Sholay (1975 Film)
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''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
action-adventure film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...
directed by
Ramesh Sippy Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director, actor and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for being the director of ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the List of films considered the best#Nationa ...
, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by
Salim–Javed Salim–Javed were an Indian screenwriting duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, who worked primarily in Hindi cinema. They were among the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status, and are regarded as among "Hindi cinema's grea ...
. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (
Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...
) and Jai (
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...
), hired by a retired police officer (
Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. Considered as one of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema, he is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. ...
) to capture the ruthless
dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
Gabbar Singh ( Amjad Khan).
Hema Malini Hema Malini Dharmendra Deol (born 16 October 1948; ) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician who is currently serving as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representing Mathura constituency since 2 ...
and
Jaya Bhaduri Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema. She is serving as member of the parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party ...
also star, as Veeru and Jai's love interests, Basanti and Radha, respectively. The music was composed by
R D Burman Rahul Dev Burman (; 27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director and singer, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman ...
. The film was shot in the rocky terrain of
Ramanagara Ramanagara is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also the headquarters of the Bengaluru South District. It is approximately 50 kilometres from Bangalore. There are buses and trains as public transportations which approximately take ...
, in the southern state of
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, over a span of two and a half years, beginning in October 1973. After the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
mandated the removal of several violent scenes, ''Sholay'' was released as a 198-minute long film. In 1990, the original director's cut of 204 minutes became available on home media. When first released, ''Sholay'' received negative critical reviews and a tepid commercial response, but favourable
word-of-mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
publicity helped it to become a box office success. It broke records for continuous showings in many theatres across India, and ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. The film was also an overseas success in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. It was the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, and was the highest-grossing film in India up until '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' (1994). By numerous accounts, ''Sholay'' remains one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, adjusted for inflation. ''Sholay'' is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential Indian films of all time. It was ranked first in the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time. In 2005, the judges of the
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named it the Best Film of 50 Years. The film is a
Dacoit Western Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
(sometimes called a "
Curry Western The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred to as ...
"), combining the conventions of Indian
dacoit film Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
s with that of
Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
s along with elements of
Samurai cinema , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of ...
. ''Sholay'' is also a defining example of the
masala film Masala films of Indian cinema are those that blend multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still being created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely blend action, comedy, romance, and drama, or melod ...
, which mixes several genres in one work. Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between
social order The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social orde ...
and mobilised usurpers,
homosocial In sociology, homosociality means same-sex friendships that are not of a romantic or sexual nature, such as friendship, mentorship, or others. Researchers who use the concept mainly do so to explain how men uphold men's dominance in society. ' ...
bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory. The combined sales of the original soundtrack, scored by R. D. Burman, and the dialogues (released separately), set new sales records. The film's dialogue and certain characters became extremely popular, contributing to numerous cultural
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s and becoming part of India's daily
vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...
. In January 2014, ''Sholay'' was re-released to theatres in the 3D format.


Plot

Jai and Veeru are small-time crooks who are released from prison, where they are recruited by a former
Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...
Thakur Baldev Singh to capture a notorious
dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
named Gabbar Singh wanted for , as the duo had saved Thakur from a train robbery which makes Thakur to recruit them for the mission with an additional reward. The duo leave for Thakur's village in Ramgarh, where Gabbar is residing and terrorising the villagers. After reaching Ramgarh, Veeru falls for Basanti, a feisty talkative horse-cart driver. Jai meets Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law Radha and falls for her, who later reciprocates his feelings. The two thwart Gabbar's dacoits, who came to extort money. During the festival of
Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
, Gabbar's gang attacks the villagers where they corner Jai and Veeru, but the duo manage to attack and chase them away from the village. The duo are upset at Thakur's inaction (when Jai and Veeru were cornered, Thakur had a gun within his reach, but did not help them) and consider calling off the mission. Thakur reveals that a few years ago, Gabbar had killed his family members (except Radha and Ramlal), and had both his arms cut off; he concealed the
dismemberment Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...
by always wearing a
shawl A shawl (from ''shāl'') is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular piece of Textile, cloth, but can also be Square (geometry), square or tr ...
, which was the sole reason he could not use the gun. Seeing how much Thakur has suffered, Jai and Veeru took pity by taking an oath that they will capture Gabbar alive, free of charge. After learning the duo's heroics, Gabbar kills the local
imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
Rahim Chacha's son Ahmed, all to threaten the villagers to make Jai and Veeru surrender to him. The villagers refuse and instead get the duo to kill a few of Gabbar's
henchmen A henchman is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organisation: minions whose value lies primarily in their unquestioning ...
in revenge for the boy's death. Gabbar angrily retaliates by having his men capture Veeru and Basanti. Jai arrives and attacks the hideout, where the trio are able to flee Gabbar's hideout with dacoits in pursuit. Shooting from behind a rock, Jai and Veeru nearly run out of
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
. Unaware that Jai was wounded in the
gunfight A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...
, Veeru is forced to leave for more ammunition and also to drop Basanti at a safe place. Jai sacrifices himself by using his last bullet to ignite dynamite sticks on a bridge from close range, killing Gabbar's men. Veeru returns, and Jai dies, leaving Radha and Veeru devastated. Enraged, Veeru attacks Gabbar's den and kills his remaining men where he catches Gabbar and nearly beats him to death. Thakur appears and reminds Veeru of the vow to hand over Gabbar alive. Thakur uses his
spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...
-soled shoes to severely injure Gabbar and his hands. The police arrive and arrest Gabbar for his crimes. After Jai's funeral, Veeru leaves Ramgarh and finds Basanti waiting for him on the train.


