The underlying truth... Review on Sholay

While poring through the 32 odd reviews that people have written on Sholay, three things came to my mind:

1. The movie is too huge to contain within the premises of a review

   
   




2. The movie is to be experienced rather than written about

   
   




3. The underlying truth...

   
   

The underlying truth? To explain that, I'll break it piece by piece...

The movie

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It ran for years in theatres and most cable networks have already aired it a thousand times. They will air it another thousand times by the time this review celebrates it's first birthday.

Backed by a loose plot thats marries spaghetti western and Indian dacoit fare, the movie was more like several short sequences, each better than the other, all woven into a seamless finished product that oozed brilliance. The unconventional approach that Sippy took to direction allowed every actor to establish themselves and add to the overall success of the movie.

Sholay also marked the birth of one of the most notorious villains in India's rich and diverse cinematic history - Gabbar Singh.

This effort of mine might seem very outdated but you'll soon know why I ventured....

The Plot

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Sholay is a tale of a Thakur's (Sanjeev Kumar) revenge on a ruthless dacoit, Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) who has plundered, killed and terrorized the citizens of the Thakur's village. Having sent Gabbar to prison, Thakur returns to his village only to discover that Gabbar has escaped and wiped out his clan (save his younger daughter-in-law)

Gabbar dishes out his unkindest cut by lopping off both of Thakur's hands as well. Fueled by hatred and revenge, Thakur recruits the services of two conmen - Jai (AB) and Veeru (DD.. er Dharmendra Deol). The two then embark on a mission to eradicate Gabbar and his like...

As with any war... there are losses...

And so on...

The Underlying Truth

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In all the fiction that forms the backbone of Sholay's tale, there's one thing that cuts through each and every time the movie flashes in front of the eye - The friendship that Jai and Veeru shared.

The song ''Yeh Dosti'' couldn't have been portrayed in a better context than in Sholay. The words are apt and the emotion is heartfelt. Whether Jai is spewing one liners to tease Veeru or Veeru has Jai's back during the fight sequences, they're thicker than blood. And the whole thought of unconditional friendship is sweet.

Unconditional friendship. In the movie, it cost one of them their lives. The flip of a double headed coin, Jai's other prized possession (the first being his harmonica), sealed his fate. He prefered to take the bullet for his friend rather than let his friend die...

Even though it is just a movie... the underlying truth of unconditional friendship is a powerful one. And one that is fast fading into oblivion.

Is unconditional friendship a myth? I have no answers to that one...

So what is the essence of Sholay? That human emotions should be based on selflessness and not selfishness. And in the movie, the man who thrived on greed, were consumed by it...

and the one that sacrificed his life for his friend, died in all glory.

''meri jeet teri jeet, teri haar meri haar sun ae mere yaar''

The movie? Memorable.

~finis~