Sholay Tribute 4: ‘Loha garam hai, maar do hathoda!’

In this 4th instalment, on why I love this epic, here’s how each of the departments hit the hot irons.

Sound, camera, action!

Not sure, if any other Hindi movie before Sholay, used ambient sounds as devastatingly. The galloping horse hoofs, the clambering, heaving trains, even the gunfire, all take us right into the thick of action. The bleating goats, the cooing pigeons, the clink of the ironsmith’s hammer, the twang of the cotton fluffer’s wire – sweep us deep into UP hinterland. Down to the creaking swing in the background when Thakur’s grandson comes face to face with Gabbar – fresh, sound-magic is embedded everywhere. Conjuring up such a palpable sense of realness & authenticity. Audiography credit – SY Pathak, with Sound by Baba A. Majid. 

Inspired camera work by Dwarka Divecha, combined with the crisp editing by MS Shinde (who, incidentally, won the only Filmfare trophy for Sholay that year!) brought home both the drama & the melodrama. The framing, the camera movements, are so focused on the storytelling, without ever calling any attention to themselves. And with fabulous attention to detail & continuity. Believe, when the prison scenes were shot in a set in Bombay, they made sure the outdoor light quality matched what they had in Ramanagara, where the rest of the movie was being shot.

Another striking highlight of the movie is how the violence & brutality shocks us, simply by being suggestive, but never explicit. Watch how the Thakur’s arm chopping scene, in flashback, cuts to a gust of wind blowing his shawl away in the present.

Gabbar’s shooting of Thakur’s grandson, cuts to the train wheezing to a halt as Thakur arrives home. Even Ahmed’s killing is presented symbolically, with Gabbar swatting an ant on his arm. No gory scenes, no blood splattering, but still gut wrenching as hell.

For about 3-4 decades, these sequences have been benchmarks for pulsating action choreography in Indian cinema – the rollicking chase & fight between the ‘dakus’ v/s the protagonists on the goods train, Gabbar’s lightning raid on the village, bang in the middle of the Holi festivities, and that brilliant climax trigger – Basanti fleeing on her tonga, with the bandits in hot pursuit.

TRIVIA QUESTION!

That entire scene, with dacoits chasing Basanti, she whipping & egging her Dhanno, till one of the tonga’s wheel comes loose, and the chase still continuing…that entire scene races to the beats of tabla in the background. Who did RD Burman bring in, just to play the tabla & create that mesmerising effect? Answer at the bottom of the page!

Segueing into Music

The music of RD Burman is like the sizzling ‘tadka’ on Sholay.

‘Yeh Dosti’ is that evergreen friendship anthem. ‘Jab tak hai jaan’ is that classic climax song in the villain’s den.

Yes, it was disappointing when the internet came in to let us know that he had adapted the Greek singer Demis Roussos’ song for ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba’ – rumoured-ly on Ramesh Sippy’s insistence, but still…(sigh)

But the same internet also told us how the magician had added his touch to it right in the beginning…by getting someone to blow into a Coke bottle!

The audio quality is a little poor from this event recording, but it comes through.

But, more than the songs, for me, it’s the background score that’s just superlative. The way music accentuates the emotional tones in the movie is nothing short of a masterclass. Listen to the magic:

Creating an eerie sense of impending doom during Gabbar’s entry.

Floating the near silent Jai-Radha love story, on this harmonica piece…& the sound of crickets!

Setting up the absurdly comic interlude with Asrani as the jailor, with the cheeky soundtrack of ‘He’s a jolly good fellow’ in the background.

Goose-fleshing the horror when Thakur comes home to find his family massacred – using, of all things, a truck differential!

With such accomplished performances by every department, its so easy to understand why almost every scene in the movie became unforgettable. This kind of Gestalt Effect is what the fans, like myself, have come to adore.

In the next one, we look beyond the film itself! But before that…

TRIVIA ANSWER!

RD Burman brought Pandit Samta Prasad on the tabla, just for the chase scene soundtrack. The video, below, is a must watch – enjoy!

NEXT: Sholay Tribute 5: Other Narratives & The Next Gen.