Easily the most famous movie in Bollywood of all times. Ramesh Sippy created a whole new genre of cinema with this movie and that genre was perfected brilliance. Sholay cannot really be defined in any genre. There is only one genrefor Sholay- a classic.
Sholay literally means the fumes of the sun. The story is of two small time thieving friends Veeru (Dharamendra) and Jai/Jaidev (Amitabh Bachan). They are willing to do almost any job for money. However, inside the two is a sense of decency and nobleness since they are very loyal friends to each other.
They are asked by retired police officer Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kapoor) to capture the dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). The journey of Veeru and Jai in capturing the dacoit and the same time rediscovering themselves as different humans, their search for love, their desires to settle down and have a family forms the whole structure of Sholay.
Almost every scene of Sholay is a landmark in Indian cinema. The whole film consists of emotional symbolisms. The opening train scene serves a pivotal purpose because the train station is where Jai and Veeru arrive together, but only Veeru leaves with Basanti.
The train station is also shown when Thakur Baldev Singh arrives from duty only to find his whole family shot down. The classic scenes where Jai and Veeru toss the ’’coin.’’ Realising the coin was double sided in the end, we learn a lot of Jai’s character and are anxious to analyse his depth.
In Sholay there are many themes running simultaneously. The first theme is of friendship. Never has the 70mm screen witnessed before a more solid friendship than that of Jai and Veeru. It has been referred to over a million times in numerous Indian films. Despite being conning thieves their loyalty towards each other remains as pure as a pilgrimage. Their willingness to die for each other, which Jai eventually does is again remarkable.
Although not considered as a staunch romantic movie, it does play a strong part in the movie. The scenes between and Veeru and Basanti are simply brilliant. Their love was meant to survive all odds even if it meant Jai had to sacrifice his life for it. This was shown as a cruel event of destiny. However, it is the more mature romance between Jai and Jaya which is really remarkable.
They hardly speak in the movie, but it is Jai’s mouth organ which serves as the tongue for the two to speak. That repetitive scene of Jai playing the mouth organ and Jaya turning of the lights except hers indicates the connection between the two.
The comedy scene are also mind blowing. Characters such as the Jailor (Asrani) and Surma Bhopali (Jagdeep) are hilarious. Other vital comic scenes are between Veeru and Basanti as well as those between Jai and Basanti. The classic dialogue uttered by Jai ’’Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?’’ is still as fresh as it was 30 years ago.
Although it would be impossible to comment on the best scenes of the movie, I have listed below the scenes which I felt were excellently portrayed and executed.
The intense opening scene where Thakur acquires about Jai and Veeru.
The scene that follows in flashback, the train scene where the Thakur, Jai and Veeru fight of the dacoits.
Almost every scene which Jai and Veeru have.
Jai and Veeru meeting Surma Bhopali.
The entire comic jail episode.
The introduction of Gabbar Singh.
The holi festival scene, where Jai and Veeru fight of the entire force of Gabbar Singh. Veeru’s outburst at the Thakur for not passing the rifle when Jai’s life was in danger. The flashback scene where the Thakur arrives to see his family dead. The way the death of the child was portrayed was beyond perfection.
Scenes between Jai and Jaya, and Veeru and Basanti.
Veeru’s ’’sooside’’ scene, and Jai’s futile persuasion of Basanti’s masi to get the two married.
The manner in which Jaya came running out of the house when seeing Jai injured on his arm. She forgot about the fact that she was a widow. This scene had an underlying meaning as it also made a mocking comment to the sometimes strict and unjust society of India.
Jai’s death scene which I still think is one of the best scenes executed ever. Filled with emotions one cannot help but to shed a tear or two.
The final showdown between Gabbar and the Thakur.
The last scene where Veeru leaves with Basanti.
The music was created by R.D. Burman. ’’Yeh Dosti’’ became a classic and almost a special anthem sung especially for friendship purposes. The sad version was equally good. Mehbooba was probably the most unique and situational item number ever used. It became a rage at that time. The background score was also brilliant.
Cinematography was fantastic. The filming of Rajgarh and the classic train station was most impressive. Again a revolutionary piece of camera work.
The screenplay proves to be one of the best ever penned in Indian cinema. Salim Javed teamed up and produced history. They did almost and equally wonderful job in Shakti. The characterisation of almost every character is superb. No one can ever say that any character had weak characterisation. The creation of the jailor and Surma Bhopali, remain evergreen classics.
The intense Thakur, the happy-go-lucky Veeru, the plain evil Gabbar Singh, the calm, cool, brave Jai, the never stop talking Basanti, the mature silent Jaya etc. Every character had indivdual and well defined traits which gave them unique personas.
Dialogues are again brillaint. The most famous remembered dialgoues in history. There are so many therefore excuse me if I don’t list them.
Ramesh Sippy after this movie was known as Ramesh Sholay Sippy. I am lost for words to write about his direction. A man with a vision, and one of the best directors of the 1970s and 1980s.
No one, in my view, can ever comment on who performed the best. Between Sanjeev Kumar, Dharamendra, Amjad Khan and Amitabh Bachan it is almost impossible to choose. I know most people think that it was Gabbar Singh who stole the show. They are partially right. His dialogue delivery, his appearance, his body language and the ’’kameenapan’’ he showed no other villain has done that. For his debut he made Hrithik Roshan (Kaho No Pyar Hai) and Vivek Oberoi (Company) look like amateur actors. No other acotr could have done justice to a role tailor made for the late legendary Amjad Khan Saab.
However, it was not alone Amjad Khan who shone. Sanjeev Kumar explored new heights. His keeping himself to himself attitude was again fantastic. The way he portrayed the character who was full of rage but controlled the fury was superb. Everytime I see Sanjeev Kumar’s films I always imagine him to be Thakur Baldev Singh. His mature performance labelled him as the towering performers of all time.
The ever dependable Dharamendra was more than ever dependable. He was fantastic. His comic ability, his intense scenes were all brilliant. His chemistry with Hema Malini and Amitabh was riveting.
Amitabh Bachan gave one of the best supporting performances ever. He was the more cooler of the two, who spoke less but did more. A carefully penned out character, his role may have been shorter than Veeru’s (who in a sense was the protagonist) but Amitabh probably had a slightly better role which he portrayed to the T. Another excellent performance.
Others all performed ably. Hema Malini, Jaya Bachan, Asrani, Jagdeep were all brilliant. They played charcters which no one would ever forget. The key thing about Sholay was that although the film had ’’stars’’ performing in it, they all played their characters so well that even today they are remembered as them. Des