Big-screen Sholay (and a fire scare)

A surreal thing happened while watching Sholay (the new Film Heritage Foundation restoration) at PVR Select Citywalk on Friday night: as the Holi attack scene began, there was a fire-alarm scare and we all had to rush out of the exit doors (for a minute, before they gave the all-clear again). This was an annoyance, coming right in the middle of one of the film’s most immersive scenes, but it was suitably dramatic too, and amusing: our exodus mirrored the one on screen, the villagers fleeing in panic.

I can say a lot about the overall experience, from the perspective of both the eternal fanboy whose personal mythology is so tied up with this film, and the more detached observer who doesn’t unconditionally love everything in it (e.g. the Asrani and Jagdeep scenes take up too much time at a point when we need to get to Ramgarh) – but will try to keep it short. (I have written two Sholay pieces this year anyway, one of which is yet to be published.) Either way, even beyond the film’s actual quality, this is always such an emotionally overwhelming experience. All the associations. The earliest evidence of my mother leching at Dharam (while being very fond of SK and AB in a more sanskaari-mahila way). The observations she made to me: look how big Dharam’s hands are when he is holding the dying Jai’s head; countless other things.

Anupama Chopra in her book mentioned how the Sippys first realised it was going to be a blockbuster, after a slow start – because viewers were too shellshocked during the interval to go out and buy popcorn etc. I can believe it. Even today, the build-up to the intermission is so intense, and Amjad Khan’s performance so scarily believable (even as he plays a mythic-allegorical-no-shades-of-grey character) – it must have been incredibly dark and unpleasant for viewers in 1975. (As I keep saying, Dharmendra’s and Hema Malini’s superb performances bring so much essential positive energy to a film that is otherwise quite morbid.)

And yes, I have decided that I do prefer the “original” ending that has now been restored and screened here – with Gabbar killed and Thakur breaking down in Veeru’s arms. Makes much more sense overall, and completes the emotional arc of Sanjeev K’s performance (as Chopra also pointed out in her book).

Anyway, enough for now. Please try to watch it on the big screen.

P.S. as mentioned here, the last time I watched Sholay on a giant screen was in 1983 or 84, and we missed the first 10-12 minutes then; I properly got to see the great opening-credits scene, with the wonderful RDB score, only in adulthood. Though I do the bulk of my film-watching alone, this latest viewing wasn’t intended to be a solitary outing – it just turned out that way. Not ideal. But I stayed the duration despite originally thinking I would watch only half the film and come back for another show (since I had a very early morning the next day).