Two Line Reviews - #119

Movie: Sholay (Hindi,1974)
It's time for me to say 'Kadaisiya naa paatha english padam Sholay nga!'

Plot: A notorious bandit wrecks havoc on the entire family of a policeman who had arrested him earlier. The policeman tries to avenge the loss of his family by seeking the help of two happy go lucky local crooks whom he sees as potential slayers of the bandit.

The story of Once upon a time in the West is presented with the two lead characters adopted from The good,the bad & the ugly and Sholay is surely worth being the legend that I have heard it to be.

Highlights:

• Amitabh Bachchan & Dharmendra have given stellar performances. Amitabh , with his subdued body language presents the desi Clint Eastwood blondie characte & Dharmendra brings out the Tuco in him & saves his fiery best for the climax.
• Dream debutant Amjad Khan with his brilliant expressions!! He hasn't immortalised Gabbar Singh without reason.
• Credits for the writer director duo of Salim Javed & Ramesh Sippy for tying the two classic Sergio Leone western masterpieces and proving it with the Indian touch.
• Camera work is pretty good & RD Burman scores with the evergreen hit number Yeh Dosti & mouth-organ background.
• Hema Malini,as the chatter box,reminded me of Dasavatharam's Asin!

Lowlights:

• Just after about the half-way mark, the film loses intensity & seriousness for a while.
• Needless songs in the middle.

My Rating: 9.4/10