Sholay Stills: Yeh Haath...

It is a moment that defines the entire film - that Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) makes his choice - he lets Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar) live. Not before maiming him for life though. 

Gabbar Singh seems like any other endearing Hindi film villain until this point, but when we see the pair of swords swishing the air in sheer brutality, we know he has to be destroyed. That in some way justice has to be served.Unlike the Thakur family execution which is without any villainous dialogue, here Gabbar is at his sadistic height, hatefully playful when he screams "Yeh haath hum ka dede Thakur!" ("Give us thy arms, Thakur!). 

Thakur's character is brought to the fore in the matter of seconds. He is a man of honour, and in his loss and rage, ready to be killed by Gabbar Singh. But as would any of us be horrified, he bellows, "Nahi" ("No!"). Take my life, but certainly not my arms - it is an intense scene of audience connect, we would said so too - "Not my arms." 

Sanjeev Kumar matches up to the brilliant debutant Amjad Khan with a natural vibrancy, watch his eyes in those final moments of barbarism. Unforgettable.

The act also makes it plausible in the story for Gabbar Singh to not think the unthinkable - that in a boomerang of events, his arms would be crushed by an armless Thakur wearing nail-poking shoes. That Thakur would be asking him, "Yeh haath hum ko dede!" 

We don't blame Gabbar. High on confidence, savageness and cruelty, Gabbar didn't invest on a pack of spies to loom the Thakur household and inform him, "Well, Ramlal is making him some new shoes, beware!" But then, it was GP Sippy who was financing the film, and he was certainly not a dacoit. 

Sholay Cast: Sachin Pilgaonkar as AHMED

  

Barely 18 when he did Sholay, Sachin Pilgaonkar had already done ample roles as a child artist. He debuted at the incredible age of five in the Marathi movie Ha Maaza Marg Eekla (This is only my path) in 1962. In the classic 1967 Vijay Anand thriller Jewel Thief we can presume that Sachin is the child kidnapped in the opening minutes, a plot that forms the crux of the story. He is seen with Dev Anand and Vyjayanthimala in later parts of the film. The 1968 film that won Shammi Kapoor his only Filmfare Best Actor Award  - Brahmachari, had Sachin among the adopted children, apart from another child artist Junior Mehmood.

In the same year as Sholay released, Sachin played the lead in the surprise Rajashri Productions' hit Geet Gaata Chal. After a brief period of success in Hindi, his last major solo lead hit was the 1982 Bhojpuri hit  Nadiya Ke Paar. As roles became few and far between, Sachin drifted to Marathi films. In the 90's he directed his talented wife Supriya as one of the protagonists on the popular comedy TV series Tu Tu Main Main.

As Ahmed, Sachin plays son to a blind father. The father, played with great pathos by A.K.Hangal, coaxes him to join his uncle's business in the city. Ahmed is adamant on his refusal, he wants to stay and care for his father.Later in the film, Ahmed's character acts as a catalyst for the film's epic gun-booming climax. Like you didn't know all that, fellow Sholay-ites, but then there is always somebody who hasn't seen the film. For that rare specimen, the explanation.        

An undated recent photo of Sachin

Samba is no more...

Mac Mohan, who played the 'perched high on the rock, I will answer Gabbar's questions' dacoit - the much-celebrated Samba died of cancer on May 10, 2010 at Kokilaben Dhirubhani Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. He was 71.

Born Mohan Makhijaney, Mac Mohan acted in over 175 films, in a career spanning 46 years. But the one role that he will always be remembered for:

Gabbar: Are O Samba kitne inaam rake hai sarkar hum par?

Samba: Poore pachas hazaar! 
Gabbar: Suna! Poore pachaas hazaar!

May another Sholayite rest in peace....