Sholay, the movie

  I watched the Hindi movie "Sholay" from beginning to end recently - again! I don't recall clearly how my fascination with Sholay grew. I have a vague memory of stumbling in the dark in the movie theatre, when my father took me to see Sholay in the early '80s. I seem to recall the sound of the train on the screen, but this may be a fake memory. As the movie celebrates its 50th anniversary today, here is a blog post that describes my views about the movie.

    What I remember clearly is reading about Sholay, probably in 2000, when it completed its 25th anniversary. There was some print media buzz about the movie. Around this time, one of the cable TV channels hyped up the showing of Sholay for the first time on Indian television. Thanks to the length of the movie and the advertisements on cable TV, I recall that the movie took about 4.5 hours to watch! It was repeated at different times, on different days. 

  While channel surfing, one movie that made me pause surfing was Sholay! Other movies may have made me pause channel surfing but if it was Sholay, it would definitely stop!

  I got to know of a book called "Sholay: The making of a classic" by Anuradha Chopra. I bought the book, which is a wonderful read. I realised lesser-known facts regarding the movie. https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/bollywood/anupama-chopra-sholay-interview-making-of-a-classic is an interview of the author where she recounts the background behind the book.

  What is the premise of Sholay? Blandly put, the story is about a police officer (Thakur Baldev Singh, played by Sanjeev Kumar) who seeks revenge against a dacoit (Gabbar Singh, the first movie for Amjad Khan), who has cut his arms and killed his family. He hires two brave, small-time crooks named Jai (Amitabh Bachchan who began his domination of Hindi movies after Sholay) and Veeru (played by Dharmendra), close friends of each other to seek out the dacoit. Ultimately, he gets his revenge, nabbing Gabbar and handing him over to the police. In the process, Jai dies, sacrificing his life for his friend.

  This summary does not capture the details: Jai's unspoken love story with Radha (Jaya Bhaduri plays Radha), Veeru's single-minded love for Basanti (played by Hema Malini), the cruelty of Gabbar and above all, the amazing dialogue.

  The influence of Sholay, its dialogues and its characters are seen long after the movie's golden run. The names Dhanno and Soorma Bhopali are associated with mares and a characteristic, yodelling way of talking respectively, thanks to Sholay. In the movie "100 days" released in the '90s, a song begins with the words "Gabbar Singh yeh kehkar gaya, jo dar gaya woh mar gaya"! There was a famous biscuit advertisement featuring Amjad Khan in the '70s. https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/glucose-d-when-gabbars-asli-pasand-became-every-childs-favourite/89355049 reports on how this disruptive advertisement featuring a villain helped a biscuit company notch up better sales. In the comedy "Jodi No. 1", the protagonists are called - what else? - Jai and Veeru, the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra in Sholay. This is the director David Dhawan's way of paying a tribute to Sholay, I suppose! The influence of Sholay on Hindi movie directors is considerable.

  There have been imitations of Sholay. While watching one of them, I felt like I had been handed over a faded photocopy of a masterpiece: I could spot the beauty of the original, but what I had in my hands was only borrowed mastery! My thoughts went to Sholay immediately.

  The director Ramesh Sippy and his family, the producers of the movie invested a lot in it. Even today, the money value of Rs. 3 crores (1 crore is 10 million) is considerable. In the '70s it must have been incredible. Ramesh Sippy showed the movie in 70mm in the theatres, a novelty in that time. There was some uncertainty about Sholay's box office prospects. One of the protagonists in the movie dies, the movie was longer than usual, the villain Gabbar Singh (played by Amjad Khan) was an unknown person and the action and violence were unprecedented for that time. Could such an unconventional movie succeed?

  In the first few weeks after it appeared that the fears were justified. The crowds were limited. The Sholay team debated if the ending was wrong and whether anything else could be done.

  Imagine the scenario: Salim and Javed are the two script writers who had insisted to producers and directors to give credit to script writers since the past year or so. Script writers gained prominence thanks to them. Yet here was the biggest movie of the time, with a lukewarm reception at best in the first few weeks. This was a story on which they had invested months of effort. They had also been involved in the casting. The choice of Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh was their idea, since Danny Denzongapa had other commitments. What could these script writers do based on the initial tepid response and questions that were asked about the movie?