Cast


Production


Development

The screenwriter pair
Salim–Javed Salim–Javed were an Indian screenwriting duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, who worked primarily in Hindi cinema. They were among the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status, and are regarded as among "Hindi cinema's grea ...
, consisting of
Salim Khan Salim Abdul Rashid Khan (born 24 November 1935) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter. He wrote the screenplays, stories and scripts for numerous Bollywood films. He is one half of the prolific screenwriting duo of Salim–Javed, ...
and
Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 1945) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civili ...
, began narrating the idea for ''Sholay'' as a four-line snippet to filmmakers in 1973. The idea was rejected by two producer/director teams, including directors
Manmohan Desai Manmohan Desai (26 February 1937 – 1 March 1994) was an Indian film producer and director. He was one of the most successful filmmakers of the 70s and 80s. Desai was an influential and sought-after film director of Bollywood and a pioneer of ...
and
Prakash Mehra Prakash Mehra (13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) was a legendary Indian film director and producer known for his work in Hindi films. He was one of the pioneers of masala films, along with Nasir Hussain, and Manmohan Desai. His collaborations wi ...
. About six months after the release of '' Zanjeer'' (1973), Salim-Javed contacted G. P. Sippy and his son
Ramesh Sippy Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director, actor and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for being the director of ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the List of films considered the best#Nationa ...
, and narrated the four-line snippet to them. Ramesh Sippy liked the concept of ''Sholay'' and hired them to develop it. The original idea of the film involved an army officer who decided to hire two ex-soldiers to avenge the murder of his family. The army officer was later changed to a policeman because Sippy felt that it would be difficult to get permission to shoot scenes depicting army activities. Salim-Javed completed the script in one month, incorporating names and personality traits of their friends and acquaintances. The film's script and dialogues are in Hindustani; Salim-Javed wrote the dialogues in Urdu script, which was then transcribed by an assistant into
Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...
script so that Hindi readers could read the Urdu dialogues. The film's plot was loosely styled after
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
's 1954
samurai cinema , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of ...
film, ''
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a villag ...
''. ''Sholay'' is a defining example of the
Dacoit Western Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
film, combining the conventions of Indian
dacoit film Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...
s, especially
Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan (9 September 1907
at filmreference.com.
– 28 May 1964) was a pr ...
's ''
Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wo ...
'' (1957) and the
Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...
and
Nitin Bose Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 40s, he worked with New Theatr ...
film ''
Gunga Jumna ''Ganga Jamna'' (ISO 15919: ''Gaṅgā Jamunā''), also transliterated as ''Ganga Jamuna'' or ''Gunga Jumna'', is a 1961 Indian crime drama film, written and produced by Dilip Kumar, and directed by Nitin Bose, with dialogues written by Wajahat ...
'' (1961), with that of
Westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...
, especially
Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...
's
Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
s such as ''
Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati, based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, playing against t ...
'' (1968) as well as ''
The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...
'' (1960). It also has some plot elements borrowed from the Indian films ''
Mera Gaon Mera Desh ''Mera Gaon Mera Desh'' () is a 1971 Indian action drama film, directed by Raj Khosla, written by Akhtar Romani, starring Dharmendra and Asha Parekh in lead roles with Vinod Khanna as the villain. It was a box office success. The film contains ...
'' (1971) and '' Khote Sikkay'' (1973). A scene depicting an attempted train robbery was inspired by a similar scene in ''Gunga Jumna'', and has also been compared to a similar scene in '' North West Frontier'' (1959). A scene showing the massacre of Thakur's family has been compared with the massacre of the McBain family in ''Once Upon a Time in the West''. ''Sholay'' may have also been influenced by
Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...
's Westerns, such as ''
The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang ...
'' (1969) and ''
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'' is a 1973 American revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Rudy Wurlitzer, and starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, ...
'' (1973), and
George Roy Hill George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American actor and film director. His films include ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford; both fil ...
's ''
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western (genre), Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, k ...
'' (1969). The character Gabbar Singh was modelled on a real-life dacoit Gabbar Singh Gujjar who had menaced the villages around
Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...
in the 1950s. Any policeman captured by Gujjar had his ears and nose cut off, and was released as a warning to other policemen. The fictional Gabbar was also influenced by larger-than-life characters in Pakistani author
Ibn-e-Safi Ibn-e-Safi, also spelt Ibne Safi, was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad (, 26 July 1928 – 26 July 1980), a Pakistani fiction writer, novelist, and poet who wrote in Urdu. The name Ibn-e-Safi is a Persian expression meaning “Son of Safi,” with ...
's Urdu novels, Dilip Kumar's dacoit character Gunga from the film ''Gunga Jumna'' who speaks with a similar mixed Khariboli and
Awadhi Awadhi may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Awadh or Oudh region in Uttar Pradesh, northern India ** Awadhi people, ethnic group of India *** Awadhi language Awadhi, also known as Audhi, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging ...
dialect, and villains from Sergio Leone's films. Sippy wanted to do away with the clichéd idea of a man becoming a dacoit due to societal issues, as was the case in other films, and focused on Gabbar being an emblem of pure evil. To emphasise the point of Gabbar being a new type of villain, Sippy avoided the typical tropes of dacoits wearing
dhoti The dhoti is an ankle-length breechcloth, wrapped around the waist and the legs, in resemblance to the shape of trousers. The dhoti is a garment of ethnic wear for men in the Indian subcontinent. The dhoti is fashioned out of a rectangular p ...
s and pagris and sporting a tika and worshipping " Ma Bhavani"; Gabbar would be wearing army fatigues. The character of the jailer, played by
Asrani Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1941), known popularly by mononym Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned over five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character ...
was influenced by
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. Javed Akhtar brought a book on
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
which had several pictures of Hitler posing to set the typical posture of the character in the film. Asrani spiced up his character with some ideas about Hitler's speech delivery he had heard from a teacher in FTII. The trademark 'Ha Ha' at the end of his monologues was inspired by a similar performance by
Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...
in ''
The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor epic slapstick comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross) and with music by Henr ...
''. Soorma Bhopali, a minor
comic relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
character, was based on an acquaintance of actor Jagdeep, a forest officer from
Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
named Soorma. The real-life Soorma eventually threatened to press charges when people who had viewed the film began referring to him as a woodcutter. The main characters' names, Jai and Veeru, mean "victory" and "heroism" in Hindi.


