Sholay

Sholay is a famous "curry" western, India's answer to the spaghetti westerns of Italy. A rousing combination of action, romance, drama, comedy, music, and revenge, Sholay is a western that is epic in the best sense, and it deserves to stand alongside other classics in the genre.

Retired lawman Thakur Baldev Singh hires two tough but carefree criminals to hunt down a notorious bandit and bring him back alive. He refuses to reveal his motives, at least at first. In the meantime the two rogues become embroiled in a battle to stop the bandit's men from pillaging the local village.

The two thieves Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) are uncertain that they really want to be involved, but quickly become drawn into the lawman's tragic affairs.  Veeru, a hard-drinking, smooth-talking fellow, attempts to strike up an affair with a loquacious local girl named Basanti. Jai exchanges longing glances with the Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law Radha (Jaya Bhaduri). Jai is the more reserved of the pair, but his sardonic wit and easy charisma make it easy to see why Sholay helped make Amitabh Bachchan become one of the biggest stars in Bollywood.

As the two men become entangled in the Thakur's and the village's problems, they begin to question their lifestyle and wonder if they should give up thieving and settle down. But the bandit chieftan Gabbar Singh is not a man to simply give up his tribute and walk away because two men with guns have come to town.

The cast and acting are excellent. Amjad Khan is loathsome as the villainous bandit chieftain Gabbar Singh, and Sanjeev Kumar seethes with desire for veangence as Thakur Baldev Singh. Hema Malini is irrepressible as the chatterbox maiden Basanti, and her on-screen chemistry with Veeru must have been somewhat realistic because they got married offscreen. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri also got married in real life.

There are, of course, musical sequences. They're generally quite good; the sequence where Basanti dances for the bandits is a standout. One thing I found unusual (and my experience with Bollywood is limited, so perhaps this isn't as unusual as it seems) is that the music sequences were generally worked directly into the plot. Instead stopping reality for a song and dance, the songs and dances are combined with the action and drama; for example, a musical village celebration is interrupted by a bandit raid at one point.  

There are some obvious influences here from the Seven Samurai and Once Upon a Time in the West, but Sholay takes these influences and makes its own film out of them. The direction is assured, there is some great cinematography, and if R.D. Burman's score isn't quite as excellent as the best of Ennio Morricone's western scores, it's still very good.

There are great action set pieces; at the start of the movie the roguish heroes are introduced to the lawman and he frees them to help defend a train from bandits. From kickass brawls to shootouts the action doesn't disappoint, and there's plenty of it. There is even a homage to a classic kung fu showdown.

Sholay is a very long movie; I watched the director's cut, which is around three and a half hours long. Stack it up against some classics like Once Upon a Time in the West (which is about three hours long itself) the running time seems a little more reasonable. More importantly, the movie is entertaining for the entire three and a half hours. There's an intermission halfway through, and since you're likely to be viewing it on DVD you can certainly use it to take a break if the length worries you. Don't let it stop you from checking this movie out.

Now if we could just get a properly remastered Criterion release of the DVD; it's a shame that the current region 1 DVD is not worthy of the film. And no subtitles during the songs? That's just sad. This movie deserves better.

Minor complaints aside (and most of them are DVD-related, not complaints with the movie itself) Sholay is a great western. It may not be the greatest western of all time, but it's certainly made it to my "best of" list. If you like the genre you owe it to yourself to check this one out, even if you're not sure you're ready for Bollywood.