Sholay (1975)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Ramesh Sippy

Writers:

Javed Akhtar (writer)
Salim Khan (writer)

Release Date:

15 August 1975 (India)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Musical | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The greatest star cast ever assembled.......The greatest story ever told

Plot:

Sholay means fire. In this particular movie, a Police Officer, who family was killed by a bandit named Gabbar Singh...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Bandit | Police Officer | Village | Fight

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Dharmendra	...	Veeru
Sanjeev Kumar	...	Thakur Baldev Singh
Hema Malini	...	Basanti
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Jai (Jaidev)
Jaya Bhaduri	...	Radha
Amjad Khan	...	Gabbar Singh
A.K. Hangal	...	Imaam Saheb
Satyendra Kapoor	...	Ramlal (as Satyen Kappu)
Iftekhar	...	Narmalaji (Radha's father)
Leela Mishra	...	Mausie (as Leela Misra)
Vikas Anand	...	Jailer assigned to bring Veeru & Jaidev
Mac Mohan	...	Sambha
Keshto Mukherjee	...	Hariram
Sachin	...	Ahmed
Alankar Joshi	...	Deepak (as Master Alankar)
Viju Khote	...	Kaalia
Major Anand
Bihari
Bhagwan Sinha
Arvind Joshi
Baby Bhanumati		(as Bhanumati)
Mushtaq Merchant
Mansaram
Mamaji
Jerry
Birbal	...	Prisoner with half mustach shaven
Raj Kishore
Habib	...	Heera
Rajan Kapoor
Darshan
Maula
Kedar
Saigal
D. Jyothi
Rajeshwari
Krishna
Vinni		(as Veni)
Girija
Surendra		(as Surender)
Rajesh
Gita Siddharth	...	Deepak's mother (Guest Appearance) (as Geeta)
Helen	...	Gypsy dancer (Guest Appearance)
Jairaj	...	(Guest Appearance)
Jagdeep	...	Soorma Bhopali (Guest Appearance)
Jalal Agha	...	Banjo player (Guest Appearance)
Om Shivpuri	...	Inspector Saheb (Guest Appearance)
Sharad Kumar	...	Ninni
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Asrani	...	Jailor

Directed by
Ramesh Sippy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Javed Akhtar		writer (as Salim-Javed)
Salim Khan		writer (as Salim-Javed)

Produced by
G.P. Sippy	....	producer

Original Music by
Rahul Dev Burman		(as R.D. Burman)

Cinematography by
Dwarka Divecha

Film Editing by
M.S. Shinde

Production Design by
Ram Yedekar

Art Direction by
Ram Yedekar

Makeup Department
M.S. Deepak	....	makeup artist (as Deepak)
Dinu Indulkar	....	makeup artist (as late Dinu Indulkar)
Pandu Indulkar	....	assistant makeup artist
Jayanna	....	assistant makeup artist
Lily	....	hair stylist (as Mrs. Lily)
Sarosh B. Modi	....	makeup artist (as Sarosh Mody)
Parvati	....	hair stylist
Shyam	....	makeup artist
Vijay	....	assistant makeup artist (as Vijay)

Production Management
Aziz Bhai	....	production manager
Suresh Desai	....	production manager
P.Y. Rane	....	production in charge
Rajan Walia	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jimmy Allen	....	second unit director
A.R. Balan	....	assistant director
Kishen Bishen	....	assistant director (as Kishan Bhishen)
Khalish Lucknavi	....	assistant director
Sharad Palekar	....	assistant director
D.R. Thakkar	....	chief assistant director

Sound Department
Mangesh Desai	....	sound re-recordist
Baba Iqbal	....	sound assistant (as Baba)
A. Majid	....	sound assistant
S.Y. Pathak	....	audiographer
Kuldip Sood	....	associate sound recordist
Gerry Humphreys	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ansari	....	title designer

Stunts
Mohammed Ali	....	stunt coordinator
Gerry Crampton	....	action coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
S.M. Anwar	....	camera operator
S.A. Asad	....	still photographer
Omee Kapoor	....	still photographer
P.R.L. Raman	....	assistant camera
Vasant Rao	....	assistant camera (as S. Vasant)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Babu Ghanekar	....	costume assistant (as Babu)
Shalini Shah	....	costumes (as Mrs. Shalini Shah)
Vithal Thorat	....	costume assistant (as Vithal)

Music Department
Anand Bakshi	....	lyricist
Rahul Dev Burman	....	playback singer
Basu Deo Chakravarty	....	music assistant (as Basu Manohari)
Mangesh Desai	....	song recordist
Manna Dey	....	playback singer (as Manna Day)
Kishore Kumar	....	playback singer
Lata Mangeshkar	....	playback singer
Maruti Rao	....	assistant music
Bhupendra Singh	....	playback singer (as Bhupinder)
Manohari Singh	....	assistant music (as Basu Manohari)

Other crew
Amiruddin	....	production assistant
M. Bashir	....	processing in charge
Chandrakant	....	production assistant
Gobind Jhangiani	....	distribution manager
Kishen Jhangiani	....	business manager (as Kishan Jhangyani)
Shankar Lal	....	production assistant
Maqbool	....	production assistant
Joe Maski	....	public relations officer
Harish Kumar Mehra	....	publicity officer (as Harish Mehra)
Jagan Poojari	....	production assistant (as Jagan)
P.L. Raj	....	choreographer
Shankar	....	production assistant
Geeta Sippy	....	publicity ideas
Vijay Sippy	....	business and financing

Production Companies

• Sippy Films (as Sippy Films)

Distributors

• B4U Entertainment
• Digital Entertainment (DEI) (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Eros Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• STAR TV

Other Companies

• Chelaram  costumes
• Kachins  costumes
• New Stylo  costumes
• Polydor  soundtrack
• Rajkamal Kala Mandir  sound recording (as Rajkamal Kalamandir Ltd.)
• Robe International  costumes
• Stylo International  costumes (as Stylo)

Also Known As:

Embers
Flames
Flames of the Sun

Runtime:

188 min | USA:162 min | 204 min (director's cut) | 198 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

India:Not Rated | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Company:

Sippy Films

Trivia:

Danny Denzongpa, who was initially offered the role of Gabbar Singh, was busy shooting Dharmatma (1975) in Afhganistan. He could not accept the role, and the reluctant second choice 'Amjad Khan' got it instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gabbhar shoots his three henchmen, all three are facing him. Yet, when they're lying dead, one has a wound on the back of his neck and one has a wound on his mid-back.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jailer: Errr... Thakur sahib?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994)

Soundtrack:

Holi Ke Din

Brilliant

If you liked "Once upon a time in the west", "The magnificent seven" and "A fistful of dollars", you will love "Sholay". It takes all the good ingredients of a western, spices it with a lot of Indian ingredients and lets it simmer until you get one of the finest "curry" westerns imaginable. Though obviously very much inspired by the "spaghetti" westerns of the late 1960s/early 1970s, this easily surpasses most of the films it's modeled after. A masterpiece.