The iconic 'Sholay' turns 40.
The one of its kind film where every major and minor character had a significant job to do. Dialogues at a diverse range became folk lore for Indian audience. From Veeru’s 'socide' to mausi ji’s 'juari ho sharabi ho'; Imam’s 'itna sannata kyo hai bhai' to Basanti’s 'yu ki ye kaun bola'; Jai’s 'tera naam kya hai Basanti' to Radha’s silence; the antics of Jailer and Soorma Bhopali; characteristic strength of Thakur. And of course, the phenomenal Gabbar Singh. Even 40 years hence audience remembers each of them and with every passing day, viewers across generation have enjoyed and applauded timelessly the ever-green attempt by Ramesh Sippy.
Come to think of it, the story is simple with a good-wins-over-evil theme. Two adorably mischievous thieves. One reputed police inspector. A widow and a charioteer. A gruesome villain. And 'gaonwalo'!
It got me thinking that if this very concept was to be represented by the directors of today, what the film would look like. So I randomly picked five best contemporary directors and tried to re-view the legendary film through their ideologies and film making designs. And here’s where I reach.
Raju Hirani: For Raju Hirani, Aamir Khan and Sanjay Dutt are fixed as Veeru and Jai, Circuit Arshad Warsi could become Jailer. Sharman Joshi could play Imam’s son and Thakur’s role would go to Boman Irani. In Hirani’s films, Boman Irani always plays the victim of circumstances or a weak character trapped within the system. This can’t be altered. Also Gabbar would not have a human casting in Raj Kumar Hirani’s 'Sholay' because this film maker doesn’t believe in villains. Violence is definitely not a Raju Hirani method. He approaches social issues through comedy. So here Jai and Veeru would probably have to wage a fierce fight against illiteracy or lack of education may be. Killing of Thakur’s family or Imam’s son might be symbolically depicted as their bitter social and professional failure brought about by lack of education! And Gabbar’s fury would be replaced by ill effects of illiteracy among “Ramgarh ke vaasio” and heroes would comically work towards bridging the gap, cry to make the audience cry when they can’t initially, and follow the road not taken.
Anurag Kashyap: One person who would genuinely do justice to the remake of 'Sholay' is probably Anurag Kashyap. He’d have no reservations with violence and would pump it up with verbal abuse. Under Kashyap, 'Sholay' would become the film from the soil, deplete with those high end star casts. The designer cast doesn’t work for him anyway! Manoj Bajpai and Nawazuddin Siddique would be Kashyap’s Veeru and Jai, who are ideally 'gaali' buddies; Abhay Deol might be approached for playing Thakur. Huma Qureshi and Richa Chadda are expected to be the new face for Radha and Basanti. And no, no one would be the silent sufferer in Anurag Kashyap’s Sholay, not even Radha. With body language and vocab, she too would be free to pour explicits! And if my prediction goes right, then we might find Kalki Cochlein shaking her leg as mehbooba. Anurag Kashyap will keep the plot exactly as it is; may be he’ll just replace humour with violence at relevant places. This director is an intellectual offender. He’ll try to trace the dark behind the plot and amplify them with his eagle-eyed detailing! Critics would frown at the film, but not before he had planted a 3.5 stars on its fate!
Imtiaz Ali: Women play a life altering role in the films of this poetic director. So Radha does more than lighting lamps and Basanti isn’t just a 'tangewali'. The ladies would become the driving force for the film unlike the original where men are the fore-fighters. Ok let’s put on the creative cap! May be Basanti gets kidnapped. But then, by whom? Imtiaz films too doesn’t have space for villains. His characters suffer or celebrate their state of mind, both socially and personally. So Gabbar would probably be symbolically represented by the psychological dilemma within self that can make or break an individual. Thakur, to be played by someone like Rishi Kapoor, who may have been the victim of that psychological depression in the past and would have probably suffered irreplaceably. Deepika and Kareena would be expected to play Basanti and Radha. Saif Ali khan and Ranbir Kapoor are head over heels men, trying to dance to the tune of the gals. Ranbir brings Deepika out of the depression while Saif romances Kareena out from the evils of her past. Given that Deepika has declared a gallant war to uplift the mental health of India, encouraging people to openly voice their issues and find support through her foundation, the Imtiaz Ali film would probably take an educational turn to raise awareness on the cause. However, the tanga and Dhanno (Basanti’s horse) is expected to play a very important role in the film as roads and journeys are very close to the heart of the film-maker!
Anurag Basu: Mallika Sherawat is Anurag’s 'mehbooba'. Period. And the dreamy Bengal tiger, lost in Tagore’s short stories at the moment, wouldn’t probably disappoint his roots. So Ramgarh would become Midnapur or Chandanagore may be; rocky hills to be replaced by the ghats of Hugli. Imran Hashmi and Ranbir Kapoor are Anurag’s Jai-Veeru; his filmography reflects a clear partiality towards these two actors. Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra can be imagined as Basanti-Radha. Adorned in Bengali style sari, riding a bicycle, Basanti would have to let go of the tanga. Both women would assume the strength of quintessential Bengali women, dominating and stubborn. Radha might be symbolically silent to exhibit her cultural restraints, which would also be a way to keep her physically away from Emraan Hashmi. In 'Sholay' set in Bengal, you can’t show all that!!! Saurabh Shukla to play the “roshogolla” Gabbar whose only expression of ferocity would be to scream through high-power glasses and eat, while heroes run around in dhotis. Thakur (Mithun Chakrabarty, I think) and Gabbar would be poor and rich zamindar respectively, and the conflict would end up being a communist uproar with a bitter fight between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Go for it, comrade!
Karan Johar: I can already hear the theme music of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' once again. So we have Jai, Veeru and Thakur “within the family”, that is Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Amitabh Bachchan. Kajol would be the tomboyish Basanti indulging in car-races with men (dare you utter tanga), Kareena will keep tear-glands rolling as Radha. Even before the film goes to the floor, tabloids will shout from rooftops that “Hrithik-Kareena unites on screen after “x” number of years”. The love stories of Veeru-Basanti and Jai-Radha would gain more script space and screen space. Villain again would probably be non-existent as Johar too is another non-confrontational director who doesn’t invest in villains or is too tasteful an aristocrat to dish out characters indulging in street fights. Gabbar’s role would hence be minimised to something like he has caused some harm to Thakur by messing up his business and hence the heroes need to track him down. The fight of fists continue in stock market. No one is really poor here; everyone is designed by Manish Malhotra. The holi song would be modified into an item number in a typical Punjabi wedding sequence, with a cameo by Rani Mukherjee or Preity Zinta. Whose wedding? Who cares! And yes, Imam’s son would be gay.
Am I forgetting something? Did some director in the past really try to remake 'Sholay'? What happened then? Not sure! I’d rather wait for these five path-breaking directors to come up with their versions of 'Sholay'. Time for your announcements guys!
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