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Sholay is a 1975 action-adventure Hindi film directed by Ramesh Sippy and produced by his father G. P. Sippy. The film follows two criminals, Veeru and Jai (played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri also star, as Veeru and Jai's love interests. Sholay is considered a classic and one of the best Indian films. It was ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time. In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare
Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years.
The film was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, in the southern state of Karnataka, over a span of two and a half years. After the Central Board of Film Certification mandated the removal of several violent scenes, Sholay was released with a length of 198 minutes. In 1990, the original director's cut of 204 minutes became available on home media. When first released, Sholay received negative critical reviews and a tepid commercial response, but favourable word-of-mouth publicity helped it to become a box office success. It broke records for continuous showings in many theatres across India, and ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. By some accounts, Sholay is the highest grossing Indian film of all time, adjusted for inflation.
The film drew heavily from the conventions of Westerns, and is a defining example of the masala genre. Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between social order and mobilised usurpers, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory. The combined sales of the original soundtrack, scored by R. D. Burman, and the dialogues (released separately), set new sales records. The film's dialogues and certain characters became extremely popular, contributing to numerous cultural memes and becoming part of India's daily vernacular.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Origin
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Alternate version
4 Themes
5 Soundtrack
6 Reception
6.1 Box office
6.2 Critical response
6.3 Awards
7 Legacy
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 External links
Plot[edit]
In the small village of Ramgarh, the retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) summons to a pair of small-time thieves that he had once arrested. Thakur feels that the duo—Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan)—would be ideal to help him capture Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), a dacoit wanted by the authorities for a INR50,000[a] reward. Thakur tells them to surrender Gabbar to him, alive, for an additional INR20,000 reward.
The two thieves thwart the dacoits sent by Gabbar to extort the villagers. Soon afterwards, Gabbar and his goons attack Ramgarh during the festival of Holi, and in a tough battle, Veeru and Jai are cornered. Thakur, although he has a gun within his reach, does not help them. Veeru and Jai fight back and the bandits flee. The two are, however, upset at Thakur's inaction, and consider leaving the village. Thakur explains that Gabbar had killed nearly all of his family members, and cut off both his arms a few years earlier; which is why he could not use the gun. He had concealed the dismemberment by always wearing a shawl.
Living in Ramgarh, the lively Veeru and cynical Jai find themselves growing fond of the villagers. Veeru is attracted to Basanti (Hema Malini), a feisty, talkative young woman who makes her living by driving a horse-cart. Jai is drawn to Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), Thakur's reclusive, widowed daughter-in-law, who subtly returns his affections.
Skirmishes between Gabbar's gang and Jai-Veeru finally result in the capture of Veeru and Basanti by the dacoits. Jai attacks the gang, and the three are able to flee Gabbar's hideout with dacoits in pursuit. Fighting from behind a rock, Jai and Veeru nearly run out of ammunition. Veeru, unaware that Jai was wounded in the gunfight, is forced to leave for more ammunition. Meanwhile, Jai, who is continuing the gunfight singlehandedly, decides to sacrifice himself by using his last bullet to ignite dynamite sticks on a bridge from close range.
Veeru returns, and Jai dies in his arms. Enraged, Veeru attacks Gabbar's den and catches the dacoit. Veeru nearly beats Gabbar to death when Thakur appears and reminds Veeru of the promise to hand over Gabbar alive. Thakur uses his spike-soled shoes to severely injure Gabbar and destroy his hands. The police then arrive and arrest Gabbar. After Jai's funeral, Veeru leaves Ramgarh and finds Basanti waiting for him on the train. Radha is left alone again.