  What the script writers did was to publish an advertisement in the newspaper that Sholay would do a business of Rs. 1 crore per territory! What courage Salim - Javed had! This was an audacious vote of confidence in their own work. In https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/we-never-doubted-sholay-not-even-for-a-second-javed-akhtar-on-50-years-of-the-iconic-classic/articleshow/123295878.cms, Javed Akhtar narrates about their experience. It must have made a sensation.

This is the Salim - Javed advertisement, courtesy The Times of India, published in the supplement Bangalore Times on 15-Aug-2025.

  Another mythological movie "Jai Santoshi Maa" was the surprise hit for the year, which released at the same time. Yet, slowly, the tide turned for Sholay. People were beginning to be captivated by the dialogue and the cinematic grandeur gradually. As https://www.indiatoday.in/interactive/photo-essay/sholay-50-years-film-that-died-at-birth-to-live-forever-gabbar-singh-jai-veeru-amitabh-bachchan-dharmendra-283-05-08-2025 describes, the crowds started coming in.

  The dialogues were the real scene stealers. Once the music company understood the popularity of the dialogues, the dialogues from the soundtrack were released. These audio records sold like the proverbial hot cakes.

  The gradual increase in popularity became a steep rise. Sholay's dialogues became part of the people's life. Even today, if a movie completes 100 days of screening in a movie theatre, it is considered an achievement. In the Minerva theatre in Mumbai, Sholay ran for 286 weeks or more than 5 years!

  The characters, songs and dialogues were picked up by the public. "Deewar" and "Sholay" established Amitabh Bachchan as a star. He would go on to perform in hit after hit.

  Other performers also benefitted. Macmohan played Sambha, one of Gabbar Singh's dacoits. He uttered only three words: "Poore pachaas hazaar" ("All of fifty thousand") in the movie. Still, Gabbar's call to him "Arre o Sambha" and his reply in those three words etched him on to the minds of the Indian public! Even actors with cameos in the movie like Asrani (a jailer), Leela Mishra (Basanti's aunt in the movie) and Satyen Kappu (Thakur Baldev Singh's man Friday called Ramlal) made their presence felt.

  One surprising fact is that Sholay won only one Filmfare award - the Indian equivalent of the Oscars. This was for editing, not its script, direction or any of the acting performances. It was "Deewar", another movie scripted by Salim - Javed that won some of the big awards. Sholay is more than 3 hours long, which is more even for Hindi movies that are typically 2.5 hours long. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholay indicates that the director's cut was 204 minutes long. The non-linear narrative of the movie via flashbacks is smoothly managed. For narrating the story so effectively, it is deserving that M. S. Shinde won the Filmfare award for editing.

  What is it about Sholay that makes the movie so memorable and appealing even after all these years? In the context of the Hindu religion, think of a princess abducted by a demon and rescued by her valiant spouse and his allies. This is Sita, Ravana and Rama and his army in the epic Ramayana, of course. Now think of Basanti borne away by Gabbar's dacoits and Veeru and Jai's mission to rescue her: does it ring a bell? There is a loose parallel, but it is not a significant factor for me, though this is sometimes mentioned as a factor. The action in Sholay was directed by specialists from abroad! The sound was stereophonic. These technical niceties are other factors leading to Sholay's success, perhaps. To me, it is the combination of the dialogues, the humour and the acting performances which have made it so popular. Add to this the 70mm widescreen view in the theatres, the stereophonic sound, the direction and the action directors from abroad and the result is that Sholay is regarded as a classic now.

  My personal favourites from Sholay are described below.

  Probably the most moving scene in the movie is the killing of Ahmed, played by Sachin. He represents innocence which is brutally destroyed by Gabbar. A. K. Hangal excels as the Imam in the scene where he realises that his son is dead. Where Thakur Baldev Singh wants to avenge his slain family, the Imam wishes for more sons like Jai and Veeru to protect the village Ramgarh.

  On the other hand, the way in which Jai discusses about his friend Veeru to Basanti's aunt as a marriage proposal is hilarious. Just thinking of the way Veeru's background is brought out by Jai makes me smile! Javed Akhtar states in the interview that the Extended Play (EP) of "Veeru ki shaadi" (Veeru's wedding) sold more than the music! The video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDT9adqSnTI shows the proposal and its aftermath. Amitabh Bachchan's deadpan dialogue delivery is easily a highlight of the movie. "Tera naam kya hai Basanti?" ("What is your name Basanti?"), he asks in a completely flat voice. One reason why the humour in the movie works is because of Amitabh's baritone voice delivering the punchy one-liners in a flat manner!

