"Sholay" - Film Review

Sholay is a Western; it’s part of a subgenere of films known as “Curry Westerns”. Much like how Spaghetti Westerns provided an Italian take on the Western, the Curry Western is an Indian form of the Western. Anyone with a semblance of knowledge of Indian cinema will recognize some of the Indian cinematic tells: the sweeping musical numbers; the broad humor; the typical romance plot.

Sholay has a lot to offer. It may be a Western, but it features elements from a number of different genres, including comedy, romance, drama, and action movies (even occasionally, if I'm not misreading it, a smidgen of kung fu). These various elements don’t always mesh well, but there’s never a scene where something isn’t trying to at least entertain you.

However, the mismatched sequences are a large part of what hinders the film. Much of the narrative feels very stop and start. There are also some majorly jarring tonal shifts, particularly when the film chooses to transition from musical numbers to action sequences (or vice versa). 

That’s not to knock the film; though holistically this is a patchworking of various components, many of these individual parts taken by themselves are really good. The action sequences are beautifully staged, and incredibly exciting and enthralling, while the musical numbers are equally well choreographed and fun. Composer A.D. Burman's music is one of the film's highlights.

The film is far too overlong though (with a screentime just shy of three and a half hours). There are things that are just unnecessary and too out of place. The musical numbers are to be expected from a Bollywood movie, but the various sight gags, slapstick, and satirical moments (including a bizarre sideplot about a prison warden who looks like Hitler) are far too frequent. It has an unfortunate tendency to get sidetracked and lose focus of the very interesting narrative of a village harassed by a bandit (played with wonderful gusto and swagger by Amjad Khan) and the two petty crooks (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra) hired out to save the town by a former police officer (Sanjeev Kumar). 

Though its length becomes a burden and it’s a melting pot of genre elements, it’s fairly entertaining. It's Western and action-adventure elements are massively enjoyable and engrossing (and in some instances surprisingly very dark). The film was one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time and is widely regarded as one of the best examples of classic Indian cinema, it's gone on to have massive influence on the Indian film industry.

Grade: B