Cast[edit]
Dharmendra as Veeru
Amitabh Bachchan as Jai (Jai Dev)
Sanjeev Kumar as Thakur Baldev Singh, usually addressed as "Thakur"
Hema Malini as Basanti
Jaya Bhaduri as Radha
Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh
Satyen Kappu as Ramlaal, the servant of Thakur
A.K. Hangal as Rahim Chacha, the imam in the village
Sachin as Ahmed, son of the imam
Jagdeep as Soorma Bhopali, a comical wood trader
Leela Mishra as Mausi, Basanti's maternal aunt
Asrani as the Jailor, a comical character modelled after Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator[3]
Keshto Mukherjee as Hariram, prison barber and Jailor's side-kick
Mac Mohan as Sambha, Gabbar Singh's sidekick
Viju Khote as Kaalia, another of Gabbar's men whom he kills in a game of Russian roulette
Iftekhar as Inspector Khurana, Radha's Father
Helen in a special appearance in song "Mehbooba Mehbooba"
Jalal Agha in a special appearance in song "Mehbooba Mehbooba"
Production[edit]
Origin[edit]
The idea for Sholay began as a four-line snippet which screenwriter pair Salim-Javed told G.P. Sippy and Ramesh Sippy; two other producer/director teams had earlier rejected the idea.[4] Ramesh Sippy liked the concept and hired them to develop it. The original idea of the film involved an army officer who decided to hire two ex-soldiers to avenge the murder of his family. The army officer was later changed to a policeman because Sippy felt that it would be difficult to get permission to shoot scenes depicting army activities. Salim-Javed completed the script in one month, incorporating names and personality traits of their friends and acquaintances.[4]
The film was loosely styled after Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai,[5] and drew heavily from the conventions of Westerns, especially Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns such as Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and John Sturges' film The Magnificent Seven (1960).[5][6] Sholay was also influenced by the westerns of Sam Peckinpah, such as The Wild Bunch (1969) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973); and by George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).[7] A scene depicting an attempted train robbery was inspired by a similar scene in North West Frontier (1959),[8] and a scene showing the massacre of Thakur's family has been compared with the massacre of the McBain family in Once Upon a Time in the West.[9] Some plot elements were borrowed from the Indian films Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Khote Sikkay (1973).[4]
The character Gabbar Singh was modelled on a real-life dacoit of the same name who had menaced the villages around Gwalior in the 1950s. Any policeman captured by the real Gabbar Singh had his ears and nose cut off, and was released as a warning to other policemen.[10] The character was also influenced by the villain "El Indio" (played by Gian Maria Volonté) of Sergio Leone's For A Few Dollars More (1965).[11] Soorma Bhopali, a minor comic relief character, was based on an acquaintance of actor Jagdeep, a forest officer from Bhopal named Soorma. The real-life Soorma eventually threatened to press charges when people who had viewed the film began referring to him as a woodcutter.[12] The main characters' names, Jai and Veeru, mean "victory" and "heroism" in Hindi.[13]
Casting[edit]
The producers considered Danny Denzongpa for the role of bandit chief Gabbar Singh, but he could not accept it as he was committed to act in Feroz Khan's Dharmatma (1975), under production at the same time.[14] Amjad Khan, who was the second choice, prepared himself for the part by reading the book Abhishapta Chambal, which told of the exploits of Chambal dacoits. The book was written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, the father of fellow cast member Jaya Bhaduri.[15] As cast members had read the script ahead of time, many were interested in playing different parts. Pran was considered for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh, but Sippy thought Sanjeev Kumar was a better choice.[16] Initially, Dharmendra was also interested to play the role of Thakur. He eventually gave up the role when Sippy informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would be paired with Hema Malini, who Dharmendra was trying to woo. Dharmendra knew that Kumar was also interested in Malini.[17] Sippy wanted Shatrughan Sinha to play the part of Jai, but there were already several big stars signed, and Amitabh Bachchan, who was not extremely popular yet, lobbied hard to get the part for himself.[4]
During the film's production, four of the leads became romantically involved.[6] Bachchan married Bhaduri four months before filming started. This led to shooting delays when Bhaduri became pregnant with their daughter Shweta. By the time of the film's release, she was pregnant with their son Abhishek. Dharmendra had begun wooing Malini during their earlier film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), and used the location shoot of Sholay to further pursue her. During their romantic scenes, Dharmendra would often pay the light boys to spoil the shot, thereby ensuring many retakes and providing more time to spend with her. The couple married five years after the film's release.[18]
Filming[edit]
A rocky outcrop such as those used in filming Sholay
Ramdevarabetta, near the town of Ramanagara; much of Sholay was shot in rocky locations such as this.
Much of Sholay was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, a town near Bangalore, Karnataka.[19] The filmmakers had to build a road from the Bangalore highway to Ramanagara for convenient access to the sets.[20] Art director Ram Yedekar had an entire township built on the site. A prison set was constructed near Rajkamal Studio in Mumbai, also outdoors, to match the natural lighting of the on-location sets.[21] One part of Ramanagara was for a time called "Sippy Nagar" as a tribute to the director of the film.[22] As of 2010, a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where much the film was shot) was still being offered to tourists travelling through Ramanagara.[23]
Filming began on location on 3 October 1973, with a scene featuring Bachchan and Bhaduri.[24] The film had a lavish production for its time (with frequent banquets and parties for the cast),[25] took two and a half years to make, and went over budget. One reason for its high cost was that Sippy re-filmed scenes many times to get his desired effect. "Yeh Dosti", a 5-minute song sequence, took 21 days to shoot; two short scenes in which Radha lights lamps took 20 days to film because of lighting problems, and the shooting of the scene in which Gabbar kills the imam's son lasted 19 days.[26] The train robbery sequence, shot on the Mumbai–Pune railway route near Panvel, took more than 7 weeks to complete.[27]
Sholay was the first Indian film to have a stereophonic soundtrack and to use the 70 mm widescreen format.[28] However, since actual 70 mm cameras were expensive at the time, the film was shot on traditional 35 mm film and the 4:3 picture was subsequently converted to a 2.2:1 frame.[29] Regarding the process, Sippy said, "A 70mm [sic] format takes the awe of the big screen and magnifies it even more to make the picture even bigger, but since I also wanted a spread of sound we used six-track stereophonic sound and combined it with the big screen. It was definitely a differentiator."[30] The use of 70 mm was emphasised by film posters on which the name of the film was stylised to match the CinemaScope logo. Film posters also sought to differentiate the film from those which had come before; one of them added the tagline: "The greatest star cast ever assembled – the greatest story ever told".[31]
Alternate version[edit]
The director's original cut of Sholay has a different ending in which Thakur kills Gabbar, along with some additional violent scenes. Gabbar's death scene, and the scene in which the imam's son is killed, were cut from the film by India's Censor Board, as was the scene in which Thakur's family is massacred.[26] The Censor Board was concerned about the violence, and that viewers may be influenced to take the law into their own hands.[32] Although Sippy fought to keep the scenes, eventually he had to re-shoot the ending of the film, and as directed by the Censor Board, have the police arrive just before Thakur can kill Gabbar.[33] The censored theatrical version was the only one seen by audiences for fifteen years. The original, unedited cut of the film finally came out in a British release on VHS in 1990.[29] Since then, Eros International has released two versions on DVD. The director's cut of the film preserves the original full frame and is 204 minutes in length; the censored widescreen version is 198 minutes long.[1][29][34][b]
Themes[edit]
Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between social order and mobilised usurpers, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory.
