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reviews.imdb.com - : When the film SHOLAY was released in 1975 it at first appeared not to attract much of an audience in India. Word of mouth grew, however, until it was the highest grossing and most profitable Hindi film ever made. It had a theatrical run of over seven years in Bombay and five years in Delhi. Today there are Indians who will unabashedly call it one of the finest films ever made. While the film takes place in its present, it is basically a reframing of SEVEN SAMURAI and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, retold with two heroes instead of seven. Directed by Ramesh Sippy who picked up many of the conventions of American Westerns and especially form the Italian Westerns of Sergio Leone. Madhya Pradesh in Central India and a few other areas in India are perhaps the only places in the world where there are still conditions so similar to the American West. There, at least according to my informant, gangs of dacoits still ride horses in rocky terrain and live relatively free of the law enforcement. It is a strange mix of times to see bandits on horses and people in contemporary dress on modern motorcycles. I am informed that the view of village life in India is very accurate. SHOLAY, whose name means ''sparks of fire,'' follows the conventions of Indian neighborhood films. That means it has several songs in production numbers, it has generous doses of comedy. And the film is in the range of 190 minutes long. more...
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