When first released, Sholay opened to a tepid response, but word of mouth convinced the audience to give the film a chance, and soon it became a box office phenomenon. It ran for 286 weeks straight (more than five years) in a theatre in Mumbai and achieved a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees (50 consecutive weeks) across India. It is the first film in the history of Indian cinema to celebrate a silver jubilee (25 weeks) in over a hundred theaters across India. By some accounts, Sholay is the highest grossing film of all time in Indian cinema when inflation is considered, although such figures are not known with certainty.
The Indian Central Board of Film Certification initially mandated cuts of several scenes involving violence and death. As such,Sholay was released with a length of 188 minutes. After 15 years, the original director's cut of 204 minutes was made available. The music from the film was composed by R. D. Burman and became quite popular, with the songs topping a few music charts. Some songs have been remade by other artists and have appeared in other films. The dialogues themselves were also released to the public, which was not common at the time.
In 2005,
Indiatimes ranked the film amongst the "Top 25 Must See
Bollywood Films" The same year, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards gave it an award called
Best Film of 50 Years. The film topped the British Film Institute's poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time.
The film will be re-release in 3-D on August 15, 2012
The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American western film directed by
John Sturges. It is a western-style remake based on
Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film
Seven Samurai. The film stars Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz who play a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in South Western America from a group of marauding native bandits. The film's
musical score was composed by
Elmer Bernstein.
A Mexican village is periodically raided for food and supplies by bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach). As he and his men rode away from their latest visit, Calvera had promised to return for more booty and loot the village again. Taking what meager goods they have, the village leaders ride to a town just inside the American border hoping to barter for weapons to defend themselves. While there, they encounter veteran gunslinger, Chris (Yul Brynner); after listening to their tale, Chris suggests that the village hire more gunfighters as they would be cheaper than guns and ammunition. The village men relentlessly try to convince Chris to be their gunman, and he eventually agrees, though after finding six other men to join them despite the poor pay offered.
The other men include hotheaded, inexperienced Chico (Horst Buchholz); Chris's friend Harry Luck (Brad Dexter) who believes Chris is seeking out treasure; Vin (Steve McQueen) who has gone broke after a round of gambling; Bernardo O'Reilly (Charles Bronson), a gunfighter of Irish-Mexican heritage; cowpuncher Britt (James Coburn); and convict Lee (Robert Vaughn), looking for a place to lie low. The group recognizes they will be outnumbered, but hope that when Calvera realizes that the village has brought them aboard, that he will move on to a different village.
Arriving at the village, the seven begin to train the villagers how to defend themselves. They all find themselves bonding with the villagers, refusing to eat a large meal while the villagers remain hungry. Chico is fascinated by Petra, one of the village's women, while Bernardo begins to feel parental instincts with the village's youth Lee, meanwhile, struggles with nightmares and fears the loss of his skills. Calvera and his bandits soon arrive, but on observing the gunmen, they turn back. Chico, who is Mexican, follows Calvera and masks himself within his gang, learning that the Calvera plans to return and raid the village, desperate for the food and goods.
Chico reports this back to Chris and the rest of the men. Though a part of the group believes they should leave, Chris insists that they stay, and plan to make a surprise raid on Calvera's camp. However, after riding out, they find it empty, and on returning the village, they find is under Calvera's control, the fearful villagers having allowed them back in. Calvera spares the gunmens' lives, believing they have learned the lesson that the simple farmers are not worth fighting for as well as fearing reprisals from America. The seven are curtly escorted out of the village. The group debates as to their next move, but for all but Harry, they agree to return and free the village from Calvera. Harry believes the effort will lead to their deaths and rides off alone.
A gunfight breaks out, and the villagers, recognizing the courage of the gunmen, soon join in in the fight. Bernado is killed protecting the children he befriended earlier, and both Bernardo and Lee are taken out after killing considerable numbers of the bandits. Harry, who had a change of heart, arrives in time to protect Chris but is fatally shot. Soon, the bandits are routes, and Chris shoots Calvera. Calvera, in his dying breath, asks why men like Chris came back, but gets no answer before he passes away.
Some time later, the gunmen have helped to bury their own and the villagers. Chico announces he will be staying with Petra, while Chris and Vin begin to ride back to America. The village elder bids them farewell and comments that it is only the villagers who have really won: "You're like the wind — blowing over the land and ... passing on ... ¡Vayan con Dios!" However, as they leave and pass the graves of their fallen comrades, Chris fatalistically observes, "The Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose."
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