I was just 9 years old when I first saw this movie, but images from it have been in my memory ever since. I have been watching it innumerable times ever since and each viewing only serves to re-inforce my belief that this was one of the best Indian movies ever made.
I feel the high point of Sholay is its background score & the Music. The background score is haunting and always stays with you. I love the way the music director has given each of the main characters a signature tune, which lets you know whenever he makes a dramatic entry, from gabbar’s scary harmonica kind of music, to the thakur’s bleak, strong music. The songs are the best ever – Yeh dosti, station se gaadi, Holi ke din, Mehbooba & the famous broken bottle song ‘jab tak hai jaan’. Each of the songs is so deftly woven into the movie, you never feel that the song is forced upon you, like you feel when watching any of today’s movies. The songs also tell you the story of the movie and are not just meant to show change of attire and change of location. RD Burman – wherever you are, Thank You !
My next fave thing about this movie is Gabbar – “Sooer ke bacchon !” , that famous scream, it still is reverberating in my ear as I write this. His dialogues are the best ever, sample – “Kitna inaam rakha hai sarkar hum par”, “bahut yaarana lagta hai”, “arrre o sambha”, “kitne aadmi the”. These are lines everybody uses, whether they are from the south of India , the east, west or north. Its part of our everyday milieu. I love the way amjad approached this role, he really looked the part, he brought in that psychopathic intensity for the first time in a hindi film villain’s role. The squeaky, sing song dialogue delivery, the unkempt, sweaty, stained look, the gun belt hung over the shoulder, the crazed look in the eyes, phew, whatta piece of acting !!! Amjad Khan – wherever you are, Thank You !
The plot is everything – they say, and boy, are they right. People say that this is plagiarism from akiro kurasawa, from the spaghetti western’s, if life was as simple as recreating international winners with Indian actors, why didn’t anyone else do it. Like they say, talent is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration, Salim/Javed may have been inspired by old akiro, but what they created in Sholay was entirely their own. The story just keeps you enraptured through and through. The way each character is built, with his own mannerism’s, his own unique style is endearing.
I am not even going to talk about Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bacchan, Dharmender, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani & Jagdeep. There’s been enough paean’s sung in their praise and they deserve it. They all put in incredibly intense performances and will be remembered for it.
Lastly, Sippy saab, Thank you for a labor of love, because this movie is that, a labor of utmost love. The grand scale in which you made this movie had never been done until then, and it is not even possible for us to imagine the obstacles you had to overcome to finish this. It is only your strength of conviction that carried you through.