Casting

The producers considered
Danny Denzongpa Danny Denzongpa (born Tshering Phintso Denzongpa; 25 February 1948) is an Indian actor, playback singer, film director, and liquor baron. His film career was primarily in Hindi, but also occasionally in Bengali, Nepali, and Tamil films. In a ...
for the role of Gabbar Singh, but he could not accept it as he was committed to act in Feroz Khan's ''
Dharmatma ''Dharmatma'' () is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language thriller film produced and directed by Feroz Khan. The cast includes Khan, Hema Malini, Rekha, Premnath, Imtiaz Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Farida Jalal, Ranjeet, Helen, Madan Puri, Jeevan, ...
'' (1975), under production at the same time. Amjad Khan, who was the second choice, prepared himself for the part by reading the book ''Abhishapta Chambal'', which told of the exploits of Chambal dacoits. The book was written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, the father of fellow cast member Jaya Bhaduri. Sanjeev Kumar also wanted to play the role of Gabbar Singh, but Salim-Javed "felt he had the audience's sympathy through roles he'd done before; Gabbar had to be completely hateful." Sippy wanted
Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 15 July 1946) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he was elected as Member of Parliament ...
to play the part of Jai, but there were already several big stars signed, and Amitabh Bachchan, who was not very popular yet, lobbied hard to get the part for himself. He was cast after Salim-Javed recommended him for ''Sholay'' in 1973; Bachchan's performance in their first collaboration, ''Zanjeer'', convinced Salim-Javed he was the right actor for the part. Salim-Javed were also impressed with Bachchan's performance in '' Raaste Kaa Patthar'' (1972), and at Bachchan's request, Dharmendra had personally put in a word for him. All these factors ensured that the role was Bachchan's. As cast members had read the script ahead of time, many were interested in playing different parts.
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was considered for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh, but Sippy thought Sanjeev Kumar was a better choice. Initially, Salim-Javed approached
Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...
to play Thakur's role, but he turned down the offer; Dilip Kumar later said it was one of the few films he regretted turning down. Initially, Dharmendra was also interested to play the role of Thakur. He eventually gave up the role when Sippy informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would thus be paired with Hema Malini, who Dharmendra was trying to woo. Dharmendra knew that Kumar was also interested in Malini. Malini was reluctant to play the role of a ''tangewali'', more so after Sippy told her that the film belongs to Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan, but she trusted Sippy to give her a meaty role, given that he had played a huge role in essaying her stardom through their previous collaborations. During the film's production, four of the leads became romantically involved. Bachchan married Bhaduri four months before filming started. This led to shooting delays when Bhaduri became pregnant with their daughter
Shweta __NOTOC__ Shweta ( Deva, श्वेता) is an Indian Hindu feminine given name. The Sanskrit word ' literally means "white". The Hindu goddess of knowledge Saraswati is also known as "Shwetambara". Notable people Shweta * Shweta Bhardwaj ...
. By the time the film released, she was pregnant with their son Abhishek. Dharmendra had begun courting Malini during their earlier film ''
Seeta Aur Geeta ''Seeta Aur Geeta'' (''Seeta And Geeta'') is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. Released in India on 3 November 1972, the film stars an ensemble ca ...
'' (1972), also directed by Sippy, and used the location shoot of ''Sholay'' to further pursue her. During their romantic scenes, Dharmendra would often pay the light boys to spoil the shot, thereby ensuring many retakes which would allow him to spend more time with her. The couple married five years after the film's release.


