Sholay (pronounced 'Show' + 'lay') might roughly be translated to burning fire. This was the first Hindi 70mm wide movie India's film industry (also referred to as Bollywood now) made in 1970s. It could be called a cruder version of a Grimm's fairy tale or a 'glittered' version of a story of many dacoits who once roamed the hills of central India depending upon how you interpret the story.(If you want a realistic dacoit biographical movie see 'The Bandit Queen' directed by Shekhar Kapur!)
In desperation, Thakur recruits two tough but jovial cons whom he had arrested once but these two had saved Thakur's life after he was injured by bullet from a dacoit. The two cons fight and eventually capture Gabbar but not before one of them loses his life!
There is a terrible dacoit with his team of very crude men who hide in the hills and prey upon the poor folks of the village close by. The dacoit whose name is Gabbar Singh is a menace and the mere mention of his name makes the kids and their parents run away in fear. Gabbar demands free grains and food from the village people and if they do not fulfill his demand he loots and kills them. The village now has a kindly Thakur who was once a police officer. As the story progresses we discover that Gabbar had killed Thakur's entire family and chopped off both of his arms.
In desperation, Thakur recruits two tough but jovial cons whom he had arrested once but these two had saved Thakur's life after he was injured by bullet from a dacoit. The two cons fight and eventually capture Gabbar but not before one of them loses his life!
The subject of dacoity seems serious but when told in Bollywood style we find comedy and songs injected intermittently in between murder and crime! There are about four songs that became very popular when the movie was released. There is a 'hitler' spoof by a funny jailer when the two cons lock themselves in jail to win a reward.
The movie stars some of Bollywood's top stars of that decade. Amjad who played Gabbar and Sanjeev Kumar who played the Thakur have both passed away. Amitabh, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachaan are still popular stars !
Have I seen Sholay ? You Betcha ! I and Asok missed couple of college classes and ran to the theater one day. The movie ran in that Mumbai theater for several decades !!!
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