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Remembering Sholay

The greatest Bollywood blockbuster - that turned 40 last month - continues to raise the bar in commercial cinema

Perhaps any last word on the definitive Bollywood blockbuster Sholay is unthinkable. Last month, on August 15, its 40^th anniversary was celebrated with nostalgia-stacked articles, and its director Ramesh Sippy presided over a discussion on Sholay at the prestigious National Centre of Performing Arts. Television channels bombarded viewers with song and dance sequences from the movie, besides replaying the menacing dialogues of Gabbar Singh.

And to think that, back in 1975, Sholay was initially released to a lukewarm response. Critics slammed it as a "bloated waste of financial resources", while tickets were quite easily available at the current booking windows. Moreover, a nasty controversy had erupted about its scenes of graphic violence which had been excused by the censors.
Subsequently, a few negligible cuts were imposed. The film wasn't shredded to ribbons, thanks to the clout wielded by its producer GP Sippy. Lore goes that he had lobbied with the powers-that-be in New Delhi, which recommended leniency. To compound matters, a top office-bearer of the censor board leaked a story to the press: that the Sholay file, with all the drastic cuts recommended originally, had vanished from the censor board office.

After a nationwide brouhaha, Sholay premiered at Mumbai's commodious cinema hall - the Minerva (now defunct) - where it played nonstop for five years. Partly because of the front-paged controversy, but far more overwhelmingly for its 70mm technical pyrotechnics, charismatic star performances, the ever-popular vendetta theme, Salim-Javed's smartly constructed script, a zingy RD Burman music score and the mega-popularity of its first-time bad guy, Amjad Khan, accounted for its sudden super-success. Its walloping impact has lasted four decades.
Like it or not though, the anointment of Sholay as Indian cinema's timeless classic and a phenomenon deeply embedded in populist culture, has hung heavily like an albatross around director Ramesh Sippy's neck. Earlier, the savvy son of producer GP Sippy had steered extremely successful films like Andaz and Seeta Aur Geeta (featuring Hema Malini in a Ram Aur Shyam-style dual role). In the public mind, though, he has been canonised only as the man who made Sholay.
No two or three ways about it, Sippy could not top the Sholay act. His next, the desi James Bond-type flick Shaan, just didn't compare favourably. Neither did his more sensitive works like Shakti and Saagar, which were cherished as good but not great films. These were followed by dithering attempts to return to the scene with a bang - his most disastrous film being Bhrashtachar, a take on corruption top-lining Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty and Rajinikanth in an extended 'guest appearance'. The less groaned about that messy effort, the better.
Today, Sippy is essentially associated with his participation in the deliberations of various welfare-oriented film associations. And, of course, TV trackers do recall the television series Buniyaad, which dealt with the devastating effects of the India-Pakistan Partition. Lucklessly, Sippy's son, Rohan, hasn't quite established his credentials as an A-list director. Take, for example, his 2011 film Dum Maaro Dum, a thriller, which was nothing more than a head-banger.
Last year, Ramesh Sippy kicked off a romedy titled Shimla Mirchi, with Hema Malini, Rajkummar Rao and debutante Rakul Preet Singh. Its release date/progress report is awaited.
The fact is that, at the age of 28, Ramesh Sippy suddenly became India's No 1 director. Now, at the age of 68, he's a fringe-dweller. More's the pity because both as a technician and a storyteller, he's incomparable.

ONCE MORE,WITH FEELING: Sippy's mega television serial Buniyaad was a success-but on the small screen; (inset) Sippy directing Alok Nath and Anita Kanwar on the sets of Buniyaad
There has been a sense of disappointment among chronic Sholay aficionados. On the blockbuster's 40^th anniversary, the 'celebrations', at best, were subdued and at worst, negligible. A fresh, digitised print could have been released across the nation. The surviving Sholay actors could have come together at an event. Of the lead cast, Sanjeev Kumar, who portrayed the armless Thakur, and Amjad Khan aka Gabbar Singh are no more. Ditto character actors AK Hangal and Mac Mohan. But others, whose popularity ratings spiralled with Sholay, are very much on the scene, aren't they?

A CUT BELOW: Sippy's post-Sholay films like Saagar (top) and Shakti (above) will be remembered as being good movies, but not in the same league as Sholay
Quite sweetly, Khan's son Seemab Khan, on the heels of a match-winning performance on August 15 as a leg-spinner at a local club's cricket match, announced, "It's a wonderful coincidence that I helped my team win on the day of the 40^th anniversary of Sholay."
Question: Has Sholay stood the rest of time? Some sections - like an action interlude in a tree-shaded glade - are strikingly tacky. Other action set-pieces, especially a train heist and the massacre scene, continue to give us goose bumps. Overall though, its entertainment quotient remains gloriously untarnished.