The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: Sholay (1975) Run Time: 3H 10M Bonus Cinema Documentary

Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today it’s a Bollywood classic, Sholay.

and next week’s movie A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea (1991):

A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea (1991)

Reviews of Sholay:

IndieWire says:

“Sholay” premiered in 1975 to mixed reviews that bordered on total annihilation — one critic said it had everything except “intelligence, art, and purpose.” It was penned by the legendary writing duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, and of their two big films that year, it was “Deewaar,” not “Sholay,” which earned critical acclaim and instant classic status. But after a several days in theaters (despite an initial alarming drop off in ticket sales), “Sholay” spread like wildfire. The dialogue — so ubiquitous now that many can’t quickly source it — permeated conversation, R.D. Burman’s songs played all over, and a cinematic legacy was etched into history.

Letterboxd says:

The action in particular is clear and well done. A tense shoot out at a bridge is so well cut together with over the shoulder angles and reactions that it comes across as legible, which is hard to do when gunfights can feel disjointed by the jump between the gunshot and the hit. There are so many horse stunts as well! A couple look quite nasty in fact, with horse and rider taking a hard tumble. The choreography for the musical numbers is not as elaborate as later Bollywood extravaganzas can be, but fun and colourful for sure. There are not too many song breaks either, so the story can keep moving. The main element that doesn’t work for me is one of the romances. The relationship between Basanti and Veeru gets the most screentime, but it’s the less interesting and Veeru’s too pushy about it.

RogerEbert.com says:

“Sholay” is a grand, maximalist revel. It’s the kind of movie that, while it may pass into thestatus of so many older movies more talked about than seen, it became thatthing by being great. There are many ways to achieve greatness, and the way of“Sholay” is with heroism, villainy, redemption, revenge, true love, and as manystars as there are in the sky. Happy 40th.

My take:

This movie is a lot of fun. It has humor, lots of adventure, and a decent amount of romance (but not too much). It’s splashy and colorful. That being said, the singing drives me batty and not in a good way. If it’s ubiquitous in Indian cinema I’m going to have a hard time getting into it. For me, the movie rates a *, I’m glad I saw it, but I don’t intend on returning.

Plot (Spoilers!):

Two-bit criminals Jai and Veeru have just gotten out of prison when they are offered a deal from a former police inspector. He will pay the two 20K rupees to capture a bandit named Gabbar Singh. With few prospects at hand, the two sign up for the job.

The duo arrives at the inspector’s home village Ramgarh where they meet two beautiful girls and the romancing starts. After driving off two of the bandit’s henchmen, the pair find themselves facing the bandit himself but manage to chase him off as well. The inspector failed to help them, and they consider abandoning the job,but learn that the bandit murdered the cop’s family and cut off his arms. The pair of crooks decide to stay on the case and at no pay due to their anger at these outrages.

After a series of misadventure in which the duo’s love interests are captured and freed, a grand shoot-out ensues. Veeru leaves at one point to get more ammunition and in his absence Jai is wounded. Jai fights on heroically and manages to kill the attacking gangmembers. Veeru returns in time to bid him farewell as he succumbs to his wound.

Enraged, Veeru attacks the bandit camp and kills almost everyone. The inspector arrives, wounds the bandit seriously, and intends to kill him. At the last second the police arrive and convince the vengeful man to leave the bandit alive. After Jai’s funeral, Veeru leaves the village and boards a train only to find his romantic interest awaiting him there.

Bonus:

Why Movies Just Don’t Feel “Real” Anymore

Why don’t movies feel “real” anymore? A deep dive into the first principles of movie immersion: on perceptual realism, indexicality, haptic visuality, and cinematic qualia.