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Indian Express
12-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Sholay at 50: When Gabbar Singh sold us biscuits
My generation inherited the Sholay fandom; I had heard the story of the film for more than half a decade before I even watched it. I come from the Mr India generation, but my father and grandfather insisted the classics were Mackenna's Gold, Enter The Dragon and Sholay. I know that my father's actual favourite film was Zanjeer, but such was the peer pressure to call Sholay the all-time favourite that my father briefly succumbed to it. I keep saying 'favourite' because that was the word we used back then when talking about the films we loved. We never used the word 'love' itself to describe our feelings towards anything, including films — an odd hesitation that led to the word 'favourite' becoming the very pinnacle of our expression of approval. For a while, until the age of 9 or 10, I resisted the hype, although my older cousins who had access to Sholay on VHS were already converted (yes, unfortunately, our Sholay experience came via VHS tapes, not the big screen). Maybe it was the violence in the film or the menace of Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) that kept them from letting us younger ones watch Sholay earlier, but when they saw I could brave Tina's death in Mr. India — watching it multiple times to boot — they knew I was ready. I was ready to see Gabbar and watch 'Yeh dosti..', and brave the death of Jai (Amitabh Bachchan). We got the Sholay VHS, making sure it was a good print. I clearly remember the tape we got from the video library — it was one of the most important in their collection, with the title embossed in silver. Not once did I imagine that a film whose every scene, song and dialogue I was already familiar with would make my jaw drop. I cried inconsolably when Jai died — no, Tina's death had not prepared me for this. In fact, it's still difficult to watch Tina die on screen in Mr India, nor have I made peace with Jai's death in Sholay or Jack's in Titanic (okay, maybe Jack's demise isn't as much of an issue). Soon, I was among the 'if Sholay is not your favourite film, you are not my friend' gang. The current generation might not give in to such bullying from the Sholay fandom, but there was a time when its status was undisputed. The denims, the motorbike with the side-car, the theme music and the bromance got us all picking our respective Jai or Veeru in childhood. The image of the dreaded, tobacco-spitting Gabbar was even used to sell us Parle-G — such was the extent of our love for Sholay. Orchestras exploded with songs from the film, and mimicry artists had a bumper season imitating not just Gabbar but also his henchmen Kalia (Viju Khote) and Sambha (Mac Mohan) as well as Soorma Bhopali (Jagdeep). 'Chakki peesing' was probably the first and the most popular Hinglish phrase of Indian cinema. Thank God, we didn't have studio executives and algorithms back then asking director Ramesh Sippy to trim scenes that were not taking the 'plot' ahead. The flavour of a great film goes beyond the 'hero' and 'heroine'; it comes from its characters, everyone who lives in that world — no one in Sholay is a 'junior artist', everyone is an 'artist'! It was in Sholay that we first encountered a fusion of Western cool and heartland epic. Earlier, films were defined by the coolness of Dev Anand or Shammi Kapoor, or they were Dilip Kumar or Manoj Kumar heartland epics. Sholay gave Indian audiences something they had never experienced before. Even 50 years after its release, it remains one of the most talked-about films, inspiring as many jibes of 'you haven't seen it yet!' as ecstatic declarations of 'I have seen it more times than you'. Bala is the writer and director of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota and Monica, O My Darling
Khaleej Times
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Jackie Chan honoured at Locarno Film Festival, says 'I'm 71 and I can still fight'
Actor Jackie Chan was honoured with Locarno's career achievement award, the prestigious Pardo alla Carriera, at the ongoing Locarno Film Festival 2025, reported Variety. At the Swiss fest, the actor opened up about his early days in showbiz and reenacted his role in Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Chan played a small part in the film. In the past, he admitted Lee accidentally hit him with a stick during a scene, but that didn't stop him from completing the take. "I'm no Superman. I am scared. Before a stunt, I go: 'Am I going to die this time?" Jackie Chan was quoted as saying by Variety. The actor also talked about how he developed an interest in martial arts. "I was lazy, naughty, I didn't want to study, that's why my father sent me to martial arts school. I liked fighting when I was young. Later, he asked: 'Did you like the school?' Yes, very much. I could kick the teacher, punch someone, whatever I wanted," he joked. Variety reported that Chan started out as a stuntman, appearing in Lee's Fist of Fury, before eventually transitioning into acting following some childhood experiences on set. The actor also admitted that he never wanted to limit himself to just acting. Ambitious, Chan revealed that he wanted to learn filmmaking from scratch. "I do everything myself. Now, I tell filmmakers: 'If you only learn how to direct, that's not good enough'," said Chan. The actor's directorial projects include Police Story, Police Story 2, The Fearless Hyena, The Young Master and others. While honouring Chan with the achievement award, artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said, "He reinvented, literally, what an action film is. There is before Jackie Chan and there's after." Accepting the award, Chan recalled a conversation he had with his father, back when he asked him: "I'm 60. Can you still fight when you're 60?" Chan replied: "I didn't know what to say [to him]. But now I'm 71 and I still can fight." Chan was recently seen in the film Karate Kid Legends, which starred Ben Wang in the lead role. It was the sixth film in the Karate Kid franchise.
