Notable sequences
editAccording to Dissanayake, two most gruesome sequences in the film are the massacre of Thakur's family, and Thakur's dismemberment by Gabbar.[1] In the massacre scene, initially the killer is not shown; four gunshots are heard, and the four members of Thakur's family falls to the ground. Then, in an extremely long shot,[1] the tiny figure of the killer (Gabbar Singh) appears at a distance, riding a horse in a stately fashion. Gabbar approaches the house, when the grandson of Thakur, a pre-teen boy, rushes outside, but stops on seeing Gabbar. His eyes reflect terror as Gabbar points the gun towards him. The sequence ends with a gunshot. This is followed by Thakur's return home to see all the corpses wrapped in white linen, lying side by side. The massacre sequence is soon followed by Thakur's enraged rush to Gabbar's den and being captured. He is tethered to two poles. Gabbar places two swords on his two shoulders, and lifts the swords in an attempt to cut the arms. This ends the flashback in which the massacre and cutting of Thakur's arms were being told. The flashback is immediately followed by a shot of Thakur, now without arms, with the sleeves of his shirt dangling in the air.
The introductory scene of Gabbar Singh, in which he makes three of his goons (who returned from a failed mission) to play Russian roulette, but at the end kills all of them, is a scene etched in the audience's memory.[2][3]
In a comedy scene, Veeru climbs up a water tank in inebriated state, and threatens to commit suicide by jumping from there because Basanti's auntie rejected his proposal for marrying Basanti. Jai does not pay any attention to Veeru's drunken antics, describing those as mere drama.[4] Another comedy scene which became popular is the one in which Jai prposes Veeru's name to Basanti's auntie as a suitor for Basanti. Jai, although apparently praising Veeru, actually defames him in a round-about way, which makes the auntie reject the proposal.[5]
Reference
edit- ^ a b Dissanayake 1993, pp. 200–201.
- ^ Garga 1996, pp. 185–186.
- ^ Bose 2006, pp. 19–20.
- ^ "Scene stealers of Sholay". CNN-IBN. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Sholay Scene Stealers - Part 2". CNN-IBN. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
Bibliography
edit- Bose, Derek (2006). Everybody Wants a Hit: 10 Mantras of Success in Bollywood Cinema. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7992-558-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Dissanayake, Wimal (1993). "The concepts of evil and social order in Indian melodrama: an evolving dialectic". In Dissanayake, Wimal (ed.). Melodrama and Asian Cinema. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-41465-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Garga, Bhagwan Das (1996). So many cinemas: the motion picture in India. Eminence Designs. ISBN 978-81-900602-1-9.
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