Filming

Much of ''Sholay'' was shot in the rocky terrain of
Ramanagara Ramanagara is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also the headquarters of the Bengaluru South District. It is approximately 50 kilometres from Bangalore. There are buses and trains as public transportations which approximately take ...
, a town near
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. The filmmakers had to build a road from the Bangalore highway to Ramanagara for convenient access to the sets. Art director Ram Yedekar had an entire township built on the site. A prison set was constructed near
Rajkamal Studios Rajkamal Kalamandir was a noted film production company and studio in Mumbai. It was established by V. Shantaram in 1942, after he left Prabhat Films. The studio produced films both in Hindi and Marathi, and it was best known for (1946), ''Amar Bh ...
in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
, also outdoors, to match the natural lighting of the on-location sets. One part of Ramanagara was for a time called "Sippy Nagar" as a tribute to the director of the film. , a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where much of the film was shot) was still being offered to tourists travelling through Ramanagara. Filming began on location on 3 October 1973, with a scene featuring Bachchan and Bhaduri. The film had a lavish production for its time (with frequent banquets and parties for the cast), took two and a half years to make, and went over budget. One reason for its high cost was that Sippy re-filmed scenes many times to get his desired effect. "Yeh Dosti", a 5-minute song sequence, took 21 days to shoot, two short scenes in which Radha lights lamps took 20 days to film because of lighting problems, and the shooting of the scene in which Gabbar kills the imam's son lasted 19 days. The train robbery sequence, shot on the Bombay–Poona railway route near
Panvel Panvel () is a city and taluka in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is highly populated due to its closeness to Mumbai. Panvel is also governed for development purpose by the body of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Panvel Municipal C ...
, took more than 7 weeks to complete. ''Sholay'' was the first Indian film to have a
stereophonic Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
soundtrack and to use the 70 mm
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
format. However, since actual 70 mm cameras were expensive at the time, the film was shot on traditional 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film and the 4:3, 4:3 picture was subsequently converted to a 2.2:1 frame. Regarding the process, Sippy said, "A 70 mm ''[sic]'' format takes the awe of the big screen and magnifies it even more to make the picture even bigger, but since I also wanted a spread of sound we used six-track stereophonic sound and combined it with the big screen. It was definitely a differentiator." The use of 70 mm was emphasised by film posters on which the name of the film was stylised to match the CinemaScope logo. Film posters also sought to differentiate the film from those which had come before; one of them added the tagline: "The greatest star cast ever assembled – the greatest story ever told".


Alternate version

The director's cut of ''Sholay'' has a different ending in which Thakur kicks Gabbar onto a nail on one of the two poles that Gabbar had used to chain Thakur when he had cut off his arms, stabbing him in the back and killing him, along with some additional violent scenes. Thakur's shoe soles getting armed with spikes, Gabbar's death scene, and the scene in which the imam's son is killed, were cut from the film by India's Central Board of Film Certification, Censor Board, as was the scene in which Thakur's family is massacred. The Censor Board was concerned about the violence, and that viewers may be influenced to violate the law by punishing people severely. Although Sippy fought to keep the scenes, eventually he had to re-shoot the ending of the film, and as directed by the Censor Board, have the police arrive just before Thakur can kill Gabbar. The censored theatrical version was the only one seen by audiences for fifteen years. The original, unedited cut of the film finally came out in a British release on VHS in 1990. Since then, Eros International has released two versions on DVD. The director's cut of the film preserves the original full frame and is 204 minutes in length; the censored widescreen version is 198 minutes long.


