:
Sanjeev Kumar,
Sanjeev Kumar,
Dharmendra,
more...
:
Ramesh Sippy,
Ramesh Sippy
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: Eros International
: Foreign, India, Bollywood
: 185 min.
: English
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This 1975 film provides a superb look at popular Hindi cinema. Although it can be called an adventure, it has a spaghetti-western storyline, martial-arts sequences, comedy, soap-opera melodrama, and even musical numbers, including an early scene that has the two main characters riding a motorcycle and singing like Elvis Presley in the carnival flick, Roustabout. The film itself is indeed a carnival, and many of the features produced by India's popular movie industry exhibit a similar mixture of ingredients in an attempt to meet the audience's every possible expectation. Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jaidev (Amitabh Bachchan) are two small-time troublemakers who, in the past, have run afoul of Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar); the Thakur, a former law officer, has seen the pair's heroic nature despite their criminal ways. When a gang of bandits led by Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) murders the Thakur's family and cuts off his arms, rendering him helpless rather than killing him, he enlists Veeru and Jaidev to help him seek revenge. In the Thakur's rural village, the two bandits find romance and a hope for redemption and seek to free the village from Gabbar and his minions. The massive appeal in India of films like Sholay becomes evident; surprisingly, it succeeds in almost every genre it attempts to play. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
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| singing and dancing
by cammelltoe
August 25, 2003 - 10:58 PM PDT
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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| I am not a bollwood convert, yet. I saw Lagaan and Devadas in the theatre and enjoyed them, but...these movies are ass-killers, pure and simple. Any forward momentum the plot assumes is always willfully waylaid by long, singing flashbacks, digresions, carefully choreographed representations of a character's emotional state, etc. That said, my girlfriend is a fervrent bollywood fan so I continue to see them. SHOLAY is by far my favorite so far. At a mere 204 minutes, it's a breeze compared to some of it's comrades. Film Comment dubbed it a "curry western" and the reference to the italian spagetthi westerns is an apt one; barren desert landscapes, revenge and incredibly sadistic villanry are all on display here. Devdas and Lagaan have better musical numbers in my humble opinion, but as for action, Sholay is tops. Amitabh Bachchan is a unsung hero in the world of cinematic manly men. He reminds me of an even surlier Point Blank-era Lee Marvin (which is a compliment!). And the director, Ramesh Sippy, knows where to put the camera and gets some great, great shots. So if you're not hip to bollywood but are interested, or if you really wish sergio leone made one more western, this is highly recommended. Just make sure you have a comfy place to sit. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.11)
54 Votes
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AdamGott
cammelltoe
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