Every Hindi film buff is likely to have a favourite Sholay moment. Mine is the sequence where Gabbar wipes out the entire Thakur clan, save the Thakur himself and thechhoti bahu. There are those clothes hung on the line, the clicking of horse’s hooves, the screeching swing and the booming bullets. There’s a brief while when you hope Gabbar would spare the child at least. He doesn’t and it all rounds off chillingly with bodies covered in white, lying on the ground, waiting for Thakur’s arrival. The sequence is distressing, moving and also terrific in its shot-taking and textbook perfect sound design. Cut to the present and witness how RGV massacres the impact of the original killings with his trademark, boring play of dark and light against the backdrop of incessantrain. It doesn’t register, as does nothing else about the film.
Sholay may not be the greatest film ever made, but is certainly one of the most memorable. The minutest of characters has become a part of our collective consciousness, the dialogue is virtually like folklore and just hearing the background score is enough to bring alive the film in your mind. In its time, Sholay set new benchmarks in entertainment; Aag is content at remaining just another bad film. There is no sense in the setting. Ramgarh had personality; Kaliganj is a weird town, with some real estate shenanigans happening by the seaside. As for the people, all you remember of a Babban (as in Gabbar) is his snake tongue and overfocused, big nose. Ghungroo’s (ie Basanti) flaring nostrils would have made her better qualified to play the horse Dhanno. And the widow (as played by Sushmita) is more stone stiff than poignant.
Few years ago an incredibly talented Gus Van Sant did a disastrous scene-by-scene remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho. RGV too is unable to shake off the original to credibly reinvent it. He tries to sound desperately contemporary with Babban equating his own villainy with that of Al Qaida and America. OK, so RGV does read his daily papers but what’s the big connection here? Isn’t this current affairs talk just plain baloney? Talking of modernity, RGV builds Ghungroo as an admirable single, working woman, supporting her family but then also lets the camera do mischief with her thighs and butt. Why can’t he make up his mind whether he wants to be gender sensitive or just a tackyvoyeur? As for the song-'n'-dance which should have been "sexy", well, Mehbooba is more a cute father-son song with Small B’s Jalal Agha teaching Big B a few steps. A caseof cabaret becoming Kajra Re!
High Fives
Bollywood
1. Heyy Babyy
2. Chak De! India
3. Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag
4. Partner
5. Dhokha
Hollywood
1. Halloween
2. Superbad
3. Balls of Fury
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. Rush Hour 3
Country
1. Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift)
2. Real Things (Joe Nichols)
3. The Storm (Travis Tritt)
4. 5th Gear (Brad Paisley)
5. Let It Go (Tim Mc Graw)
Courtesy: Film Information
