Sholay

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Jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya.
kitne aadmi the re?

Aeonian one-liners these, by the greatest Villain Bollywood has ever seen. From unquestionably the biggest film Bollywood has ever produced.

Sholay!

Sholay, the cult classic of the 70s is basically a story of an ex-cop, Thakur Baldev Singh, who sets out to take his revenge on a dreaded dacoit - Gabbar Singh (the reference of the greatest Bollywood villain was on him). Gabbar Singh had escaped from his prison, killed his family in broad daylight, and had hacked off both his hands. The ex-cop, Thakur Baldev Singh hires two petty thieves Jai and Veeru, to get Gabbar, and settle his score.

Behind this storyline set in a rustic north Indian village, lies a few sub-plots, including the love story of Veeru and the tangewali (pony carriage driver) Basanti, the unfulfilled love story of Jai and Thakurs widowed daughter-in-law; a hilarious Hitler-impersonating Jailer played by Asrani - amongst others.

The love story, comedy and the song and dance sessions aside, the main pulse of this movie lies in the action sequences. Not that the love story or the comedy plots were not well executed - each of these sidekick plots stand out on their own, and work towards contributing to making the film what it is - but the heart and soul of Sholay lies in the pulsating action scenes.

Of all the action scenes, perhaps the finest one and the first one that comes to my mind is the train robbery scene. Purely exhilarating, this scene, is a total visual treat - made complete with a fantastic background score by R.D.Burman. Tens of dacoits riding horseback are chasing a train, and Thakur, Jai and Veeru defending it . Personally, I dont think that any amount of space-age computer wizardry or computer generated sound effects can ever match the intensity or magic of this scene.

Now I'd better not get into film-criticism mode and discuss nuances - I am sure that the finest film critics from the fourth estate have adequately done that over the last 30 years (and are still doing). This post is just a small tribute to a film - which needless to say, is one of my favourites.

Sholay still runs to packed houses in cinemas - some 30 years after its release.
Shekhar Kapur, the suave Indian born Hollywood director had once observed - "There has never been a more defining film on the Indian screen. Indian film history can be divided into Sholay BC and Sholay AD".

(as a completely useless sidenote - the lead pair of Sholay - Dharmendra and Hema, Amitabh and Jaya, were very much in love at that time)