  It is rare for a music director to earn a nomination as a singer. It is to R. D. Burman's credit that his rendition of "Mehbooba Mehbooba" was nominated for the Filmfare awards. His unique voice makes the song special. The other songs are also popular. For a selfish reason, I like "Yeh dosti" ("This friendship"). Jai and Veeru sing this song on a motorcycle with a sidecar. The sidecar separates and as the motorcycle and the sidecar separate, one can see signboards in Kannada, my mother tongue! It was my wife who noticed this when we watched the movie recently. I don't normally use the "back" and "forward" buttons on the TV remote, but this time I did go back to see it!

  The introductory scene for Gabbar Singh is memorable. Normally, one sees the character facing us - or if the director wants to build some suspense, the back is shown and then the character is shown. In Sholay, there is an ominous sound playing in the background and it is the feet of Gabbar that are shown first. Gabbar asks how many men there were. The background is that three dacoits return from Ramgarh defended by Jai and Veeru, who are only two. A wild Gabbar is upset. The camera now focuses on his face and he yells out curses. He does not care about the loyalty of his dacoits, rather he is upset that the three of them returned, defeated by two villagers. Soon, the punishment is meted out: the three dacoits are shot to death! How is that for an introduction to the villainy of Gabbar Singh?! Only Ugly in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" can match him in meanness, perhaps!

  Dharmendra and Hema Malini are boisterous and playful. Jaya Bhaduri has limited screen time, but she makes her presence felt as Radha.

  Gabbar is described as amoral, somebody who does not care for moral standards, rather than immoral, somebody who follows wrong moral standards. Amjad Khan brought Gabbar Singh to life. He warns Thakur that arresting him will prove costly. Gabbar does not hesitate in killing Thankur's family and the young boy Ahmed. It is a matter of pride and vanity for him that children are put to sleep by mothers scaring them that Gabbar would come if they don't sleep! Amjad's expressions of menace and pride are unsurpassed in Sholay, but there is one more performance in it that deserves credit.

  The standout acting in Sholay is that of Sanjeev Kumar. From a man who becomes a policeman out of a sense of adventure to a man who loses his family and arms and who lives with the main purpose of taking revenge, the transformation is superb. The moment of transformation is when he comes home to Ramgarh to spend time with his family. The director Ramesh Sippy waited until the evening twilight was perfect to shoot this scene. Once the family is slain, there is only the sound of a creaky swing in the open that is heard. In the movie theatres the effect must have been superb, thanks to the novelty of stereophonic sound. Thakur comes and sees the corpses of his family draped in white, lying on the ground. I see shock mingled with sorrow in Sanjeev Kumar's face first, followed by blind rage. It takes a talented actor to display this range of emotions. Sanjeev Kumar shows us his acting credentials. The fire in his eyes when he tells Jai and Veeru "Mujhe Gabbar chahiye, zinda! " ("I want Gabbar, alive!") is remarkable. In the final climatic fight Gabbar taunts him that he (Gabbar) had cut his hands off. A confident Thakur replies that one does not need hands to crush a snake, only feet! The dialogue is the masala for Hindi movies, but it is Sanjeev Kumar who delivers it with conviction. His voice modulation is also good, particularly as the older Thakur. I would have given Sanjeev Kumar the Filmfare award for this performance!

  After reading Anuradha Chopra's book the "what ifs" take me on a road to a multiverse: What if Danny had accepted the role of Amjad Khan? What if the original ending of Gabbar being killed by Thakur had been retained? The video clip at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TULL_c-wq6g shows the alternative, original ending of the movie. Dilip Kumar was considered for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh. What if he had taken on the role? All the main actors wanted to play Gabbar Singh. If not Danny, what if Sanjeev Kumar had been Gabbar Singh? If there are multiverses, perhaps there is a world where all this does happen. What would be the reception for Sholay then?! However, these are just my flights of fancy for now. The Sholay we have is fine for me!

  What I liked today is the singular tribute paid by a butter company which I saw in the newspaper. The advertisement is available at https://amul.com/m/amul-hits?s=2025. Macmohan would have been pleased. His dialogue of "Poore pachaas hazaar" is changed to "Poore pachaas saal" ("All of fifty years") and Jai and Veeru are shown riding on their motorcycle, speeding ahead. May the magic of Sholay endure another fifty years - at least!