Viewing and discussion of SHOLAY

Sholay 1975

Dharmesh Rajput

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this August, Sholay (Flames), stars the godfather of Bollywood heroes Amitabh Bachchan at his best and is one of the most successful films of the 70s. Often described as a ‘curry Western’, Sholay became a milestone in Indian cinema with an all-star cast, cult dialogue, stylish cinematography and a soundtrack that's still enjoyable today.

Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) enlists the help of two small-time, but brave crooks, Jaidev (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra), to seek revenge on Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), who has killed all but one of his family members. Jai and Veeru's decision to stay and take up the landowner's offer - rather than raid his safe and run - is influenced by their attraction to the Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law, Radha (Jaya Bhaduri) and local girl, Basanti (HemaMalini), respectively. What follows is the battle of good versus evil entwined with romance, comedy, music and dance - not to mention the classic sequence where Basanti dances on glass to save Veeru from being killed.

Fully-rounded characters and a simple narrative make three hours pass fairly quickly. The comedy cameos from Jagdeep and Asrani could be seen as unnecessary obstacles, though hardened fans of the movie will dispute this. All performances are polished but Amjad Khan's debut as the menacing Gabbar Singh deserves special mention, setting new standards for Bollywood villains.

Director:Ramesh Sippy
Writer:Salim Khan, JavedAkhtar
Stars:Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, HemaMalini, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan / Genre:Bollywood, Action, Classic, Musical
Length: 204 minutes
Original: 1975
Cinema: 2005
Country: India

Sholay - Questions to consider:

  1. How far does the film manage to escape the conventions of Hollywood cinema? To what extent is it an ‘indigenized’ film?
  2. Does it contain elements of traditional Hollywood genres?
  3. Keep track of the range of moods + emotions in the film
  4. How does it represent India and Indians? (e.g. tradition, gender, relationships, marriage, crime and values)
  5. Could it be made as a Hollywood film? Would it need to be changed in any way?

Notes for Viewing and Discussion of The Film

Village life – arrival of two men on horseback. Listen tothe music – does it remind you of anything?

04.20 – Introduction to Thakur Singh– ex police captain. He needs two men for a special task – Veeru + Jai – two career criminals

06.28 – 17.27 He narratesthe train incident. What do we learn about V + J?Was seems to be their attitude to chance + fate? What genre is the film?

Note TS’s judgment on them: “They’re bad but they’re human”

17.56 – 24.49 Cut to V+J enjoying themselves –What is the purpose of this First Song (purpose?)What is its Tone/mood?

Village life –What is the tone/mood?

Introduction to Soorma Bhopal.Scheme to get reward money

Prison life – what is the tone here? Compare with other prison films you have seen.

Escape. Soorma Bhopal boasting.Re-captured.Released – meeting with Thakur

The mission for money – to capture the notorious bandit –Gabbar Singh

The decision – coin toss – how does this relate to the idea of fate (Kismet)?

Thakur Singh’s village - meeting with local chatterbox girl Besanti, romantic interest from V What genre is this?

Meeting with villagers

First view of widow - Radha (in white). TS’s daughter-in-law

Fight sequence – test by Thakur. Raiding of the safe – interrupted byRadha.J returns keys

Besanti + Imham. Conversation about his son who is reluctant to go to the city to work

Besanti + V. J+ R

1.03.15 Village life – raid by Gabbar Singh’s men. Seen off by V+J

1.07.14 – Introduction to Gabbar Singh. Russian roulette -how does this relate to the idea of Kismet/Fate. Who controls fate here?

1.13.25 Cut back to village – Holi celebrations.What is Holi? Item number dance sequence

Another attack by GSBesanti rescues V+J TS has a chance to save them but doesn’t– why not?

1.27.56 – explanation in flashback (capture of GS + his escape – slaughter of Ts’s family

1.37.00 Slaughter of family – note film techniques

TS seeksrevenge,is captured + tortured

1.46.20 – back to the present + the revelation of his physical condition

INTERMISSION

Why would an audience return after the intermission?

Village- V+ J give back the money, but still vow to carry out the mission.

Cut to G’s camp – raunchy dancing . Is this diagetic or non-diagetic? What is its function?

V+J attack the camp. They return – Am B is injured widow is relieved

Imam letter job for Ahmed

Flirting with Basanti + tries to trick her

Song+ Dance with Basanti

Conversation between V+J about marriage Agrees to see B’s aunt for permission. Gets drunk on water tower, expresses his love for B

Imam’s son to leave for city – captured by G’s men + body is sent back to the village with note of warning to villagers + demand they hand over V+J Stirring speech from TS

2.28.41 V+ Jaimake ambush for GS’s men

TS prepares special shoes

J + Radha.Flasback to her story – festival of holi – What does this tell us about Radha?

