Bollywood Storytelling

Sholay || Mr. India

Storytelling through Bollywood cult films

Ever since I turned an author, I view the world and its events as a story. It is weighed in terms of how well the story was narrated. I have been watching movies and OTT series through the lens of a storyteller rather than as an audience. 

I recently attended a screenplay and script writing workshop, with a deep-dive on the classic Bollywood blockbuster cinema - Sholay. We looked under the hood of the film, reflected on whether some of the scenes could have been spun differently, and decoded the writers' craft. We even debated if the film could have started off with a different protagonist - since it has multiple actors in key roles. Its actually quite a complex script, but apparently, Salim-Javed delivered it in 18 days flat (a typical feature film screenplay takes about 2 years to write)!! No wonder they were disheartened when this film was pitted against yet another screenplay of theirs - Deewar, in the year 1975, which ended up bagging most of the awards! Sholay's ending was not taken well by the audience initially, and the director (Ramesh Sippy) wanted to shoot an alternate one, but the two writers stuck to their guns. Astonishingly, the audience embraced the original ending, so much so that it became a runway hit at the box-office, and sky-rocketed the careers of all its protagonists; especially that of the debutant bad man, Amjad Khan. So well was the character of Gabbar visualised that all the other 3 male leads wanted that role!

Each character in the movie is written with exquisite detail. Even though there are many characters jostling for the audience's attention, each of them left an indelible mark. Side characters viz. Satyen Kappu (Ramlal), Asrani (jailer), Jagdeep (Soorma Bhopali), MacMohan (Saamba), A.K. Hangal (Imam chacha), and Leela Mishra (mausiji) - all had remarkable roles and dialogues. They are remembered as fondly as the stalwarts - Sanjeev Kumar (Thakur), Amitabh Bachchan (Jai), Dharmendra (Veeru), Amjad Khan (Gabbar Singh), Hema Malini (Basanti), and Jaya Bachchan (Radha). The plot was a winning combination of revenge, friendship, sacrifice, good vs. evil, and widow remarriage; inspired by popular Hollywood cowboy films, complete with horses and guns. 

I also showed another cult movie, Mr. India (directed by Shekhar Kapur), to my K-Drama obssessed teenager. And boy, was she blown away by this one! She loved that it was so much ahead of its time. A sci-fi theme, complete with the formidable gangster's (Amrish Puri) den, robots (a la R2D2 of Star Wars), missiles, and a gadget which makes one invisible - was nothing short of a coup for an audience fed on the usual Bollywood fare. Add to this a female lead (Sridevi), who is not only a bold activist, but a femme fatale as well as a comedienne (Charlie Chaplin), as opposed to the standard damsel in distress. The hero (Anil Kapoor) remained invisible for many of the scenes, but gained tremendous visibility after the mind-blowing success of this movie. His invisibility is a satire on the common man's plight in our country. The leading lady's crush on a never-seen male protagonist in Mills and Boon style, was interesting :) Certain scenes such as the sizzling couple dance in the rain, as well as the meeting in the editor's office, were visualised (and executed) brilliantly. The orphanage and food-grain adulteration sequences provided the human and social perspectives to the ever-green patriotic theme. This film too boasted an army of supporting cast, and all of them were given enviable footage in the film - Satish Kaushik (Calendar), Annu Kapoor (Mr. Gaitonde), Sharad Saxena (Daga), Ajit Vacchhani (Teja), Harish Patel (Roopchand), and Ashok Kumar (Prof. Sinha). 

The sheer evil of the villains in both these movies took one's breath away. Their "Jo dar gaya...samjho mar gaya", and "Mogambo, khushhh huvaaa!" dialogues became iconic. The dialogues of both the movies are truly memorable. I particularly loved how the story of Sholay is narrated in 2 flashbacks, and how it starts off with the story of Thakur, rather than with Gabbar or Jai-Veeru. Some of the scenes really pack a punch such as the one where Thakur does not pick up a gun lying next to him in the middle of a heated scuffle with the bad guy, and gets called out by Veeru. The scene where Jai loyally extols his friend's 'virtues' to his lady love's aunt, the comical mimicry by Asrani - of Hitler, Jai's dry wit - "Tumhara naam kya hai, Basanti", and the silent romance between Jai-Radha, are truly epic. The gory events in both the movies were shot very aesthetically. The plot and character build up, the songs that progressed the story, the dynamics between the characters, and the climax - all were fleshed out with admirable skill. The camera work, cinematography and special effects were also well taken. Its no wonder that they are forever etched on our minds! 

Hats off to the writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar who wrote the screenplay for both these masterpieces! The writer, and the story, are indeed the superheroes of any film.