Oct 01, 2002 03:25 PM
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(Updated May 31, 2006 06:13 PM)
What does one say about a book written about a cult movie like Sholay?
a)That it adds another new dimension to the already multi-dimensional movie ?
b)That it is every Sholay fans dream come true ?
c)That it is as much a classic as the movie itself ?
d)Or, all of the above.
No prizes for guessing the answer.
d)it is.
Title - Sholay : The making of a Classic.
A treasure trove of stories revolving around the making of the movie. Some more interesting than the stories told in the movie itself.
About how Danny lost the part to an unknown entity called Amjad Khan ... About how Dharmendra wanted to play the Thakur until he heard that it would bring Sanjeev Kumar and Hema together as a romantic pair ... About Amitabh managing to beat Shotgun Sinha to the role of Jai ... About how the marriage proposal put forward by Jai in the movie to Mausi was actually a repeat of a real life event when Salim spoke on behalf of Javed to Honey Irani's mother.
An album of over 70 photos and 13 paintings depicting the best scenes of the movie. And some shot during the filming. Bringing back memories of those scenes that made people go back to see the movie again and again.
Of the armless Thakur standing with the shawl fluttering about him ... Of Gabbar Singh flashing his dirty brown teeth in a leer ... Of a white sari clad Radha in a poignant mood, watching the colourful holi fiesta ... Of Jai & Veeru fighting off bandits on a running train ... Of Asrani in his hilarious jailer act ... Of the blind Imam ruing the fact that he did not have any more sons who could have become martyrs ...
Snippets of famous dialogues from the movie are used as titles of the various chapters in the book. Bringing to mind the lines that reverberated across the nation from millions of cassettes that were sold, containing the dialogues from the movie ... and to think, the entire movie started as a four line script !
And the secrets that can now be revealed ...
Of how what was probably the Thakur's best scene in the movie ended up on the Censor's table. Why the ending looks so tame compared to the rest of the movie ... And how AB nearly got killed in the shooting of the movie ...
Shekhar Kapoor put forward the best description of Sholay when he said ''There has never been a more defining film on the Indian screen. Indian film history can be divided into Sholay BC and Sholay AD''.
Put together by film journalist Anupama Chopra (who, incidentally is Vidhu Vinod Chopra's better half), the book is written in crisp film mag-gossip style, making for extremely interesting reading. This well-researched book was released to commemorate the silver jubilee of the movie.
This book incidentally, was awarded the prestigious National Awardfor the year's best book on cinema. Do you need any more reasons to go out and get hold of a copy for keeps ?
The hardcover version costs Rs. 795 and there is a paperback version available for Rs. 295. The rugged hardcover version could occupy pride of place in anyone's book shelf, for years to come.
