particularly
the title track of the film, which help
elevate the film even further.
Perhaps
Sholay's phenomenal success can be
attributed to perhaps the way it was able
to blend the various items or 'masalas'
required in a Hindi film in exactly the
right doses. Practically every scene, dialogue
and even a small character was a highlight.
Even Dhanno, the horse of the tangewali,
Hema Malini is remembered till today! Every
small character be it the Jailor (Asrani),
Mausi (Leela Mishra) or Sambha (Mac Mohan)
- they are etched in viewer's minds.
Naturally
Sholay set several trends in its
aftermath. Spates of Multi-starrers and
Films with male bonding amongst heroes followed.
The theme of Sholay was much imitated
but none could match up to Sholay.
Which goes on to prove that Sholay
was one of a kind. In fact, films will come
and films will go but Sholay goes
on forever...
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