2.36.10 – return to present. J says he liked to get married to Radha.TS puts the case to R’sfather

Jai wants to settle in the village

Basanti chased by G’s men. Veeru tries to rescue her but is captured + also Basanti. She is made to dance on the ground and then on glass to save V What is the purpose of this dance? How does it replace dialogue?

2.57.15 Jai comes to the rescue. All 3 flee pursued by G’s men. Coin toss to decide who stays + goes.Links to other moments in the film? Jai stays to fight off the gang.

J mortally wounded. Discovery by V that the coin is double headed. How does this affect our perception of Fate in the film + our view of the character of J?

V goes after G’s men. Th arrives and gets revenge on GS in a fight

Cremation of Jai

B+V together on train at the end

END

Some constraints on the making of Sholay

The Bollywood genre is determined by more than just Indian culture. Directors must abide by strict rules laid down by India's censor board. Filmmakers in India are banned from glorifying drinking, drug abuse and smoking, or including scenes "degrading or denigrating women in any manner." They cannot call into question "the sovereignty and integrity of India" or use "visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups." The censor board prohibits any scenes that "needlessly" show the "involvement of children in violence," the "abuse or ridicule of physically and mentally handicapped persons" and cruelty to animals.

THE RULES are widely criticized by directors in India, who say they are often inconsistently applied. But the censor board guarantees one thing: Indian films are almost always fit for both parents and their kids. Mr. Khan described a typical Bollywood film in this way: "You go for two and a half hours, sit down, see a song or two, see a few fights, see some romance, some goodness, some lovely colors and you don't really have to think about it — just have a good time."

Sholay

Sholay can be said to have inaugurated the modern period of commercial Hindi cinema. Often described as India's best-known "curry" western, Sholay was 'patterned' on American spaghetti westerns, though as with any other good Hindi film, the presumed 'copy' is at least as interesting as the 'original'. The addition of romance, comedy, and songs gave it the ambiance that one expects of a Hindi film. The film narrates the story of an ex-cop Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) who hires two jail birds (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra) to eradicate a town and neighbouring villages of the menace of Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) and his band of dreaded dacoits. The story is told in two flashbacks and the climax shows the final encounter between Thakur and Gabbar Singh, where Thakur, whose arms have been cut off, kicks the bandit into submission.

The film made use of several interesting innovations. This included its spectacular cinematography, with shots panning over rocky heights and barren canyons, often under menacing clouds. This lends the movie much of its eerie tension. One of the long opening scenes, which shows a train being defended by Baldev Singh against an attack by bandits, is quite spectacular in its effects, and is reminiscent of similar scenes in westerns, most notably John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1939). Sholay, likewise, plays upon themes of nature versus culture, the encroachment of nature upon culture, and the meaning of civilization in wilderness.

But Sholay will also be remembered for the heights it took villainy to in Indian films. Unlike earlier villains who were content to bring about a misunderstanding between the lovers' families, Amjad Khan's Gabbar seems to pursue evil as an end in itself. Yet the theme of banditry is old to Hindi films, and Gabbar is still very much unlike the villains of the contemporary cinema: he has no visible interest in wealth, though he appropriates the produce of the villagers, nor does he particualarly lust after women. Though the film depicts the usual Indian themes of loyalty in friendship and love, what is notable is an almost total absence of family values. The two heroes have no visible family ties, neither has the heroine HemaMalini. One expects this of bandits, but not of those who are 'good'. Indeed, it is arguable that the "family", though it is presumed to be the quintessential unit of Indian society, is almost always splintered, broken, or non-existent in the modern Hindi film, though no one has ever analyzed the phenomenon.

Sholay went on to become the most successful film in Indian film history. The large cast of super-stars contributed to that, as did the memorable dialogues between Gabbar and Baldev Singh, and between Gabbar and his henchmen. Amjad Khan played the role with perfection, and not without sardonic humor. His lines became so popular that cassettes of Gabbar's dialogues were being sold separately, to be learnt by rote by millions of movie goers. The flirting between HemaMalini, who plays a buxom bucolic woman, and the heroes also provides its own brand of dialogue.

Sources

Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul.Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994

Dissanayake, Wimal. Sholay.

Kishore, Valicha. The Moving Image.Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1988

Online analysis of the narrative

Overview of Structure

Exposition

Rising Action