Movies - Sholay

	Movies - Sholay

One of the biggest hits in history of Bollywood, Sholay (in English as Embers, Flames, Flames of the Sun), released in 1975, was recognized as the Best Film of 50 years at the 50th Filmfare awards. It is also the highest grossing movie of all time in India with collections of Rs. 2,134,500,000/- or US $ 50 million. It is widely acknowledged by movie critics to be one of the best movies ever created by Bollywood and to be the most watched and popular. It was declared "Film of the Millennium by BBC India and internet polls in 1999.

Sholay revolutionised Hindi filmmaking and brought true professionalism to script writing. It is one of the most influential films to have come out of Bollywood. When released the film was initially declared to be a commercial disaster. However, the collections slowly picked up and became a huge hit. As a testament to its popularity, the movie ran uninterruptedly for 286 weeks in a Mumbai theatre Minerva.

Credits

The film was produced by G. P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It was written by their favourite scriptwriter pair Salim-Javed and its music was directed by R. D. Burman.

The film consolidated the position of Amitabh Bachchan as the uncrowned king of Bollywood actors, but in some ways the actor who definitely stole the spotlight was theater actor Amjad Khan, who played the role of the ruthless villain Gabbar Singh with great panache. The initial choice for the role was Danny Denzongpa, but he could not act in the film due to call sheet problems.

The main actors in the film ended up marrying their respective romantic leads in real life - Amitabh married Jaya Bhaduri in 1973 during the making of the film, and Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980, five years after the release of the film.

Plot outline

The film is about a retired police officer Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar) who hires two convicts Veeru and Jai (Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan) to capture Gabbar Singh (a dacoit) who had killed the cop's entire family (except the cop and his daughter-in-law). It has the typical ingredients of the more successful Bollywood movies: action (some sections being loosely based on Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven
and Once Upon a Time in the West ), memorable songs, comedy by the main actors themselves (rather than by professional comedians) and tragedy. Speaking of comedy, the character of the jailor, played by Asrani, is loosely based on the clumsy Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the 'Pink Panther' fame, but Asrani is credited with having emulated the character with finesse -- his character is also a subtle critique of Indian sycophants during the British Raj.

The ending

The original ending (that can be seen today on some DVD versions) shows the ex-cop killing Gabbar Singh. However, the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification (more popularly known as the Censor board) that has to pass movies fit for public viewing) found the ending gruesome, especially in the context of the prevailing times then, as India was under emergency.

The original ending had Thakur kill Gabbar with his specially-made spiked shoes. The Board objected that a police officer would commit murder, and ordered the ending to be changed. The ending was changed to show the police arresting Gabbar Singh in the nick of time. Several other smaller changes differentiate Sippy's original 204 minute version from the censored theatrical release.

Impact on popular culture

The movie had a strong impact on popular culture, especially due to the times it was released in. Its success spawned several clones both on film and on television, including some spoofs. Comedian Jagdeep who played the character of Soorma Bhopali, made a film in 1988 with the character's name. In 1991, Amjad Khan played the role of Gabbar Singh again in Ramgarh Ke Sholay, a parody.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sholay ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Sholay; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Sholay

Credits

Plot outline

The ending

Impact on popular culture

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay