Sholay (3d) …its not just a review.

SholayI can understand if someone is not interested to watch SHOLAY, which is registered as a true blue classic, in today’s time. This film released almost 4 decades back and for young generation who are born in the early 90’s, “Sholay” would be a over-rated film because we are often bombarded with the films what we call as “masala”.

My history with SHOLAY: I had watched this film in around 2008 in theaters when it was re-released for just 3-4 days. I was damn excited to watch this film back then as I am for maximum of films. When I watched it, I had enjoyed the film, although I didn’t label it “one of my favorite films of all time” kind of stuff which usually, for people who had watched it back in time, was apt way to put the love for Sholay in words. I found some moments too dragged. Also some episodes were simply lacking any form of value like the one involving Asrani which lasted for ten minutes, each second trying to be funny, but didn’t bring even a smile on my face. Also I found the film deathly long. Seriously, 205 minutes is too much for this “yo” generation. But yes I had enjoyed the film but I also forgot the experience within very less time.

Cut to 3rd January 2014, when I bought myself a 9am show ticket of SHOLAY 3d and took my seats with around 100 odd people in theater. I was excited again as I wanted to see did I miss something the last time around! And I found my answer- I missed a lot of things.

No, still I wont call it my favorite film or anything such. But this time it felt like a very good experience. An experience composed of some elements that will linger in my head and heart for long time.

I loved the camaraderie between Jai and Veeru. I felt their scenes together had a lively intensity that was across the board. And then I loved this song called “Yeh dosti…hum nai todenge..”. Frankly, this song I used just for cheesy humor till date. But while watching this film, I really took to the lyrics. And then of-course the “Jab tak hai jaan..mei naachungi” song. It felt overdone, yes, but I realized how heart-wrenching the song would have been back in mid-70’s. If films like “Maine Pyaar Kiya”, “Dilwaale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge” created impact for its larger-than-life syntax of story-telling, I can wonder how beautiful SHOLAY was!

The acting is top class. Especially Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan. It also could be because of the fact that they had really good roles. Amjad Khan’s character which is possibly the most sinister villain in our Cinema has a lot to do with Salim-Javed’s terrific dialogues and sheer talent of Amjad Khan.

The 3d effects were there during fight sequences. Some of them were fab- in the first 3d effect of the film, I felt like I was shot a bullet in my eyes,

All in all, SHOLAY is for those people who has the patience to believe that a film that lasts 205 minutes long can also do the wonders. Its not a great film IMO, for obvious reasons, but I today definitely realized how much love the film garnered when the film had released back in time.

P.S. I remember my dad telling me that how he bunked his schools to go to watch Sholay. He has seen it 13 times in theater. This was a main reason why I chose to watch this film in theaters. Now I can envy him.

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35 Comments
  1. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Havent read a line of your review (Sanket – pls dont mind it)

    Already booked 7 tickets with my kid and neighboring kids….for Sunday !

  2. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    I loved the camaraderie between Jai and Veeru. I felt their scenes together had a lively intensity that was across the board. And then I loved this song called “Yeh dosti…hum nai todenge..”. Frankly, this song I used just for cheesy humor till date. But while watching this film, I really took to the lyrics. And then of-course the “Jab tak hai jaan..mei naachungi” song. It felt overdone, yes, but I realized how heart-wrenching the song would have been back in mid-70′s. If films like “Maine Pyaar Kiya”, “Dilwaale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge” created impact for its larger-than-life syntax of story-telling, I can wonder how beautiful SHOLAY was!

    Taran Adarsh part 2 …. huh !!

  3. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Okay Anjanpur. But unlike Taran Adarsh, I was not all praise for this film. In-fact this is not a review. The review is just 30%. The remaining is something else. But anyway, selective reading seem to be your forte.

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      “In-fact this is not a review. The review is just 30%. ”

      Same is with Taran. Lol.

  4. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Anjanpur- You seem to be reading everything what Taran Adarsh writes. Good, enjoy!

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Not as much as you, you seem to be copying him dot by dot.

  5. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Anjanpur- If that makes you happy, then so be it. For all I know, I didn’t even care to see how many stars it got. Although i did know it got 5/5 from him.

  6. sputnik 10 years ago

    Sorry Sanket disagree with you.

    Sholay is the best Bollywood masala film period. Its arguably the greatest Bollywood film ever made even though it is inspired from many westerns and even copies some scenes. Today’s OTT southern masala remakes are crap compared to Sholay.

    Even as a kid (when I watched it first in 1989) I did not like the final scene where Thakur flies in the air to kick Gabbar and those Jagdeep scenes which are not even relevant to the plot. Asrani’s scenes were LOL for their time. Even though I like the scenes where Amitabh goes to Mausi or Dharmendra talks about suicide I feel these also seem like added to the movie to lighten up a serious movie.

