Sholay (1975)

Everybody knows this is the Best Bollywood film ever made. I am surprised that this films rating in IMDb is not 10 /10 that it deserves. If you ask any Bollywood genius about this movie, they will tell you its the Best film of all time. Its no. 1 in the top 100 Best Bollywood Movies Stardust magazine. This movie had all the elements to make a great movie. Great Acting, Great Dialouges, Great music, Violence, comedy, Romance, Emotions and Relationships (Friendship). It stars Bollywood's Greatest ever actor Amitabh Bchchan in a Powerhouse performance. Dharmendra in his Best film that I've seen. Hema Malini is fantastic as the in famous fast talking Basanti. Jaya Bachchan is superb as the quiet widow. Amjad Khan steals the show as the legendary famous Villain Gabbar Singh. The other cast have done a decent job. This is the Greates Film Bollywood have released. Fullstop.

Fmovies: This is one movie which is flawless. Great performances from everyone. The cast of the movie is just perfect. Gabbar's character remains indelibly etched on your mind once you've seen him in action. Amitabh is definitely one of the greatest actors of all times. His portrayal of a criminal with morals is all the way tops along with Brando's Vito Corleone. I think the part about cheating with false coin to save Viru's life (sacrificing his own) was a lovely storyteller's touch. 10 all the way!

I am shocked seeing that the IMDb ratings for this classic is just 6.6. Why? Because the movie is strongly influenced from the Westerns? or It it isn't entertaining enough?

The 2nd cant be true because the movie had everything: strong script strong direction excellent characters and performances good action,comedy,romance,friendship,etc

If the 1st is true then i feel sorry for the viewers because being influenced is not being copied.Besides there would remain only like 50-60 original scripts if counted correctly.

I cannot find a single flaw in the movie which is my personal thinking and as it would be of true Hindi cinema fans.

So people please judge the movie on its merits and not on something which is totally baseless.

RATING:- *****/*****

Sholay fmovies. "Kitne Aadmi Thei", every Indian film fan knows this dialog by heart. Sholay was released in 1975, also the year I was born in, coincidence, perhaps. The film became the longest running Indian film in the theaters, a record that stood for over 25 years until it was broken recently by another classic "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (holds the current record 500 Weeks and still going - as on May 07, 2005).

Sholay was written by the great Duo of Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan know as Salim-Javed. The duo also gave us films like Don, Shakti, Shaan, Zanjeer, Seeta Aur Geeta and Deewar. The film was directed by Ramesh Sippy and had music of legendary R.D. Burman. Sholay gave us a Character called "Gabbar Singh" played by Amjad Khan, who made his debut with this film. The character of Gabbar Singh is so creative that many film makers have tried to imitate him for their films.

Sholay did for Indian Cinema what Casablanca did for Hollywood. It became an instant classic and broke all the rules of film making and characterization, while preserving the values of Indian cinema.

Sholay just won the Filmfare Award (2005) for being the Best Film in the last 50 years of Indian Cinema. Sadly, when Sholay was first released in 1975 it didn't win any major Filmfare awards. But when you think about all the great films that were released in that year, its easy to see how it may have been over looked. 1975 may have been the best year for Hindi films with the likes of Deewar, Chupke Chupke, Hera Pheri, Khel Khel Mein, Julie, Mausam, Ponga Pandit, Rafoo Chakkar, Uljhan, Dharmatma, Do Jasoos, Faraar, Geet Gaata Chal, Chhoti Si Baat, Aandhi and Milli - all releasing along with Sholay.

Sholay had the biggest star cast of its time with the likes of Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar, Sachin, A.K. Hangal, Leela Mishra, Satyen Kappu, Mac Mohan, Jagdeep, Asrani, Helen, Jalal Agha, Iftekhar, Keshto Mukherjee and of course Amjad Khan. The Greatest Cast Ever Assembled for the Greatest Story Ever Told!

As a strong fan of the American Western genre and of course the directing of Sergio Leone, it is with great enthusiasm that i recommend Sholay to any audiences or fans of Westerns and Bollywood cinema.

Perhaps, the greatest film in the history of Bollywood cinema (with one of the longest theatrical runs in Bollywood history), this is the definitive Bollywood action epic movie in the same way that Leone's 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' was the definitive Western.

The film features the acting talents of such Bollywood legends...Amitabh Bachan and Dharmendra and focuses at its heart, a story of friendship, courage and revenge, based loosely around the concepts of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai & The Magnificent Seven.

If you have not watched it, then make it your priority to watch it at least once in your life, as this is definitely one of the movies that every person needs to experience.

A true cinematic masterpiece.

This movie has everything, comedy, action, drama, romance, fun, emotions. Great performance by all the characters. They are remembered even today in 2004 after nearly 30 years of the film release. I heard that this movie is now re-released with remastered sound. wow ! cant' wait to fetch the DVD of this remastered version.

The most impressive role of Gabbar by Amjad Khan was portrayed extremely well.

Its also one the longest movie. Its quite normal for bollywood movies to be 3 hours long. But this one is even longer than this. But certainly ever minute of the movie is enjoyable.

This movie is my all time favorite.