Uncut ‘Sholay’ gives fans closure, brings back big screen magic 50 years after movie's initial release

New Delhi: To watch Gabbar stride menacingly mouthing “kitne aadmi the”, Jai-Veeru bash up baddies atop a train careening through the countryside and an anguished Thakur’s thirst for revenge on a big screen is to revisit the magic of the movies – and of “Sholay” itself.

The epic Ramesh Sippy film is back. Not on your TV screen but in a hall, where the action unfolds in a darkened auditorium with little to distract. It’s an uncut version with scenes not seen before and a different ending where Thakur Baldev Singh, played with great restraint by Sanjeev Kumar, doesn’t spare the life of Gabbar Singh, an explosive debut by Amjad Khan, but kills him.

Fifty years after it first released, there is something for everybody. Still. So, a large family group of 15, ranging from 70 to 7, took in the 70 mm experience earlier this week, each enjoying it in their own way. The grandfather reliving once again the theatre experience, the father who had watched it only on the TV screen earlier and the youngster who didn’t know what the film was all about but heard about it from his elders.

Every Indian family has their own “Sholay” moment. And this one was clearly no different.

Abhishek Bachchan recently spoke for all millennials when he said it was his lifelong dream to watch “Sholay”, starring his father Amitabh, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, on the big screen.

While the silent generation (born 1928-45), baby boomers (1946-64) and the generation X (1965-1980) got the chance to watch it in theatres and witnessed the “Sholay” mania unfold, millennials only grew up hearing stories about the film and saw it repeatedly on TV/VHS/DVD.

As the movie plays out in theatres, there are the expected sights – the smile fixed as it were when the R D Burman’s guitar dominant casting score plays out, the dread while watching Gabbar Singh ask “woh do aur tum teen”, the moist eyes at Jai’s death.

But there is more.

Rewatching the film, termed a curry western, is also about nostalgia. When the sound of azaan is heard in the background as matter of fact routine, when Holi is celebrated by all, when a syncretic village society lives its everyday life with its daily struggles, its fabric whole and intact.

The original climax was changed at the censor board's insistence during the Emergency-era when it was released for the first time on August 15, 1975. The climax of the movie then saw Thakur hand over Gabbar to the police as it was felt by the authorities of the time that a former cop cannot be shown taking law in his own hands (pun intended).

But it also left many, who otherwise felt it was a perfect film, with the feeling that something was amiss as here was a man whose entire family had been killed by dacoit Gabbar Singh and he handed him over to the police instead of killing him.

All those who had that feeling now have closure with the original ending playing out on the silver screen in which Thakur kills Gabbar and then has an emotional outburst after exacting revenge.

Another feature of the rerun, which has been somewhat hit by the “Dhurandhar” storm, is the multiple generation audience, mouthing dialogues, clapping at the cinematic highs and whistling when their favourite character turns up.

In the darkness of the theatres, one can hear people repeating the punchy dialogues that have become part of the discourse – “keemat jo tum chaho, kaam jo main chahu”, “Kya karu mausi mera to dil hi kuch aisa hai” and “Woh do aur tum teen phir bhi wapas aa gaye, woh bhi khaali haath”.

“Sholay” aficionados pick out the few extra scenes that have been added in the uncut version. There is the brutal killing of Imam Sahib's son Ahmed, Thakur getting nails hammered into his shoes and a horse-borne Veeru brutally dragging one of the dacoits with a rope are the scenes that had not been seen earlier.

Though these scenes are just a few seconds long, many in the audience are quick to identify them. Such is the craze of the film.

The greatness of the film can also be judged by the fact that the smallest of characters are remembered. Who can forget Sambha (Mac Mohan), who has just one dialogue in the film – poore pachaas hazaar – or Hariram Nai (Keshto Mukherjee), Imam Sahab (A K Hangal) and Kalia (Viju Khote).

“I stopped watching movies long back but returned for ‘Sholay’ as it is the greatest movie ever made in India. I wanted to watch it with my two grandchildren who are eight and 11,” Mohammad Tariq Kamal, 79, told PTI.

He saw it seven times in the theatre when it released in 1975, and watched it now with 15 members of his family – three generations in tow.

“I have told so many stories to my children and grandchildren about ‘Sholay’ and it was great fun to watch it with them. It's three generations enjoying one movie,” he said.

“This movie is all inclusive. It has something for the elderly, something for the youth and something for the kids. It has comedy, action, drama, tragedy, what else can a film have? It is a complete film,” added an 87-year-old wheeled into the theatre on a wheelchair.

As people wait for the doors of cinema halls to open, the conversations have a common thread. People can be heard narrating a “Sholay” anecdote or how many times they have watched.

One can even hear pop quizzes and “Sholay” trivia being thrown about – Who is Gabbar Singh's father? What is the registration number of the motorcycle Jai and Veeru drive in the iconic ‘Yeh dosti’ song?

The answer to those questions is also forthcoming. Gabbar's father is Hari Singh, says one enthusiast. “In the courtroom scene where Gabbar is sentenced to ‘umar qaid’, the judge says, 'Gabbar Singh vald (son of) Hari Singh’!” he recalls.

The registration number of the motorcycle in the Yeh Dosti song is ‘MYB 3047’, he adds.

“Sholay” connects with all generations and has stood the test of time.

Though it is a revenge drama, it connects socially with every Indian because it appeals to the Indian value system by portraying the victory of good over evil, friendship, love and a unified India where Imam sahab is the most respected elder of the village.

When a dying Jai asks Veeru, “Ye kahani toh nahi bhoolega na”, the audience has a ready answer. “Nahin”. For 50 years and counting.