For the person who loves Sholay and equally loves the medium of Cinema, in his life he always has to pass through the phases of understanding the magic called “Sholay.”
I don’t know how to define my present phase of understanding Sholay, but during this phase I am definitely not in awe of the performances in the movie also I don’t get moved at all by the ‘tear jerker moments’ in the movie – in other words during this phase I can successfully distance myself from the overall impact of the film.
But what exactly I am doing during this phase - during this phase I am trying to decode the influences, inspirations behind the making of this epic movie. Here I am going to make a list of the resemblances and similarities between the films (Hindi as well as non-Hindi) released before Sholay and the Sholay:
I think the look-n-feel of Sholay itself largely resembles the genre of ‘Spaghetti Western’, which emerged in the mid-1960s.
I think Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) must have been the biggest influence behind the Sholay.
The killing of Brett McBain and his three children in the beginning = Killing of Thakur’s family
The pattern killing of the youngest family member of the Thakur’s family exactly corresponds with the killing of the youngest son Brett McBain.
(Continues….)
