MY FAVOURITE FILM
I enjoy seeing good, artistic, relevant and meaningful films. Indian Cinema has produced many great and timeless films. But Sholey is my faourite film. I have seen it many times over. Even now, whenever, there is an opportunity to see it, I do not miss it because its appeal is irreresistible. Every time I see it, I find something new, something fascinating missed before. It is now almost 20 years old and yet it is ever fresh, green, wonderful and fascinating. These 20 years could not diminish the repeat value of the film.
Sholey is undoubtedly one of the best films Indian Cinema has produced. It was a great and unique team-work of the best talents in the field. The team included director Ramesh Sippy, actors like Amjad Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and the screen writers like Salim Javed. They were all at their creative best, and the result was a block buster. There are only a few films which can come near or measure up to this film. The film has tremendous and timeless appeal because of its superb dialogues, characters, combination of reality and fantasy and great entertainment. People still remember Gabbar Singh, Soorma Bhopali, Samba, Kalia and even the mare Dhanno. Many dialogues can still be heard being repeated by the people here and there. Sholey proved a turning point, a corner stone in the history of Indian Cinema as it introduced a new sensibility, a new style in the art of Celluloid. The audience can very easily see their desires, hopes, fears, fantasies etc. reflected in the vast and panoramic sequence of scenes, situations, characters and their life-styles. Moreover, a couple of its songs too have been all time hits.
Everything about Sholey is so good and wonderful that it gives much pleasure to talk about it. To visualize its scenes, characters and dialogues is really fantastic. It holds a special place in my mind because it is once in life-time creation. It is simply extra-ordinary in conception, characterization, scenes, dialogues and audience-appeal. Even after 20 years of production it still commands a very large audience and appreciation. Ramesh Sippy was very right when he commented, “It was a labour of love”. Nothing he did after it measured up to it in dimensions quality, style and entertainment value.