Sholay

Sholay

In between two jobs, at home, I have been watching this movie played again and again by various Hindi movie channels, at different times.

In the past, I have entertained and delighted myself with it.
Now, I wonder at it.

One of the best or perhaps The best movie ever made in Indian cinema, I think.
More importantly, I think, such a complete movie it is!
It has all of the ‘navarasas’, the complete range of emotions that humans experience. And more.
There is comedy, there s tragedy. Laughter, anger, hatred, revenge, melancholy, devotion, friendship, romance, sacrifice, heroism, horror, tenderness, gaiety, community living, religious harmony, gravity, frivolity,…
There is story, there are dialogues, well sketched characters, power, thunder, nuance and much more…
For all that it has to offer, and for all that it is packed with, it is such a calm, quiet and gracefully slow movie.
Stealing a few words from Kazuo Ishiguro, it’s a movie that simply ‘knows’ it is great and does not need unseemly demonstrations to prove its greatness.

Another thing remarkable in the movie is Rahim Chacha, the imam in the village, played by A K Hangal.
Remarkable because he is the benign Muslim that the world has forgotten - gentle, wise, compassionate, good tempered, humble, imploring…and much more. So incredibly different from the malignant one in today’s cinema where a Muslim character mostly plays a terrorist’s role or at best a cop or a regular character, somewhat neutral but never benign.

Mehbooba mehbooba is the song I look forward to and do not want to miss. During the recent watching, I took a great liking to the Holi song. Ye Dosti is good too. I dont like the others much.

Over the years however, I have grown either weak or sensitive. I watch only until the entertainment lasts. Once the horror begins, towards the end, I switch to a different channel. I cant stand blood and gore; I pushed myself once, but when they broke a bottle and hinted at Basanti to dance on the pieces of broken glass, I could take it no more.
But most important of all, I think I do not want to watch Amitabh dying.

A dear friend, Nitish, happened to tell me that the movie apparently did not do very well initially, when it was released and also, some critics had found faults with the movie, like Amitabh had not acted well and so on… I and friend had a good laugh over the matter and remarked what terrible fools those must have looked like later on when the whole world was awed by it…