Themes and interpretations

Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between
social order The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social orde ...
and mobilised usurpers, Homosociality, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory. Koushik Banerjea, a sociologist in the London School of Economics, notes that ''Sholay'' exhibits a "sympathetic construction of 'rogue' masculinity" exemplified by the likeable outlaws Jai and Veeru. Banerjea argues during the film, the moral boundary between legality and Crime, criminality gradually erodes. Film scholar Wimal Dissanayake agrees that the film brought "a new stage in the evolving dialectic between violence and social order" to Indian cinema. Film scholar M. Madhava Prasad states that Jai and Veeru represent a Social exclusion, marginalised population that is introduced into conventional society. Prasad says that, through the elements of revenge included in the plot and the application of Jai and Veeru's criminality for the greater good, the narrative reflects reactionary politics, and the audience is compelled to accept Feudalism, feudal order. Banerjea explains that though Jai and Veeru are Mercenary, mercenaries, they are humanised by their emotional needs. Such dualism makes them vulnerable, in contrast to the pure evil of Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh, the film's antagonist, was well received by the audience, despite his pervasive sadistic cruelty. Dissanayake explains that the audience was fascinated by the dialogues and mannerisms of the character, and this element of spectacle outweighed his actions, a first for Indian melodrama. He notes that the picturisation of violence in the film was glamourised and uninhibited. He further notes that, unlike earlier melodramas in which the Male gaze, female body occupies the audience's attention as an object of male fetish, in ''Sholay'', the male body becomes the centrepiece. It becomes the battleground where good and evil compete for supremacy. Dissanayake argues that ''Sholay'' can be viewed as a national allegory: it lacks a comforting logical narrative, it shows social stability being repeatedly challenged, and it shows the devaluation of human life resulting from a lack of emotions. Taken together, these elements comprise the allegorical representation of India. The narrative style of ''Sholay'', with its violence, revenge, and vigilante action, is occasionally compared by scholars to the political unrest in India at the time of its release. This tension culminated in the Emergency (India), the Emergency (rule by decree) declared by prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. Dissanayeke and Sahai note that, although the film borrowed heavily from the Western film, Hollywood Western genre, particularly in its visuals, it was successfully "Indianised". As an example, William van der Heide has compared a massacre scene in ''Sholay'' with a similar scene in ''Once Upon a Time in the West''. Although both films were similar in technical style, ''Sholay'' emphasised Indian family values and melodramatic tradition, while the Western was more materialistic and restrained in its approach. Maithili Rao, in ''Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema'', notes that ''Sholay'' infuses the style of the Western genre into a "feudalistic ethos". Ted Shen of the ''Chicago Reader'' notes ''Sholay''s "hysterical visual style" and intermittent "populist message". Cultural critic and Islamic scholar Ziauddin Sardar lampoons the film in his book ''The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema'', both for its caricature and stereotyping of Muslim and women characters, and for what he calls mockery of innocent villagers. Sardar notes that the two most prominent Muslim characters in the film are Soorma Bhopali (a buffoonish criminal), and an impotent victim of the bandits (the imam). Meanwhile, the sole function of one female character (Radha) is to suffer her fate in silence, while the other female lead (Basanti) is just a garrulous village belle. Some scholars have indicated that ''Sholay'' contains Homosociality, homosocial themes. Ted Shen describes the male bonding shown in the film as bordering on Camp (style), camp style. Dina Holtzman, in her book ''Bollywood and Globalization: Indian Popular Cinema, Nation, and Diaspora'', states that the death of Jai, and resultant break of bonding between the two male leads, is necessary for the sake of establishing a Normativity, normative Heterosexuality, heterosexual relationship (that of Veeru and Basanti).


Music

R. D. Burman composed the film's music, and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The songs used in the film, and released on the original soundtrack are listed below. Following that is a list of unused tracks and dialogues which were released later on an updated soundtrack. Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey performed vocals for Dharmendra, Malini and Bachchan, respectively. The song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" was sung by its composer, R. D. Burman, who received his sole Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer#1970s, Filmfare Award nomination for playback singing for his effort. The song, which is often featured on Bollywood hit song compilations, is based on "Say You Love Me" by Greek singer Demis Roussos. "Mehbooba Mehbooba" has been extensively anthologised, remixed, and recreated. A version was created in 2005 by the Kronos Quartet for their Grammy Awards, Grammy-nominated album ''You've Stolen My Heart'', featuring Asha Bhosle. It was also remixed and sung by Himesh Reshammiya, along with Bhosle, in his debut acting film ''Aap Kaa Surroor (film), Aap Kaa Surroor'' (2007). "Yeh Dosti" has been called the ultimate friendship anthem. It was remixed and sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Udit Narayan for the 2010 Malayalam film ''Four Friends (2010 film), Four Friends'', and also in 2010 it was used to symbolise India's friendship with the United States during a visit from President Barack Obama. Several songs from the soundtrack were included in the annual ''Binaca Geetmala'' list of top filmi songs. "Mehbooba Mehooba" was listed at No. 24 on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1975, 1975 list, and at No. 6 on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1976, 1976 list. "Koi Haseena" was listed at No. 30 in 1975, and No. 20 in 1976. "Yeh Dosti" was listed at No. 9 in 1976. Despite the soundtrack's success, at the time, the songs from ''Sholay'' attracted less attention than the film's dialogue—a rarity for Hindi language films. The producers were thus prompted to release records with only dialogue. Taken together, the album sales reached an unprecedented 500,000 units. By 1979, the soundtrack went Indian Music Industry, Platinum (equivalent to 1million sales at the time), becoming one of the top-selling Bollywood soundtracks of the 1970s. Music critic Oli Marlow reviewed the soundtrack in 2013, calling it a unique fusion of religious, folk, and classical music, with influences from around the world. He also commented on the sound design of the film, calling it psychedelic, and saying that there was "a lot of incredible incidental music" in the film that was not included in the soundtrack releases. In a 1999 paper submitted to London's Symposium on Sound in Cinema, film critic Shoma A. Chatterji said, "''Sholay'' offers a model lesson on how sound can be used to signify the terror a character evokes. ''Sholay'' is also exemplary in its use of soundmatching to jump cut to a different scene and time, without breaking the continuity of the narrative, yet, intensifying the drama."