News18
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Retro Review: Suriya Gives His All But Kartik Subbaraj's Wayward Storytelling Doesn't Let Him Soar
Last Updated: Retro is Karthik Subbaraj failing to recreate the magic of Jigarthanda Double X, despite having a solid Suriya at helm. Suriya's Retro is now in theatres. Retro is Karthik Subbaraj's intent to make a campy film that aims to bring back a unique flavour of Indian cinema, which was heavily influenced by the likes of Enter The Dragon. It is particularly amusing how Karthik has attempted to use the tropes of the Blaxploitation genre in an Indian setting that hits out at colonialism. He first did it with Jigarthanda Double X, which is Karthick's tryst with Westerns. He has done it again with Retro, which is his tryst with the 90s martial arts film. Like how Hollywood westerns had an influence on Indian films, the likes of such martial arts action films also made an impression on our filmmakers. However, the former style is more pronounced in our pop culture than the latter. It could be the reason that Retro doesn't make the same impact as Jigarthanda Double X. Here, Karthik is lost in finding the distinct texture which is elusive for him. More often than not, such films had a caricature of a villain who is in control of a village or an island or an industry. Enter the hero with his own struggles, which eventually evolve into a cause for the greater good. Paarivel Kannan (Suriya) is born with a birthmark and a prophecy. He is destined to slay the demon, but Karthik doesn't get to the point that easily. We spend a lot of time (read the entire first half) to reach the prime conflict of the film. Paari, an adopted son of a gangster Thilagan (Joju George), wants to leave behind his life of violence for Rukmini (Pooja Hegde). But Thilagan doesn't let him go as Paari is in possession of 'Goldfish' that is worth millions. As violence keeps haunting him, Rukmini leaves Paari and goes to live in one of the Andaman Islands. Naturally, Paari reaches the island where he has a bigger purpose waiting for him than romance. The island is ruled by a father-son dictator duo played by Nassar and Vidhu, who kill humans and animals for sport. The film spends way too much time on Paari's journey to find his 'Dhammam', a recurrent word in the film, which could mean calling or way of life or purpose. Karthik keeps making the film dense with many such layers. After a point, the hero's journey becomes confusing with a confusing trajectory. That's the overarching problem of Retro: it lacks a 'cut-and-right' arc. Another issue is that the film fails to demand any emotional investment from the viewer. It is strange that while Jigarthanda Double X also travels in a similar trajectory, the pain of the villagers there was felt. Hence, the climax became a bit cathartic. Also, the pessimistic nature of Jigarthanda Double X was in perfect sync with reality. The imagery of an entire village getting gunned down, even as they sing and dance, evoked pain. Here, Karthik gets a bit optimistic as the villagers now get to be on the other end of the gunpoint. Unfortunately, we aren't able to get a similar catharsis like last time. I wish Retro was just about one thing, and Karthik didn't burden himself with social responsibilities, exploring his fascination for all things Tarantino, nostalgia, and ecoactivism at the same time. I also wish filmmakers across the board stop seeing films as a means to nurture their inner 'fanbois'. Honestly, it is now tiring to keep getting odes, fanservice, and indulgence in the name of films. What's more unfortunate is how filmmakers keep failing Suriya, when he gives it all every single time. First Published:
