Sholay (Embers) (Flames) (Flames of the Sun) (1975)

95% of users liked it
(7,930 ratings)

This 1975 film provides a superb look at popular Hindi cinema. Although it can be called an adventure, it has a spaghetti-western storyline, martial-arts sequences, comedy, soap-opera melodrama, and even musical numbers, including an early scene that has the two main characters riding a motorcycle… More This 1975 film provides a superb look at popular Hindi cinema. Although it can be called an adventure, it has a spaghetti-western storyline, martial-arts sequences, comedy, soap-opera melodrama, and even musical numbers, including an early scene that has the two main characters riding a motorcycle and singing like Elvis Presley in the carnival flick, Roustabout. The film itself is indeed a carnival, and many of the features produced by India's popular movie industry exhibit a similar mixture of ingredients in an attempt to meet the audience's every possible expectation. Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jaidev (Amitabh Bachchan) are two small-time troublemakers who, in the past, have run afoul of Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar); the Thakur, a former law officer, has seen the pair's heroic nature despite their criminal ways. When a gang of bandits led by Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) murders the Thakur's family and cuts off his arms, rendering him helpless rather than killing him, he enlists Veeru and Jaidev to help him seek revenge. In the Thakur's rural village, the two bandits find romance and a hope for redemption and seek to free the village from Gabbar and his minions. The massive appeal in India of films like Sholay becomes evident; surprisingly, it succeeds in almost every genre it attempts to play. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 3 hr. 12 min.
Directed By: Ramesh Sippy
Written By: Salim Khan
Genres: Action & Adventure, Romance, Art House & International

In Theaters: Dec 31, 1975 Wide
On DVD: Jul 13, 1999
Studio: Adlabs Film

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Featured Audience Ratings

Wahida K

One of the greatest and unforgetable Bollywood Classics. R.I.P Amjad Uncle. <center>Jab bache rote hain to maa kehti he soja warna Gabbar Singh ajayega. <br> saab mene aap ka namak khaya he Ab Gholi Kha </br></center> TRIVIA:: This film was directly… More
One of the greatest and unforgetable Bollywood Classics. R.I.P Amjad Uncle. <center>Jab bache rote hain to maa kehti he soja warna Gabbar Singh ajayega. <br> saab mene aap ka namak khaya he Ab Gholi Kha </br></center> TRIVIA:: This film was directly inspired by the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, by Akira Kurosawa's Shichinin no samurai, Bandidos (1967) among others. Some critics at the time even began calling it a curry western. Amitabh Bachchan was almost killed at the end of the movie when a stray bullet from 'Dharmendra' missed him by inches.
Ken S

My first Bollywood film. It's pretty badass, a little indulgent at 3+ hours, but that's par for the course with these films. A curry western with heavy American influences has a little bit of everything. Suspense, Slapstick, Romance, Singing and Violent Bloodshed… More
My first Bollywood film. It's pretty badass, a little indulgent at 3+ hours, but that's par for the course with these films. A curry western with heavy American influences has a little bit of everything. Suspense, Slapstick, Romance, Singing and Violent Bloodshed India's first 70mm film.
Marion R

This film is long. I think that if it would have been shorter I would have enjoyied it more.