Reception


Box office

''Sholay'' was released on 15 August 1975, Independence Day (India), Indian Independence Day, in Bombay. Due to lackluster reviews and a lack of effective visual marketing tools, it saw poor financial returns in its first two weeks. From the third week, however, viewership picked up owing to positive word of mouth. During the initial slow period, the director and writer considered re-shooting some scenes so that Amitabh Bachchan's character would not die. When business picked up, they abandoned this idea. After being helped additionally by a soundtrack release containing dialogue snippets, ''Sholay'' soon became an "overnight sensation". The film was then released in other distribution zones such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bengal, and Hyderabad district, India, Hyderabad on 11 October 1975. It became the highest-grossing Hindi film, Hindi language film of 1975, and film ranking website Box Office India has given the film a verdict of ''All Time Blockbuster''. ''Sholay'' went on to earn a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees across India, and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee at over 100 theatres. It was shown continuously at Bombay's Minerva theatre for over five years. ''Sholay'' was the Indian film with the longest theatrical run until ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995) broke its record of 286 weeks in 2001. Exact figures are not available on the budget and box-office earnings of ''Sholay'', but film trade sources provide estimates of its success. According to Box Office India, ''Sholay'' earned about in net income (valued at about US$16,778,000 in 1975) in India during its first run, which was many times its 30 million (valued at about US$3,355,000 in 1975) budget. Those earnings in India were a record that remained unbroken for nineteen years, which is also the longest amount of time that a film has held List of highest-grossing Indian films#Highest-grossing films by year, the record for being the highest grossing film in India. Its original gross was increased further with re-releases during the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. The film's total gross revenue in India amounted to (). Box Office India estimates the film's total footfalls in India as over 100million tickets sold. The film was also an overseas success in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, where it was released in 1979. The film sold 48.4million tickets during its initial run at the List of Soviet films of the year by ticket sales, Soviet box office, before eventually selling 60million tickets including re-runs. The film was also released in China, as two parts in 1988. It was the highest-grossing Indian film ever up until ''Disco Dancer'' (1982), and the highest-grossing film in India up until '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' (1994). In 1985, ''India Today'' estimated that the film drew a total audience of 250million over the years, which is comparable to the List of films by box office admissions, number of tickets sold by some of the world's List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing films of all time adjusted for inflation. It is often cited that, after adjusting the figures for inflation, ''Sholay'' remains one of the List of highest-grossing Indian films, highest-grossing films in the history of Indian cinema, although such figures are not known with certainty. Box Office India estimated as ''Sholays adjusted domestic net income in 2008, while ''Times of India'' estimated over as the adjusted domestic gross in 2009. ''Mid-Day'' estimated the film's total adjusted gross as () in 2014.


Critical response

Initial critical reviews of ''Sholay'' were negative. Among contemporary critics, K.L. Amladi of ''India Today'' called the film a "dead ember" and "a gravely flawed attempt". ''Filmfare'' said that the film was an unsuccessful mincing of Western style with Indian Social environment, milieu, making it an "imitation western—neither here nor there." Others labelled it as "sound and fury signifying nothing" and a "second-rate take-off" of the 1971 film ''Mera Gaon Mera Desh''. Trade journals and columnists initially called the film a flop. In a 1976 article in the journal ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'', author Michael Gallagher praised the technical achievement of the film, but otherwise criticised it stating, "As a spectacle it breaks new ground, but on every other level it is intolerable: formless, incoherent, superficial in human image, and a somewhat nasty piece of violence". Over time, the critical reception to ''Sholay'' greatly improved; it is now considered a classic, and among the greatest Hindi-language films. In a 2005 BBC review, the well-rounded characters and simple narrative of the film were commended, but the comical cameos of Asrani and Jagdeep were considered unnecessary. On the film's 35th anniversary, the ''Hindustan Times'' wrote that it was a "trailblazer in terms of camera work as well as music," and that "practically every scene, dialogue or even a small character was a highlight." In 2006, The Film Society of Lincoln Center described ''Sholay'' as "an extraordinary and utterly seamless blend of Adventure film, adventure, Comedy film, comedy, Musical film, music and dance", labelling it an "indisputable classic". ''Chicago Review'' critic Ted Shen criticised the film in 2002 for its formulaic plot and "slapdash" cinematography, and noted that the film "alternates between slapstick and melodrama". In their obituary of the producer G.P. Sippy, ''The New York Times'' said that ''Sholay'' "revolutionized Hindi filmmaking and brought true professionalism to Indian script writing".


Awards

''Sholay'' was nominated for nine Filmfare Awards, and the only winner was M. S. Shinde, who won the award for Filmfare Award for Best Editing, Best Editing. The film also won three awards at the 1976 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards (Hindi section): "Best Actor in Supporting Role" for Amjad Khan, "Best Cinematographer (Colour)" for Dwarka Divecha, and "Best Art Director" for Ram Yedekar. ''Sholay'' received a special award at the 50th Filmfare Awards in 2005: Best Film of 50 Years.


