Gabbar Singh, Jai, Veeru, Thaakur, Basanti , Sambha, Kalia. These are just some names which are synonymous with the masterpiece of Bollywood, an evergreen classic: Sholay.
The film comprises of an ex-policeman, Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) summoning two of his earlier-detained outlaws: Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) – to hand him over a nefarious dacoit: Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) and that too alive !
The film comprises of an ex-policeman, Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) summoning two of his earlier-detained outlaws: Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) – to hand him over a nefarious dacoit: Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) and that too alive !
At first, the amiable camaraderie between Jai and Veeru is portrayed in a very light and
amusing manner which could not be depicted more exquisitely by the very well-known song: “Yeh Dosti hum nahi todenge”. They are shown to split the bounty on them with Surma Bhopali (Jagdeep) for getting them caught and how they dramatically beguile their ‘Angrezon ke zamaane ke’ Jailer (Asraani) and make their way out of the jail. After that, they agree to work for Thakur provided the compensation is right.
Upon reaching Ramgarh Vilage, Veeru falls for the blathering carriage driver, Basanti (Hema Malini); and Jai starts to have romantic feelings for Baldev Singh's widowed daughter-in-law, Radha (Jaya Bhaduri).
Gabbar sends three of his men to Ramgarh to get some supplies but they are intervened by Jai and Veeru and return back empty handed. It is now that Gabbar’s face is revealed followed by his psychotic nature where he plays a game of Russian roulette with his men and kills them deliriously. Amjad Khan is simply enthralling here making it one of the most memorable Bollywood moments ever. He retaliates back on the occasion of Holi and comes to know about Thakur’s measures. Also, it is now when Thakur sheds light on his past and tells how Gabbar slaughtered his family as an act of vengefulness on arresting him earlier. He also leaves Thakur maimed for life by hacking his arms off.
Hence, upon learning the truth, Jai and Veeru turn loyal and vow to bring Gabbar alive for Thakur. Meanwhile, the affection between the two couples flourishes in the village. They also befriend other villagers and instill a belief of freedom from Gabbar's villainous regime.
The movie reaches its climax when Basanti and Veeru are captured by Gabbar’s men and Basanti is agonized by threatening her to keep dancing or else they will shoot Veeru. Jai slyly comes to their rescue and in a chase sequence, asks Veeru to go back to the village with Basanti and get ammunition, to which he refuses. After vain convincing attempts, they finally decide by a toss as to who will stay and who will leave. Jai wins and stays back to ward off the henchmen from coming forward. He runs out of ammo before Veeru returns and is wounded severely.
Jai dies in Veeru’s lap remarking on their very cherished friendship and that he won’t be there in his future endeavours. Lamenting Veeru finds the coin in Jai’s hand and realized that Jai always won in their tosses because the coin was biased. Yes, it had two heads! Now, he turns berserk and kills all of Gabbar’s men in a rampage, leaving Gabbar at the ‘legs’ of Thakur. Thakur stomps onto Gabbar with his spike-soled shoes and wallops him to death.
Though the underlying theme of the movie is revenge, but it is interwoven with many insightful messages on friendship, love and loyalty. By some accounts, the plot is said to be highly inspired from some cult Western films. Nonetheless, Sholay delivers extremely splendid performances by most of its actors.
The masterful background score by R D Burman is immensely renowned and each song has become an anthem for a particular theme. Salim-Javed have created an eminent magnum-opus with their work on dialogues and story. Some of the most memorable ones are:
Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke Jailer hai. Ha Ha.- Asraani
Humara naam bhi Surma Bhopali aise hi nahi hai.- Jagdeep
Arre o Saambha, kitne aadmi the? - Gabbar
Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti? - Jai
Sholay is, at heart, timeless and stands as a testament in world cinema and particularly as an enduring example of what Bollywood can create, but prefers not to.
Upon reaching Ramgarh Vilage, Veeru falls for the blathering carriage driver, Basanti (Hema Malini); and Jai starts to have romantic feelings for Baldev Singh's widowed daughter-in-law, Radha (Jaya Bhaduri).
Gabbar sends three of his men to Ramgarh to get some supplies but they are intervened by Jai and Veeru and return back empty handed. It is now that Gabbar’s face is revealed followed by his psychotic nature where he plays a game of Russian roulette with his men and kills them deliriously. Amjad Khan is simply enthralling here making it one of the most memorable Bollywood moments ever. He retaliates back on the occasion of Holi and comes to know about Thakur’s measures. Also, it is now when Thakur sheds light on his past and tells how Gabbar slaughtered his family as an act of vengefulness on arresting him earlier. He also leaves Thakur maimed for life by hacking his arms off.
The movie reaches its climax when Basanti and Veeru are captured by Gabbar’s men and Basanti is agonized by threatening her to keep dancing or else they will shoot Veeru. Jai slyly comes to their rescue and in a chase sequence, asks Veeru to go back to the village with Basanti and get ammunition, to which he refuses. After vain convincing attempts, they finally decide by a toss as to who will stay and who will leave. Jai wins and stays back to ward off the henchmen from coming forward. He runs out of ammo before Veeru returns and is wounded severely.
Jai dies in Veeru’s lap remarking on their very cherished friendship and that he won’t be there in his future endeavours. Lamenting Veeru finds the coin in Jai’s hand and realized that Jai always won in their tosses because the coin was biased. Yes, it had two heads! Now, he turns berserk and kills all of Gabbar’s men in a rampage, leaving Gabbar at the ‘legs’ of Thakur. Thakur stomps onto Gabbar with his spike-soled shoes and wallops him to death.
Though the underlying theme of the movie is revenge, but it is interwoven with many insightful messages on friendship, love and loyalty. By some accounts, the plot is said to be highly inspired from some cult Western films. Nonetheless, Sholay delivers extremely splendid performances by most of its actors.
The masterful background score by R D Burman is immensely renowned and each song has become an anthem for a particular theme. Salim-Javed have created an eminent magnum-opus with their work on dialogues and story. Some of the most memorable ones are:
Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke Jailer hai. Ha Ha.- Asraani
Humara naam bhi Surma Bhopali aise hi nahi hai.- Jagdeep
Arre o Saambha, kitne aadmi the? - Gabbar
Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti? - Jai
Sholay is, at heart, timeless and stands as a testament in world cinema and particularly as an enduring example of what Bollywood can create, but prefers not to.
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