Sholay | 100 Years Of Indian Cinema | Under Lens

You have not seen anything of Hindi Cinema if you have not seen Sholay. Its blasphemous to give Sholay a miss. Perhaps the most watched, most loved and unanimously admired Hindi film in the history of Indian Cinema. Though made more than 35 years ago, it still has that zing. The characters are not only iconic, are almost part of our lives. Every third rickshaw has Dhanno written on it. Every tenth joke has a reference. We might not have the statistics to support this, but go on road, walk for a while and you might happily agree.

 

A voluntarily retired cop Thakur hires two henchmen, Jai and Veeru, to capture a dacoit Gabbar. Two men against a big dacoit and his gang. Usual David versus Goliath situation. Salim Javed spiced it up with some humor and two romantic tracks – one subtle and one boisterous.  Made during times of public unrest, the story struck chord with general audience who wanted to take system in their handle rather than depending on the establishment do the needful. Apart from the story and relevance with respect to erstwhile political scenario, music and performances were two reasons why Sholay did such an outrageous business. Holi sequence and Amitabh’s sarcastic comments in different scenes were two highs.

 

Trivia: In the original idea for Sholay, an army officer hires two ex-soldiers to avenge killing of his family. Salim Javed presented a very short story plot which struck chord with Ramesh Sippy. He hired the writer duo and they carved a brilliant script.