Koushik Banerjea, a sociologist in the London School of Economics, notes that Sholay exhibits a "sympathetic construction of 'rogue' masculinity" exemplified by the likeable outlaws Jai and Veeru.[36] Banerjea argues during the film, the moral boundary between legality and criminality gradually erodes.[37] Film scholar Wimal Dissanayake agrees that the film brought "a new stage in the evolving dialectic between violence and social order" to Indian cinema.[38] Film scholar M. Madhava Prasad states that Jai and Veeru represent a marginalised population that is introduced into conventional society.[39] Prasad says that, through the elements of revenge included in the plot and the application of Jai and Veeru's criminality for the greater good, the narrative reflects reactionary politics, and the audience is compelled to accept feudal order.[39] Banerjea explains that though Jai and Veeru are mercenaries, they are humanized by their emotional needs. Such dualism makes them vulnerable, in contrast to the pure evil of Gabbar Singh.[37]
Gabbar Singh, the film's antagonist, was well received by the audience, despite his pervasive sadistic cruelty.[38] Dissanayake explains that the audience was fascinated by the dialogues and mannerisms of the character, and this element of spectacle outweighed his actions, a first for Indian melodrama.[38] He notes that the picturisation of violence in the film was glamourised and uninhibited.[40] He further notes that, unlike earlier melodramas in which the female body occupies the audience's attention as an object of male fetish, in Sholay, the male body becomes the centrepiece. It becomes the battleground where good and evil compete for supremacy.[40] Dissanayake argues that Sholay can be viewed as a national allegory: it lacks a comforting logical narrative, it shows social stability being repeatedly challenged, and it shows the devaluation of human life resulting from a lack of emotions. Taken together, these elements comprise the allegorical representation of India.[41] The narrative style of Sholay, with its violence, revenge, and vigilante action, is occasionally compared by scholars to the political unrest in India at the time of its release. This tension culminated in the Emergency (rule by decree) declared by prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.[42][43]
Dissanayeke and Sahai note that, although the film borrowed heavily from the Hollywood Western genre, particularly in its visuals, it was successfully "Indianised".[44][45] As an example, William van der Heide has compared a massacre scene in Sholay with a similar scene in Once Upon a Time in the West. Although both films were similar in technical style, Sholay emphasised Indian family values and melodramatic tradition, while the Western was more materialistic and restrained in its approach.[9] Maithili Rao, in Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, notes that Sholay infuses the style of the Western genre into a "feudalistic ethos".[46] Ted Shen of the Chicago Reader notes Sholay's "hysterical visual style" and intermittent "populist message".[47] Cultural critic and Islamist scholar Ziauddin Sardar lampoons the film in his book The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema, both for its caricature and stereotyping of Muslim and women characters, and for what he calls mockery of innocent villagers.[48] Sardar notes that the two most prominent Muslim characters in the film are Soorma Bhopali (a buffoonish criminal), and an impotent victim of the bandits (the imam). Meanwhile, the sole function of one female character (Radha) is to suffer her fate in silence, while the other female lead (Basanti) is just a garrulous village belle.[48]
Some scholars have indicated that Sholay contains homosocial themes.[49][50] Ted Shen describes the male bonding shown in the film as bordering on camp style.[47] Dina Holtzman, in her book Bollywood and Globalization: Indian Popular Cinema, Nation, and Diaspora, states that the death of Jai, and resultant break of bonding between the two male leads, is necessary for the sake of establishing a normative heterosexual relationship (that of Veeru and Basanti).[51] According to Thomas Waugh, professor of Film Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality at Concordia University, the manner in which the male leads "clutch and caress each other's hands, shoulders, head and thighs" during the song "Yeh Dosti", although seemingly innocuous, implies homosexual gesturing