    Agree that its lengthy but that was common for its time. A movie could be just 90 minutes and bore the hell out. Its about whether the movie has enough story material for the length. And if today’s yo generation can watch a 172 min Dhoom 3 they can surely watch a 205 min Sholay.

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      “Sholay is the best Bollywood masala film” agree

      “Its arguably the greatest Bollywood film ever made” completely disagree. sholay is entertaining but its no masterpiece or a film that pushed the envelope in any way. it was a formulaic film.

      • sputnik 10 years ago

        Just because of its masala genre it does not lose all the good things about it. Direction, Performances, story, screenplay, dialogues, cinematography, action scenes, background score – almost everything was excellent.

        It did push the envelope a little bit for its time – with Jai falling for a widowed Radha. Thakur who is Radha’s father-in-law decides to marry off his widowed daugher-in-law Radha to Jai. A father-in-law deciding to marry off his daughter-in-law was very bold, unformulaic and pushing the envelope in a commercial masala movie.

        It was not a formulaic film for its time. Yes there have been movies on dacoits but there were not on this scale/ambition and they were not shot in a western kind of way. Now many movies after Sholay tried to copy it and so it became a formula for the rest of the movies that came after it.

        • Ipman 10 years ago

          no one is denying those things but calling it the greatest ever is an overstatement

  7. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Sputnik- I would blame it to the generation gap. 2.5 decades back, when you saw Sholay, it was still in fashion. The kind of cinema made in 90’s still had some resonance to what Sholay’s type of story telling was.

    Today, you cannot expect the same from everyone IMO. I can’t tell you how rubbish the response was in my show today. The audience today were laughing madly in most of the scenes which were supposed to be intense.

    After that song “jab tak hai jaan..mei nachungi” when Hema Malini is in Dharam Ji’s feet, she has her face on Dharam Ji’s knees. And then all started laughing like mad rubbishing it to be a BJ joke. That is how pathetic it was today! And it was obvious that most of the audience had not seen the film before.

    I am glad that I liked the film a lot today. But the response was bad and I somewhere can understand the reasons behind it.

    • sputnik 10 years ago

      There will always be generation gap and that’s understandable. Young generation will not like what their parents generation liked and that’s completely ok.

      “The kind of cinema made in 90′s still had some resonance to what Sholay’s type of story telling was.”

      You are talking as if masala movies are not being made anymore and only classy arty stuff is being patronized by the masses today.

      If someone is objective they cannot say that today’s masala movies are better than Sholay or masala movies from the 90s. Today’s generation does not have a problem with the OTT fights where one guy is kicked and ten guys fly in the air. Why is today’s yo generation watching movies set in villages with heroines like Sonakshi who are basically imitations of Basanti from Sholay?

  8. Bored 10 years ago

    Sholay was one of the best masala movies made in the seventies and a classic compared to any masala movie Amitabh later worked in eighties and nineties.

    Sanket – With today’s sensibilities u r unlikely to find it a classic, but its very much watchable and enjoyable even now. A few things that even your next generation will be able to appreciate are the visuals, Gabbar, Amitabh and the bromance. I still think highly of the subtle way Amitabh-Bhadhuri’s silent affection is shown.

    Its a brilliantly shot film.

    • Bored 10 years ago

      But releasing Sholay in 3D today is a nonsensical idea.

  9. sunil 10 years ago

    sholay is definitely not the greatest hindi film ever made.

  10. Author
    sanket porwal 10 years ago

    “Sanket – With today’s sensibilities u r unlikely to find it a classic, but its very much watchable and enjoyable even now. A few things that even your next generation will be able to appreciate are the visuals, Gabbar, Amitabh and the bromance. ”

    Bored, we both are on same page. This is what also I am trying to say.

    When i watched it today, I enjoyed it a lot. In-fact a very entertaining masala I would say. But the audience who see it in today’s time and date definitely cannot find it as brilliant as they may have, had they watched it couple of decades back. In-short, our objectivity is invalid. Sholay is a certified cult film. But not everyone can relate to it if they see it today. If someone has seen it back in time and they watch it today again then they may find no difference. But for ppl who is watching it for the first time, it will be a good experience not great!

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      no film or art can be an eternal classic. even the top action scenes that i posted on another thread are not eternal classics. some new film will come and it may outdo all of them.times change, perception change and something which looked great back then looks outdated after a period of time.

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Sanket, dont try to generalize here. I saw the response and it was fantastic – from age 6 to 18 all kids were enjoying the movie and actually Loving it. I can tell that. If you didnt feel it great thats fine – but dont generalize based on some group of YO guys (Your refernce to BJ in above comment shows which kind of group you are referring to and such groups have been there since long but they are in minority). Young generation is loving it.

      PS: Watched in packed house yesterday.

      • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

        I watched JJWS in packed house when it was released. All people were loving it. There is a reference to place called “Baramullah” in the final race. Nearly a group of 15-20 taporis were laughing out loud and shouting “barah bulla” in theater (SIngle screen) – this was 1991 (I wont explain the meaning of it but marathi guys can get it).

        Does that mean youth were not connecting with JJWS in 1991?
        Stupid logic by you.

  11. sputnik 10 years ago

    Mr. Jo B Carvalho And Sholay (Re-Run) First Day Business

    Saturday 4th January 2014 11.00 IST

    Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

    Mr Jo B Carvalho grossed around 75 lakhs nett on day with poor collections all over. The film is unlikely to get even a 3 crore nett weekend. It follows the trend of a dull start for the first release of the year, its ben the same story for thirty years barring a couple of exceptions.

    Sholay (re-run) did better as it collected around 1.25 crore nett and it was showing on less than 50% of the screens of Mr. Jo B Carvalho. The film should do better over the weekend and these are fair collections for a film which is 38 years old and had so many television screenings. There is novelty of 3D but a it is also showing at many places on 2D which is the same Sholay of 1975 with possibly better picture quality and sound.

    Link

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Great ! So this run of Sholay may do around 10cr minimum.

  12. yakuza 10 years ago

    Coming back from Sholay in 3D format, in packed house at Prasad Imax, Hyderabad.I lost count on how many times I have seen it .. but this time, gap was biggest, last saw(in a stretch) 2 years before I guess. reviewing movie or content is futile, only thing i can say that even on’N’th viewing, it engaged me and my family from start to finish. Audience at my show was equally responsive and enhanced the viewing experience with claps and whistles at many places. restoration process looks fine on screen, print was very clear and colors brighten up. Songs are instrumentally remixed, though not sure why it was require, as original was also matchless. 3D effects were hardly felt in 4-5 scenes … otherwise wearing 3D specs are unnecessary burden, I will recommend 2D format instead.

    some scenes which looked stunning on big screen :

    1. Initial train robbery
    2. Gabbar Entry Sequence
    3. Gabbar first attack
    3. Thakur’s family killing
    4. Mehbooba Song
    5. Jab Tak Hai Jaan song (hema deserves kudos for it)
    6. Amitabh death scene

    Technically movie still stands out even after 38 years. Few youngsters i heard while coming out “Yaar kaun se camera se shot hui thi movie, itna sahi capture to aaj ki movies mein bhi nahi dekhne ko milta”. Overall it was awesome theatrical experience after a decade, no wonder even after 38 years it has charisma to wow the today audience as well.

  13. mate 10 years ago

    packed house.. yeh konse camera se shot hui..
    ROFL 😆
    yeh konse planet ka waaqya hai aur kis sadi ki baat hai.
    😛

  14. Reddemon 10 years ago

    @yakuza
    ‘no wonder even after 38 years it has charisma to wow the today audience as well’

    I hope it was true but that is not the case. Mostly people from your generation are watching it along with their family. Also the 3-D factor contributes to the collection.

    • yakuza 10 years ago

      Youngsters in my show responded very well. If you have not seen, I strongly recommend you to go and experience the magic on big screen. Go for 2D instead.

  15. Reddemon 10 years ago

    The Collections of Sholay shows that ‘inflation adjustment’ theory is just a BS. BOI statment of Sholay collecting 10000crs in todays times goes for a toss.

  16. cr7 10 years ago
    • sputnik 10 years ago

      What happened? Did your comment get stripped off or something?

      • cr7 10 years ago

        lol. I posted this interview.

        • sputnik 10 years ago

          So did you post just the youtube link or iframe embed code?

          The comment was empty even in the email I get sent.

  17. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Some interesting point I noticed in Sholay –

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=SNNLMhgWw3c

    In the kacche aam todna scene amitabh here refers to Tatya Tope – instead of James Bond.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatya_Tope

    “Tatya Tope ke pote hain ye”

    From Wiki:

    “He progressed with the Gwalior contingent after the British reoccupation of Kanpur and forced General Windham to retreat from Kanpur. Later on, he came to the relief of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and with her seized the city of Gwalior.”

    Now this connection with Gwalior shows that Salim Khan had written this (as he mentioned in interviews his father being inspector in that area).

  18. sputnik 9 years ago

    A review of Sholay from 1975 that got it so wrong.

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