On 15 August, Indians celebrate Independence Day – and another anniversary that has huge cultural significance. In 2015, it will be 40 years since Indian cinemagoers first laid eyes on Sholay (Flames), the ‘masala Western’ widely regarded as Hindi cinema’s greatest ever film.
Sholay played for five years consecutively at Mumbai’s iconic 1500-capacity Minerva Cinema after its release in 1975. It consistently tops fan and critics’ polls: ‘filmi’ magazine Filmfare named it Best Film of the Last 50 Years in 2005, and it was No 1 in Time Out’s 100 Best Bollywood Movies poll in January this year.
Ramesh Sippy’s breathless 204-minute action-adventure follows former police chief Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar), who hires thieves with hearts of gold, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra), to capture maniacal bandit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) alive. As Thakur puts it in one of the film’s many memorable one-liners, ‘iron cuts iron’ (‘loha lohe ko katata hai’).Rajinder Dudrah, who teaches a course in Bollywood at the University of Manchester, believes Sholay is unsurpassed because it works on multiple levels. “Sholay is the ultimate masala film,” he says, describing a film that mixes together different genres. “Because it has all the spices – drama, melodrama, romance, action, family – and they’re blended perfectly. The stagecraft of the action scenes is incredible, especially in the opening train chase – my teenage nieces and nephews, who are used to CGI, were blown away.
“But it’s not just thrilling entertainment. The nation is writ large in themes of law and order, justice and revenge – they reflect anxiety around India’s Emergency from 1975 to 1977. There was social, political and economic turmoil, and widespread mistrust of the state,” he says. During the controversial period of India’s history – which began when prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country – political opponents were suppressed and the press was censored.
“The setting in the fictitious village of Ramgarh, referencing the lawless Wild West and paying homage to American and Italian westerns, is not by accident. Nor is the situation of the law enforcer who must step outside of the law to get justice,” explains Dudrah.
The Emergency had a direct effect on Sholay when the Censor Board insisted the finale be reshot: “The state stepped in and said we’re worried about the Emergency and the message of taking the law into your own hands,” says Dudrah. The original ending was reinstated when a director’s cut was released in 1990.
From nags to riches
Leading Hindi film critic and author of Sholay: The Making of a Classic, Anupama Chopra, feels the film continues to resonate because of its great story, charismatic characters and catchy songs. “It has a timeless quality and reveals something new every time you watch it – every character gets a moment in the sun. Even the peripheral characters are memorable, like Basanti’s damn horse, Dhanno,” she says.
The film had all-star credentials, with script-writing dream team Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar (fathers of contemporary Bollywood superstars Salman Khan and Farhan Akhtar) and a cast including the biggest actors of the day (Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini) as well as rising star Amitabh Bhachan – aka The Big B, who in 2015 is still going strong at age 72 and the most celebrated icon in Bollywood.
Yet during its opening weeks, the big-budget blockbuster struggled so much that Sholay’s cast and crew were ready to reshoot the ending because of negative audience reactions. “It started out as a flop. The critics were brutal, as were the trade magazines. It was called a dying ember and too expensive… [they said] that a competent director could have done better with fewer funds,” says Chopra.
“To begin as a flop and become the most recognised film in the history of Indian cinema is incredible. Even today in the film industry you never meet anyone who hasn’t watched Sholay – it is the Bible for directors.”
The film’s dialogue and songs have found a life beyond the screen. “The lines of villain Gabbar Singh are the most memorable and still used today,” says Chopra. “All you have to say is ‘Kitnai aadmi thai?’ (‘How many men were there?’), or ‘Tera kya hogai, Kalya?’ (‘What will become of you, Kalya?’). When you speak a line from Sholay, you open up a whole world.”
