Mahendra Ved
New Straits Times
08-23-2010
`Sholay'a landmark in Indian cinema
Byline: Mahendra Ved
Edition: Main/Lifestyle
Section: Main Section
AMID the joys and sorrows that marked the Independence Day celebrations, filling the hearts of many with nostalgia was the anniversary of a film that is a landmark in Indian cinema.
Thirty-five years after its release on Aug 15, 1975, the young, too, are curious about Sholay ("Embers"). It remains one of the best examples of the interest, spanning several generations, that a good Bollywood film can retain.
It is also underscores how Bollywood emulates/adapts/is inspired by Hollywood, and much else, while still retaining its own identity.
Critics panned it, only to be stunned by its initial draw. They called it a copy of not one but many Hollywood films. It was, besides John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven, a spoof on Westerns, which were popular then.
They called it a "Spaghetti Western" since it had strong Italian elements like the mid-Sixties' Django and For A Few Dollars More.
Eventually, they settled on "Curry Western" -- an Indian potpourri with huge doses of drama and tragedy, romance and violence, comedy and action.
A perfect blending of these elements contributed to its success. With so much masala, it could not be pinned down to a single genre.
Sholay's release passed me by totally. I was too busy reporting from neighbouring Bangladesh where president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed on that day.
Back home, too, there was political turmoil. Cornered by an adverse court verdict and a gathering opposition storm, prime minister Indira Gandhi had imposed an internal emergency that June. With press censorship in force, public discourse was curbed.
With my writings subjected to double censorship (in Dhaka and Delhi), I was battling "embers" of a professional kind.
Indians could not protest the opposition leaders' detention but they could toast Sholay and its characters. This allowed them to let off steam.
Sholay grew on its audiences and created a hysteria. Every youth wanted to be like the lead pair of small-time crooks and charming jailbirds turned defiant do-gooders, played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan.
In the movie, the two had agreed to fight a much-feared bandit for money. After losing his buddy in the blood-letting, the survivor refused the money and departed. He was rewarded for his karma with the girl he loved.
Sholay was about the undying friendship between the two, the unspoken love of a young widow, the exuberant romance between a garrulous girl riding a tonga (carriage drawn by a mare) and a flamboyant thief, the immensely tragic life of an idealistic police officer and, of course, Gabbar Singh, the dacoit who struck terror.
Gabbar was a take-off from a bandit with the same name who roamed central India in the 1950s. He would not kill the cops he ambushed but instead chop off their noses and ears.
The celluloid Gabbar was more menacing. But parents prided on their little brats doing his act, donned in green battle fatigue, strutting on a cliff. His men boast: "A mother can put the child to sleep saying, go to sleep, else Gabbar will get you."
Debutante Amjad Khan remains Indian cinema's best known bad man. He went on to do many more roles, but never again on the same level as Gabbar.
Director Ramesh Sippy was called a magician for the spell he cast. He, too, has been unable to repeat his Sholay feat.
The film remains the ultimate high point for many stars - Amitabh, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri.
Amitabh and Jaya got married during the filming of Sholay. Dharmendra, who was wooing Hema at the time, paid the crew to ensure many retakes and went on to marry her five years later.
They all became household names, eventually entering Parliament. Indeed, while the hubbies have left their uncomfortable parliamentary innings behind, Hema and Jaya are still lawmakers.
Amitabh is still going strong - in movies, ads, on TV and advocating public causes. However, time has taken its toll on most of the others - Sanjeev, Amjad, Jalal Agha and most recently, Mac Mohan - all consummate actors. Producer G.P. Sippy is dead.
Sholay was a true multi-starrer. Its several cameo performances remain popular to this day.
Budgeted at US$429,000 (RM2 million), its cost shot to US$1.5 million but has earned US$160 million after adjusting for inflation, becoming Indian cinema's top grosser.
It was the first Indian movie to have a stereophonic soundtrack, and to be presented in 70mm widescreen format.
For composer R.D. Burman, Sholay marked the zenith of a great career, leaving behind a huge repertoire that continues to entice the young. His Mehbooba Mehbooba, with its Middle-Eastern tune, is among the best choreographed songs on the Indian screen.
Just when the era of literary writing in cinema was fading, came writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Sholay underscored the importance of a good script, screenplay and dialogue. Thanks to Sholay, the writer is paid much better today.
"We had no idea that this will become such a huge film. We conceived an idea and when we started working on the screenplay, gradually it dawned on us that the film has more than two important characters," Javed, who co-scripted the film with Salim, told IANS.
"After 35 years, even the minor characters are copied in ads, promos, films and sitcoms," said Javed, a celebrated poet and a lawmaker.
With numerous cameos, songs and dances, Bollywood films of that era were long. At three hours and 20 minutes, Sholay was deemed too long.
Confined to traditional markets in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the then Soviet Union, Indian cinema was still far from the crossover era of the 1990s. Bollywood was still sneered at in the international film festival circuit.
But Sholay had no arty pretensions. When there was no television and no effective visual marketing tools, word of mouth worked. The last three decades have only added to its charm and the film- maker's bank balance.
In 1999, BBC India declared it as the "film of the millennium".
To Indians and to Bollywood cinema's fans globally, Sholay remains more iconic than James Bond and more lasting than The Godfather.
(Copyright 2010)
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