Sholay

As the iconic Hindi film turns 50, we find it has relevance & is unique after so many action films churned out. I had written a blog on ‘Gabbar Singh’ in 2021, but I still have something more to say.

A film titled ‘Gabbar is Back’ created curiosity & Akshay Kumar made it a box office hit! ‘Goan may Ma kehti hai , beta so ja nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jayega’ As is Gabbar had time to visit every household to see if the children slept.

Both Amitabh Bachchan & Sanjeev Kumar wanted to play Gabbar. But it was decided a new comer will be cast. Amjad Khan played it & it became difficult for him later to shake off that image.

Gabbar was the next dread word. His evil actions at the next level. Lack of his back story made him pure evil with no heart. His was the last word! A time when the Chambal valley dacoits were at large in & around 1975, it found a chord with the audiences. Surprisingly still does.

In his interview Javed Akhtar says,’ Characters from the film who uttered just three words are used in stand up comedies even today!’ like , ‘Kitne aadmi the?’, ‘Tera kya hoga Kaaliya ?’. ‘Arre o Samba!’,’purre Pachas hazaar’ !!!

When you say ‘mausi’ said this, there is no question about which mausi?? The audience knew the dialogues & still do. After the spate of mythological & devotional films this was my first Hindi action multi starrer film.

We also know that Amitabh was n’t in the original cast but due to Dharmendra’s insistence he got the role. I can’t imagine how Shatrughan Sinha would be as Jai ??

Sanjeev Kumar as the Thakur.. I don’t think the plot was new. The evil had an upper hand but all ends well, finally. But the first to be shot on 70 mm with action scenes never seen before, it was an ambitious project.

After the release the reviews said it had failed. ‘Mera gaon Mera Desh’ had made 50 lakhs, The Salim -Javed duo said to Ramesh Sippy, ‘Sholay’ will make 1 crore per territory! It earned more than 3 crores.

A rare film which appealed the masses & was lauded by the classes.