Sholay

title: Sholay (1975)
language: Hindi
DVD

synopsis: Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) are well known thieves. They end up being caught by police inspector Thakur Baldev Singh, go to jail, and later meet with him once again. Only this 2nd time, Thakur hires them to find and capture notorious bandit Gabbar Singh for a money reward, feeling they are the only two men capable of doing this. As the story progresses, you find out who Gabbar Singh is and why the inspector wants him captured so badly. Veeru and Jai accept this offer only to find out this request isn't as easy as they thought.

The Good
+ Loved how the comedy fit well with the action. The movie was never too serious or never too silly. An equal balance of both.
+ Despite the long running time (just over 3 hours), it filled up each and every minute. Sure, some of it might've been slightly excessive (but what Bollywood isn't like this?) but it never got overwhelming or too boring.
+ Each of the main characters were well fleshed out and developed.
+ Gabbar Singh, probably one of the few movie villains not afraid to do his evil-doings. He doesn't waste time.

That Bad
+ Basanti, played by Hema Malini, was annoying at times, but you couldn't help to like her anyway. Gorgeous, peppy, a good dancer - what's there not to like. Just she talked a bit too much.
+ 70's clothes, what can we say? Not the best era for fashion.
+ I always loved how old movies, whenever someone got shot/hurt, there was so little or no blood at all.
+ One scene was a bit ridiculous. "Dance or I will shoot him!" I'm not so sure how I feel that my life is in the hands of a girl dancing... Entertaining nevertheless.

Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? YES! This was a fantastic film! No wonder it's often referenced and considered a "must see". It really did have a very nice balance between comedy and action... I was expecting it to be all action and was worried about it being so long but it really wasn't that bad (then again, I did watch it over 2 days). Also it was kind of fun seeing 2 well-known movie couples: Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra and Hema Malini. And seeing the actors so young! Wow!

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Song: Yeh Dosti - funny video, nice song, nice friendship between the two characters.


From the Wikipedia page, I thought this was a nice photo of the main male characters.