Sholay...the creative fire!

Sholay…the creative fire!

Sholay was released on Independence Day in 1975!  In my opinion, Sholay was the 'Gavaskar of Indian Cinema.' I mean, there were some fine players before Sunny and there have many record breaking players after him, but Indian Cricket will always be divided into two eras, Before Gavaskar and After Gavaskar.

Similarly, there were some beautiful movies before Sholay and many blockbusters after that, but nothing created the same impact as Sholay did. 

For the millennials or those who have just crept out from under a rock, Sholay went on to earn a record of 60 golden jubilees across India, and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee at over 100 theatres. It was shown continuously at Mumbai's Minerva theatre for over five years! The movie had a powerful star cast and the impressive debut of Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh, but the biggest credit must go to the dialogues penned by Salim-Javed. They even released a sound track with the dialogues which set new record sales.

I was wondering whether Salim-Javed could have written such a script in today’s times of political correctness and sensitivity towards anything offensive.

I started recollecting some the famous scenes and dialogues.

To start with PETA would have objected to the use of horses in the entire movie (and the squashing of the ant by Gabbar!)

The LGBT community would have protested that the dialogue “Suno,Thakur ne hijron ki fauj banayi hai” is showing eunuchs as weak.

The famous dialogue “Tera kya hoga , Kaalia?” would be seen as racist. So maybe that would be changed to a more euphemistic “Tera kya hoga, uhm, Shyam?”

Salim –Javed’s property would be vandalized by zealots because of the scene showing Veeru impersonating Lord Shiva, when he plays a prank on Basanthi in the temple.

On the other hand, ‘A certain minority community’ would protest that Gabbar Singh killing Ahmed signifies victimization, so they would demand that the scene be cut or his name is changed.

The Committee Representing Acting Professionals (CRAP) would complain that Sambha has only one line in the entire film “Poore pachas hazaar”. They would insist that his dialogue should be changed to a more meaty “Poore pachas hazaar, actually not poore, because income tax will be deducted and this reward can be claimed only if you show your Aadhar card”

The hilarious comedy scene between Jai and Mausi ,where Jai goes with Veeru's marriage proposal, would have to be cut as it reflects a patriarchal mindset because  Mausi refers to Basanthi as “Seene pe patthar” and “bhoj”.

The Global warming NGO brigade would protest against wasting water during the Holi song and using Coal in the Train sequence...the list goes on!

If the film were to be made today, then Salim Javed would feel more handicapped than Thakur !(oops, or should I say physically challenged)

In this era of political correctness, when everyone finds everything offensive, the freedom of speech, opinion and creativity seem severely compromised.

Not just in film making, but one can also see this permeating into books, interviews or cartoons.

I also get to hear that it is a 'social responsibility' to make films which send a relevant message. All I have to say is that if someone chooses to make such a film, then good on them, but they are not obliged to do so.

If some people find a film offensive, then they don't have to watch it or can even start a peaceful campaign to boycott it.

In my useless opinion, which might fall on hearing impaired ears, the right to free speech, creativity and opinion should be a fundamental right, even if one may not agree with that view.

This is aptly summed up in the quote “"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.

A voice inside me asked “Mei zyada to nahin bol gaya?” but I felt “Partner, ab bol hi diya hai to dekh lenge!”