One of the most enduringly popular Indian films, whose scenes, lines and songs are imprinted on the minds of several generations, is back on the big screen this week. Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay was released in 1975. The revenge saga about a retired police officer who hires two crooks to capture a dreaded dacoit has re-emerged in theatres several times since, including in a 3D format.
What’s new this time round is the quality of the visuals. A restoration carried out earlier in the year by Sippy Films and Film Heritage Foundation has resulted in spanking new images that better bring out Sippy’s grand vision and cinematographer Dwarka Divecha’s brilliance.
More crucially, Sholay – The Final Cut has the film’s original ending, which was rejected by the censor board at the time because it was considered too violent. The restored Sholay also has two scenes deleted from the original release.
Sholay stars Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra as the gentlemen thieves Jai and Veeru. Sanjeev Kumar is Baldev Singh, the ex-cop who is grievously wronged by the dacoit Gabbar Singh, played by Amjad Khan.
Hema Malini is the feisty tonga driver whom Veeru loves. Jaya Bachchan is Radha, Baldev Singh’s widowed daughter-in-law who captures Jai’s heart. Comic relief is provided by Jagdeep, as a braggart wood seller, and Asrani as a buffoonish jailer.
Sholay was written by Salim-Javed, whose partnership between 1971 and 1987 resulted in some of the most iconic Hindi films. Salim-Javed’s talent for creating characters who are both realistic and larger-than-life, the crafting of emotional moments that turn on a single line or action, the embedding of motifs that pay off later – all of these continue to influence filmmakers.
The pair liberally borrowed from Hollywood as well as older Hindi films. Raj Khosla’s Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) is a heavy influence on Sholay, while the film’s locations resembles a frontier town in American Westerns.
Three scenes best capture Ramesh Sippy’s masterful interpretation of Salim-Javed’s script. Each of these moments cuts to the source of the movie’s enduring popularity: the emotions that underpin action scenes, the slowing down of pace to consider the cost of villainy, the transformation of a Hollywood-style vendetta drama into a typically Indian story.
The Gabbar Singh whiplash
Baldev Singh has hired the right men. Jai and Veeru successfully stave off an attack by Gabbar Singh’s gang. The subsequent scene introduces Gabbar through booted feet walking on rocks, a nasty whip also in view.
A rapid zoom reveals the dacoit’s grim visage. Gabbar is disgusted – “Only two men!” He stretches out his punishment, using word play and deception before slaying his own men.
Gabbar’s love for effect, chilling swagger and boundless perversity are all laid out in this scene. Viewers have been alerted that Gabbar is no ordinary brigand, but someone who will use extreme cruelty when challenged. Who knows this better than Baldev Singh?
The arms of Baldev Singh
One of Sholay’s most visceral sequences is lifted from Once Upon A Time in the West (1968). Sergio Leone’s masterpiece inspired the rugged landscapes, intense close-ups and various sound and musical cues in Sholay. But Sippy and Salim-Javed refashioned borrowed material to create a new look.
In Leone’s film, Henry Fonda’s killer Frank and his posse wipe out an entire family as they sit down for a meal. A young boy comes out running, the only survivor of the carnage. After a brief exchange of looks, Frank raises his gun and shoots the boy.
The death isn’t shown. Instead, an audio cut matches gunfire with a train’s whistle.
In Sholay, soon after Gabbar’s men have been killed, he mounts a bigger attack on Baldev’s village. Jai and Veeru fight long and hard. But when Veeru wants Baldev to pass him a gun, the elderly man does nothing.
The reason is revealed in an extended flashback that provides the moral justification for Baldev’s mission. Gabbar slaughters everyone in Baldev’s family, including his terrified grandson. Like Once Upon A Time in the West, there’s an aural match between a gunshot and a train, but the scene doesn’t end here.
Baldev arrives to find the corpses of his family members. Maddened by grief, he rides off to confront Gabbar, only to be captured. Gabbar’s savagery knows no bounds: he taunts the trussed-up Baldev and then chops off his arms.
The force of Gabbar’s action is followed by a dramatic editing transition, which reveals Baldev with his customary shawl on the ground, the sleeves of his white kurta empty where limbs once were.
Veeru proposes, Jai disposes
As Jai and Veeru, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra formed one of the most charming friendships in the movies. Veeru is like a happy puppy, especially around Basanti. Jai breaks his brooding silence only to curb Veeru’s exuberance.
Having brought Jai and Veeru over to Baldev’s side, the movie returns to the Veeru-Basanti romance. She isn’t entirely sure about him. When Veeru tries to trick her into acceptance, she stomps off in a huff.
Veeru turns to Jai for advice – not the best of ideas. In a delightful exchange in which Salim-Javed’s genius for pointed dialogue peaks, Jai approaches Basanti’s grandmother with a proposal, or something like it. When a drunk Veeru threatens to commit suicide, Jai is singularly unimpressed.
This is the last proper moment of levity in Sholay. Events thereafter lead up to the final confrontation between the brutal dacoit and the armless man.
Emotions have been expertly tuned and fine-tuned. When Baldev meets his enemy again, whatever follows is apposite. It’s been built up that way scene by scene, every ember expertly stoked for an explosive conflagration.
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