Legacy and cultural influence

''Sholay'' has received many "Best Film" honours. It was declared the "Film of the Millennium" by BBC India in 1999. It topped the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's "Top 10 Indian Films" Films considered the greatest ever, of all time poll of 2002, and was voted the greatest Indian movie in a Sky (UK and Ireland), Sky Digital poll of one million British Indians in 2004. It was also included in the magazine ''Time (magazine), Time''s "Best of Bollywood" list in 2010, and in IBN Live's list of the "100 greatest Indian films of all time" in 2013. In 2023, Time Out (magazine), Time Out ranked it #1 on its list of the "100 Best Bollywood Movies." ''Sholay'' inspired many films and pastiches, and spawned a genre of films, the "Curry Western", which is a play on the term
Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
. A more accurate label for the genre is the Dacoit Western, due to its roots in earlier Indian dacoit films such as ''
Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wo ...
'' (1957) and ''
Gunga Jumna ''Ganga Jamna'' (ISO 15919: ''Gaṅgā Jamunā''), also transliterated as ''Ganga Jamuna'' or ''Gunga Jumna'', is a 1961 Indian crime drama film, written and produced by Dilip Kumar, and directed by Nitin Bose, with dialogues written by Wajahat ...
'' (1961). It was also an early and most definitive
masala film Masala films of Indian cinema are those that blend multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still being created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely blend action, comedy, romance, and drama, or melod ...
, and a trend-setter for "multi-star" films. The film was a watershed for scriptwriters in Hindi language films, who were not paid well before ''Sholay''; after the film's success, its writing duo Salim-Javed became stars in their own right and script writing became a more respected profession. The BBC has described ''Sholay'' as the "''Star Wars'' of Bollywood", comparing its impact on Hindi language films to the impact that ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' (1977) later had on Cinema of the United States, Hollywood, while comparing Gabbar Singh to Darth Vader. Certain scenes and dialogues from the film earned iconic status in India, such as "''Kitne aadmi the''" (How many men were there?), "''Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya''" (One who is scared is dead), and "''Bahut yaarana laagta hai''" (Looks like you two are very close) – all dialogues of Gabbar Singh. These and other popular dialogues entered the people's daily vernacular. Characters and dialogues from the film continue to be referred to and parodied in popular culture. Gabbar Singh, the sadistic villain, ushered in an era in Hindi films characterised by "seemingly omnipotent oppressors as villains", who play the pivotal role in setting up the context of the story, such as Shakal (played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda) of ''Shaan (1980 film), Shaan'' (1980), Mogambo (Amrish Puri) of ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'' (1987) and Bhujang (Amrish Puri) of ''Tridev'' (1989). ''Filmfare'', in 2013, named Gabbar Singh the most iconic villain in the history of Indian cinema, and four actors were included in its 2010 list of "80 Iconic Performances" for their work in this film. The film is often credited with making Amitabh Bachchan a "superstar", two years after he became a star with '' Zanjeer'' (1973). Some of the supporting actors remained etched in public memory as the characters they played in ''Sholay''; for example, Mac Mohan continued to be referred to as "Sambha", even though his character had just one line. Major and minor characters continue to be used in commercials, promos, films and sitcoms. Amjad Khan acted in many villainous roles later in his career. He also played Gabbar Singh again in the 1991 spoof ''Ramgarh Ke Sholay'', and reprised the role in commercials. The British Film Institute in 2002 wrote that fear of Gabbar Singh "is still invoked by mothers to put their children to sleep". The 2012 film ''Gabbar Singh (film), Gabbar Singh'', named after the character, became the highest-grossing Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu film up to that point. Comedian Jagdeep, who played Soorma Bhopali in the film, attempted to use his ''Sholay'' success to create a spinoff. He directed and played the lead role in the 1988 film ''Soorma Bhopali'', in which Dharmendra and Bachchan had cameos. ''Sholay'' was remade in Bangladesh as ''Dost Dushman'' (1977), becoming the first Cinema of Bangladesh, Dhallywood film to portray a number of lengthy action scenes, was condemned by many film critics for 'bringing violence' to the cinema screen in the country. In 2004, ''Sholay'' was digitally remastered and shown again to packed theatres in India, including Mumbai's Minerva, where it had run successfully 29 years earlier. Another attempt to remake ''Sholay'', Ram Gopal Varma's film ''Aag (2007 film), Aag'' (2007), starring Amitabh Bachchan as the villain, was a commercial and critical disaster. Because of television and home media, ''Sholay'' is widely available and still popular. Twenty years after its release, ''Sholay'' was first shown on the Indian DD National television channel, where it drew the highest ratings ever for an Indian film broadcast. Video game producer Mobile2win released the ''Sholay Ramgarh Express'' game for mobile phones in 2004, along with other ''Sholay'' themed content such as wallpapers, video clips, and ringtones; another video game ''Sholay: Bullets of Justice'' developed by Gameshastra has also been released. ''Sholay Adventures'', a 2014 List of Indian animated films, Indian animated television film adaptation of ''Sholay'' aired on Pogo TV. In 2019, a film titled ''The Sholay Girl'', based on the stunt woman Reshma Pathan, was released. Pathan had worked as the body double for Malini in the film. ''Sholay'' has been the subject of two books and many articles. Wimal Dissanayake and Malti Sahai's ''Sholay, A Cultural Reading'' (1992) attempts a comprehensive scholarly study that sets the film within the broader history of popular cinema in India. Anupama Chopra's ''Sholay: The Making of a Classic'' (2000) provides an inside look at the film's production based on interviews with the director, stars, and crew members. ''Sholay'' has been labelled by Chopra as the gold standard in Indian cinema, and a reference point for audiences and trade analysts. Over the years, the film has reached a mythic stature in popular culture, and has been called the greatest Hindi film of all time. It belongs to only a small collection of films, including ''Kismet (1943 film), Kismet'' (1943), ''
Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wo ...
'' (1957), ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960) and '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' (1994), which are repeatedly watched throughout India, and are viewed as definitive Hindi films with cultural significance. The lasting effect of ''Sholay'' on Indian cinema was summarised by Anupama Chopra, when in 2004 she called it "no longer just a film, [but] an event". In the 2000 book ''Sholay: The Making of a Classic'', the noted director Shekhar Kapur stated "there has never been a more defining film on the Indian screen. Indian film history can be divided into ''Sholay'' BC and ''Sholay'' AD". The film was jointly released in Pakistan by Geo TV, Geo films and Mandviwalla Entertainment on 17 April 2015, almost 40 years after its theatrical release. The film's premiere in the country was held in Karachi. Screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad, responsible for a number of blockbusters in the early 21st century, including the South Indian franchise Baahubali (franchise), ''Baahubali'' and the Hindi film ''Bajrangi Bhaijaan'' (starring Salim's son Salman Khan), cited ''Sholay'' as a major inspiration on his work.


