ABSTRACT
Sholay as archetypal Indian Western The film-in-focus of this chapter is the Bollywood Western directed by Ramesh Sippy, Sholay (usually translated into English either as ‘Embers’ or ‘Flames’) released in 1975. Since its release, the film has evolved into a cultural phenomenon in India, seemingly forever etched in the memory of Indians, being constantly evoked and revived (a recent revival was the 3-D rerelease in 2014). Its stars, characters, songs, and dialogue have all become a part of the folklore of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and thence, of the whole nation; its popularity has crossed over from the film industry to the recording, music, and publishing media. It was the top-grossing film in the Indian film industry from the time of its release until 1994 when its number one position (maintained for nineteen years) was taken over by Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!, a modern Bollywood musical that is best seen as an antithesis to Sholay in terms of genre, mood, and style. Equally a Bollywood production, Sholay is a Western that has been analysed for its depiction of evil and its dialectic with social order (see Dissanayake 1993, 196-203) and as a study of violence and its dialectic with non-violence (see Hogan 2008, 86-99). These two parallel themes-evil and violence-are the most closely related to the Western genre. They will be addressed in more detail as we move into the film’s Western terms of reference. There is a considerable literature on Sholay where most if not all the writers acknowledge that it is a Western, describing it as a ‘curry Western’, or an ‘Indianised Western’, but otherwise do not really go into any great depth to examine the film as a Western. The Western factor is perhaps the main reason for Sholay’s popularity, though this has not been fully examined. When it was remade by Ram Gopal Varma as a modern gangster film, Aag, in 2007, it proved to be a disaster; but it inspired a successful Bangladeshi Western remake Dost-Dushman/ The Friend-Enemy (1977) (for an analysis of this film, see Raju 2014). Most analyses of the film try to avoid typing the film as a mere Western and locate it within the historical context of its production and ‘its relationship with larger social issues’ (see Kazmi 1999, 97). Kazmi’s discussion of the film is one of the more astute of the contextual-analysis kind that has dominated the discourse on Sholay (Kazmi 1999, 95-115). This chapter then will deal with Sholay’s Western characteristics and identifications, placing the film in the purview of this volume’s focus on Asian Westerns and their transformative capabilities. It will also seek to define
the film’s Western credentials from a review of the key current literature, bringing out the arguments and discourses that mark out the Western themes and concepts.
