The ultimate curry-western, Sholay (Ramesh Sippy,1975) is fun, naive, cool and entertaining in a very bollywoodian way. A real massala (a film with everything in, like some food). I don't need to speak hindi or be born in Bombay to be able to watch many times this movie and be happy for it. If some one told me that the two main characters were real friends since their childhood i wouldn't have any reason to doubt it because so good is the chemistry between them. I think this movie was the one for Amitabh Bachchan. Dharmendra was already a star (hence, the first billing). Amjad Khan, as usual plays the man you will love to hate (but this was his first time!). The locations are beautiful, and at least the song on the motorcycle (see the clip at the "magic moments" box on the right side of this scroll) is, for this guelylander, unforgettable. We can see the Sergio Leone influence (Once Upon the Time in the West) and even some Kubrick touch with the fascist prison boss (like the one in Clockwork Orange) and of course, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. The train scene is quite memorable as an action piece and the chase of Basanti (Hema Malini) by the dacoits is no much less. Especially after she begs her loyal horse "Run as you never before, this time is for my chastity!"
To a Bollywood fan you don't ask Have you seen it? but how many times !
Gabbar Singh the bad guy asks to the stoic "sheriff" Thakur:
"How do you plan to fight me Thakur? I've long cut off, and discarded, your arms. "
"One uses their feet to crush a snake Gabbar, not the hands. " Right answer...
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4 comments:
Wow! I always thought that a masala film like Sholay is only for Hindi speaking Indians and it will lose out of innumerable counts when translated to any other language, especially English. But your liking for the movie and your review comments, proved me wrong.
Maybe we loose some but one can still get a lot! Acting, locations, dances, music, and then the story is kind of universal in someways exception been made for some local details, but even those are interesting to know about, like that colour festival! I'm born in Peru but i like many different cultures!All of them are basically human and the same thing, you know. :)
I'm really amazed that a foreigner could like a Hindi movie so much!
You share the same enthusiasm that we all had when we grew up watching the movie.
True to your statement, its not 'have we' but 'how many' times :) (i've seen it 6 times)
'Yeh Dosti' is also one my fav songs :)
Nice!
Well,in Lima(Perú)were I was born we use to have two cinemas (City Hall and Metropolitan) tha only showed Indian movies and my girlfriend (she is from Estonia)and one of her idols since she was a teen was Amitabh Bachchan. And one of my daughter(she is jewish-swedish) favorite movies is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai!
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