3D re-release

Filmmaker Ketan Mehta's company Maya Digital was responsible for converting ''Sholay'' into the Stereoscopic 3D, 3D format. Mehta was approached by G. P. Sippy's grandson, Sasha Sippy, about the project in 2010. In March 2012, Shaan Uttam Singh, the grandson of producer G. P. Sippy, said that he would sponsor a conversion of the film to 3D, and release it in late 2012; this was later postponed to late 2013, and eventually finalised for 3 January 2014. It took to convert ''Sholay'' to 3D. Under the leadership of computer animator Frank Foster, 350 people worked to convert the film into the digital 3D format, for which every scene had to be individually Film preservation, restored, colour-corrected and re-composited in 3D to match the depth. New set-pieces, particularly those suited to the new format were also included, such as digital logs which scatter in the direction of the camera during the first half of the film when the train collides with them, the gunshot scene which frees Jai and Veeru from their handcuffs, and Panorama, panoramic views of Gabbar's hideout in the caves. The theatrical trailer and release date were unveiled by the original script-writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. The two original leads, Bachchan and Dharmendra, were also involved in promoting the re-release. The film was released in 1,000 screens in India, and additional screens overseas. It earned approximately during its re-release, becoming the List of highest-grossing re-released Indian films, third highest-grossing re-released Indian film of all time.


See also

* List of cult films * List of highest-grossing Indian films * Gabbar Singh (disambiguation) * Remakes of films by Akira Kurosawa


Footnotes


References


Bibliography

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External links

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Sholay
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
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''Sholay'' 30th Anniversary site
at BBC Asian Network {{Authority control Sholay, Hindustani language 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films 1970s Urdu-language films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films 1970s action adventure films 1970s adventure comedy films 1970s buddy comedy films 1970s buddy comedy-drama films 1970s masala films 1970s musical comedy films 1970s police procedural films 1970s vigilante films 1975 Western (genre) films 1975 action comedy films 1975 controversies 1975 films 70 mm film Action film remakes Buddy action films Censored films CinemaScope films Film censorship in India Films about amputees Films about bounty hunters Films about con artists Films about criminals Films about disability in India Films about organised crime in India Films about outlaws Films about social class Films about social issues in India Films about social realism Films about society Films about the caste system in India Films about the upper class Films adapted for other media Films adapted into television shows Films based on adaptations Films based on Seven Samurai Films directed by Ramesh Sippy Films scored by R. D. Burman Films set in India Films set in Madhya Pradesh Films set in prison Films shot in Karnataka Films shot in Maharashtra Films shot in Mumbai Films with screenplays by Salim–Javed Hindi films remade in other languages Hindi-language films based on actual events Indian 3D films Indian Western (genre) comedy films Indian action adventure films Indian action comedy films Indian action drama films Indian adventure comedy films Indian buddy comedy-drama films Indian crime action films Indian crime drama films Indian epic films Indian films about revenge Indian gangster films Indian heist films Indian musical comedy-drama films Indian police films Indian remakes of American films Indian remakes of Japanese films Indian slapstick comedy films Indian vigilante films Melodrama films Obscenity controversies in film Revisionist Western (genre) films Siege films UTV Motion Pictures films Western (genre) epic films Works subject to expurgation 1975 musical films 3D re-releases 2014 3D films