Legacy of Sholay

[Ramu]

Sholay has inspired many imitations, in cinema and television, and has spawned a whole sub-genre of films whimsically dubbed Curry Westerns as a tribute to Spaghetti Westerns. None of them has had the success of the original film. The latest attempt to trade on Sholay’s fame is a Ram Gopal Varma film, still being shot, which was announced as being “in the spirit of Sholay”. The producers of original movie are threatening to sue for copyright violation.
The stars of the film appeared in other films; they did not seem to be limited by their roles in Sholay. Amitabh Bachchan went on to become one of the biggest stars in the Indian film industry. However, some of the supporting actors never escaped the shadow of their hit film.
Amjad Khan, who played the bandit Gabbar Singh played many more villainous roles afterwards. He played Gabbar Singh again in the 1991 spoof Ramgarh Ke Sholay. He also reprised the role in a commercial for biscuits.
Comedian Jagdeep, who played Soorma Bhopali in the film, also attempted to capitalize on his Sholay success; he directed and played the lead role in the 1988 film Soorma Bhopali; Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan also played cameos.[6] The film was not a success.
Sholay is out of the theaters, but thanks to television, VCRs, and DVDs, it is widely available and still extremely popular. In the year 1996, “Sholay” was first shown on the Indian government-run Doordarshan television channel; streets were virtually empty during the show. Young Indians who had not been born when Sholay was released will still have seen the film and know the dialogues and characters.


More...