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18 1-10-2019 to 15-10-2019 ENTERTAINMENT
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Mumbai, Think “Sholay” and you
are thinking Jai-Veeru, Thakur or
Gabbar Singh. The fact we often tend
to gloss over is that a major reason
why Ramesh Sippy’s all-time blockbuster
has continued to grow in the
collective consciousness of Indian
movie buffs over the decades is also
the assortment of minor characters in
the story.
When Salim-Javed wrote Viju
Khote’s Kaalia, Macmohan’s Sambha,
Jagdeep’s Soorma Bhopali, Asrani’s
Angrezon ke zamaane ke jailer,
Keshto Mukherjee’s Hariram nai, AK
Hangal’s Rahim chacha or Leela
Mishra’s Basanti ki mausi, these
would have been essential props
essential to carry the story forward,
and to create relief in the plot through
humour, drama or sorrow. Yet, over
time, each of these characters have not
only become as endearing as the film’s
protagonists, they have also virtually
come to be the calling cards of the
actors that portrayed them.
Take Kaalia, for instance, essayed
by Viju Khote — the affable Marathi
veteran who passed away owing to
multiple organ failure on Monday at
the age of 77. Khote’s profile as an
actor would seem accomplished
enough even without ‘Sholay”. He
was a scion of an accomplished family
of artistes — his elder sister Shubha
Khote is an actress, their father Nandu
Khote was a star of the stage and the
silent movie era. Nandu Khote’s sister-in-law
was the acclaimed actress
Durga Khote. Over a career spanning
half a century, Khote had made his
mark in Hindi films, as well as the
worlds of Marathi stage and screen. In
Bollywood, his popular line “Galti se
mistake ho gaya” as the scheming butler
Robert in the 1993 cult slapstick
“Andaaz Apna Apna” continues to be
popular even today, as does his role in
the popular nineties sitcom, “Zabaan
Sambhalke”.
Yet, every talk of Viju Khote will
primarily always begin and end with
mention of Kaalia, one of Gabbar
Singh’s chief cronies whose total
footage in “Sholay” an extended
sequence that comprises raiding the
village with two other dacoits, being
bashed up driven away by Jai and
Veeru, and then being mocked and
finally killed as punishment by
Gabbar.
In between, before he is shot with
panache by Amjad Khan as Gabbar,
Cult status of ‘Sholay’
is about its minor characters, too
Khote as Kaalia gets to mouth the one
line that would become his signature
for life: “Sardaar, humne aapka namak
khaya hai.” To which, before firing
from his gun, Gabbar quips: “Ab goli
kha!” Essentially, you realise a basic
fact looking at characters as Kaalia,
Saambha or Soorma Bhopali: Long
before it would become a trend anywhere
in the world, Salim-Javed were
cashing in on the idea of comicbook
cinema. And to create a comicbook
impact, you need a lot of characters
that lend to animated action and
drama. Ramesh Sippy’s film was positioned
as a curry western, a genre that
did not have any notable precedence in
Bollywood till before August 15,
1975, when ‘Sholay” released. Like
the Hollywood westerns of Sergio
Leone before its time or Clint
Eastwood, who was carrying on
strongly with the genre around the
time, Sippy had crafted a foolproof
drama package primarily driven by the
machismo of gunslinguing men on
horses. The violence, high by
Bollywood standards back then, had to
be balanced out with lighter moments
of love and humour.
The heroes would take care of the
love factor himself — since romance
has traditionally been in sync with the
idea of machismo. The smaller characters
were needed to justify a comicbook
punch of humour. Since the
heroes, as well as the villain of the
piece, were part of a heavy text of
vengeance, the sidekicks were essential
to generate the occasional diversion
of comedy.
Back in the seventies, minor characters
inserted in a screenplay for
comic relief was a commonplace idea
SONAL CHAUHAN : IT’S A
GOOD TIME FOR ACTORS
Mumbai, Actress Sonal where there are fabulous shows As for her first digital project,
Chauhan says web world and
films are going through a transition
period which is really
good. She sees this as an opportunity
being made for the web. I am
happy that this is happening,”
Sonal told IANS. “It goes the
same for films because we have
“Skyfire”, she said: “The reason
why I chose to be a part of
‘Skyfire’ was because in that,
throughout the show, I was with
for actors as they have a some great movies being the boys. We were a team trying
lot more to do now.
After making her Bollywood
made.” According to her, a
large credit goes to the audience
to crack something. We were
doing it together and I loved
debut in 2008 with “Jannat”,
as they have become that. Actresses are mostly
she went on to act in Telugu, “very intelligent and are offered roles that are just about
Kannada, Tamil and more accepting good content”. looking pretty. Whether it’s a
Hindi films. Like most “It doesn’t really matter if it movie or a show, when it gets
Bollywood actors, she also
entered the digital space this
year. “I won’t say that the content
is better on the web than
Hindi films because there are
some very amazing films that
are being made. Now it is a
very good time in the industry
has big stars or not, what matters
is that the audience wants to see
great content. Both web and
films are going through a transition
period, which is really
good, even for actors there’s a
lot more to do now. It’s a good
time,” said the “Paltan” actress.
too serious, they get a little bit of
romance to make the audience
feel lighter. “But in ‘Skyfire’, I
was one of the boys out there,
helping them. I felt that the role
was very strong and required a
lot more from me than just looking
pretty and being there.”
in mainstream films. “Sholay” stands
out among the numerous other films
that lucratively tried the formula
because its minor characters were
exceptionally imagined. They were
realistic in essence, yet comicbook in
flavour. They were unlike any others
seen on the Hindi screen — filling up
the frames around the core characters,
keeping the narrative busy in between
the heavy drama.
Minor characters as Kaali and
Sambha had another significance.
They wer used to define the bigger
characters.
Kaalia’s existence in ‘Sholay”, in
this context, is also meant to define an
important aspect of the film’s villain,
apart from rendering quirky dark
humour. We understand Gabbar
Singh’s ruthlessness — which exists
to the point of being deranged. Shortly
after he has whiled away his time
playing a cruel little game with an ant
and a glass, Gabbar relishes in an ominous
exchange of dialogues with
Kaalia that amply suggests things
coming up for the sidekick might not
be all pleasant. The consequence
Gabbar then reserves for Kaalia and
the two other failed dacoits is meant to
tell us that Gabbar does not tolerate
failure. Kaalia serves to generate a
particular mood in the film — one of
quietly sinister dark comedy — as we
get to know Gabbar in that scene.
This mix of plot progession and
mood generation is apparent in the
way other minor characters have been
used, too. Think of Macmohan’s
Sambha. Gabbar asks him to remind
the gang how much government prize
money rides on him. “Poore pacchas
hajaar,” Sambha dutifully informs.
In itself, that dialogue would seem
lame — a routine sentence devoid of
any drama whatsoever. Yet, when
Sambha, seated on his lone watch atop
a hillock, delivers it, the line crisply
and effectlively underlines the menace
of Gabbar Singh as a criminal in society.
The one-sentence footage that
Kaalia or Sambha get have thematic
importance. That is the reason why
they will continue to resonate, as long
as “Sholay” does.
Some minor characters exist solely
to regale. Think Leela Mishra as
Basanti ki Mausi. She shines in the
one major convesation she gets, with
Amitabh Bachchan’s Jai, when the latter
goes to her with a marriage proposal
for Hema Malini’s Basanti, on
behalf of his buddy Veeru
(Dharmendra).
Similar is the importance of ,
Keshto Mukerjee as Hariram nai, the
barber-inmate who is known to be the
inhouse spy of the jailer, essayed by
Asrani, who in tunr brings out the
hilarious essence of a warden driven
by pre-Independence diktats.
The utility of Jagdeep’s tall-talking
Soorma Bhopali is also to create
comic relief, while AK Hangal’s
Raheem chacha is the only character
whose duty is to create tearjerker
melodrama. These are all characters
whose popularity has only grown with
time. There is a quiet magic that binds
all the characters of “Sholay” into a
cohesive whole, as each of them —
big or small — harmonises the overall
impact of every other. That is what
screen chemistry is all about.
Avneet Kaur stars in video
of a tragic love story
New Delhi, “Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga” actress Avneet
Kaur has featured
in the video
of song “Mere
naina”, which
she describes as a
beautiful tragic
love story.
The song is by
singer and music
director Karan
Singh Arora with
Avneet and
YouTuber Mohit
Chhikara in its
video that was
shot in Himachal Pradesh. “It was amazing shooting for this song.
It’s a special song. Karan, me and Mohit have worked very hard
for this. It’s a beautiful tragic love story,” said Avneet.
The song has been penned by S. Mukhtiar. “The experience was
totally amazing and the best in my career. I loved shooting with
Avneet and Mohit. They both are such good actors and they made
my song look amazing. I wish our collaboration turns into great
friendship and I hope this song touches your heart,” said Karan.