Obviously this film has a huge following and is one of the most successful Indian movies ever. So you'll have to excuse this viewer for not quite getting what the fuss is all about. The principal characters here reminded me of those Seventies TV undercover cops, Starsky and Hutch. That would be Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, as if they were plopped down right in the middle of an earlier decade's spaghetti Western flick. It's got all the ingredients - an intimidating villain on the order of Claude Akins (I would have said Lee Van Cleef, but Gabbar Singh wasn't tall and lanky), a Eurowest score in parts, and desert cactus as part of the landscape. It's got singing cowboys too, but that's a throwback to the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies of the Forties and Fifties.On top of that, the picture drones on for over three hours, with not much going on that couldn't have been reduced to a more comfortable two hour or so run time. And right in the middle of it, there's a scene in which a Hitler knock-off appears for an altogether embarrassing sequence of near pratfalls that's just stupid, to put it as mildly as I can. Seriously, I don't understand what qualifies this as one of the best ever, I had all I could do to keep my trigger finger off the fast forward button as I tried to let this sink in.For some balance perhaps, I will say that I liked the Festival of Colors celebration and dance. I don't know whether that was an actual event that occurs in India or if it was made up for the movie, but that held out some promise as an innovative touch. If you're on the fence for watching the movie after reading this review, I suggest flipping a coin. Heads you watch it, or heads you watch it. You'll get what I mean by the end of the picture.

Sholay is one of the masterpieces produced ever from Indian Film Industry there are many reasons for it. This is the best childhood memory related to watching this movie as this first ever Hindi movie my father took when I was a just 5- year-old kid. There are a lot of aspects which made this movie in the top of the list of will have lasting memories which can be preserved for ages.->A very Strong Script - well-defined script written by legendary writers - Saleem Khan and Javed Akhtar - Powerful writer due who ruled Bollywood for 2 decades - 70's and 80's.-> Direction - Ramesh Sippy - well-executed scenes and craftsmanship and every shot so well framed and positioned which will embed in audience photographic nostalgic memory.-> Casting - All the actors even the supporting cast where finest of India at that point of time - Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amjad Khan (who raised to stardom with this movie alone), Hema Malini.-> Music - RD Burman - background music will leave a mesmerising impact on the audience mind and blends really well with every scene.I used to remember I used to have long conversations with my father on every aspect of the movie and every scene. There are some iconic scenes where no movie was able to match even today.-> Introduction of antagonist - Gabbar Singh - this character inspired so many villains roles in Indian Cinema.-> Scene between Jaya Bachchan switching off the lamps in the evening and Amitabh Bachchan playing the mouth organ. (Even heard that the director waited for the exact evening light to justify the scene). If you could read between the lines there is a lot of philosophical touch to this scene. A widow who is shutting all the lamps and wants to close her doors of the inner world closing all the avenues and another lover playing a blissful melodious music trying to open the doors and asking her not to give up.-> Jay dying in the hands of best friend Veeru -> where a friend will not his fellow friend not to follow the wrong path but will die in the end making his friend to stay in the right path and keeps a lie. (Coin toss). Also, reminds of true friendship which is depicted in God Father's novel and underlines the statement of Don Corleone "Friendship is beyond talent".The movie became iconic and even the makers had to admit that they cannot reproduce the same classic as the idea of Sholay-2 has been shelved and given up as certain sometimes Iconic movies can be produced once.

This movie deserve as a the movie of century. Definitely no doubt this movie meets its success after the remake of a Hollywood movie. Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Darminder Singh the two living legends had played a very good roles and specially Sanjeev Kumar one of the finest actor of Vintage era made the movie really interesting. The villain Gabbar made a fabulous performance. The music and direction made it the best for the audience. I really appreciate this because it was also my father's favorite movie.

Some of the most pathetic conversion from 2D-3D available on screen, that puts the shoddy 'Clash of the Titans' on a pedestal for how to do things. The wonderful original background score has also been screwed-with (thankfully, not to a great extent) by someone called Raju Singh. Atmos sound works most of the time. Better viewed in 2D, and I shall remedy the mistake when/if I get the chance, though I'd have to live with the screwed-over score in any case (I think).Having said that, the audience members who watched this one when I did, had the following attributes: 1. Intent in capturing selfies during the movie's running time. Cams pointed right at the audience as well, flashes going off to the tune of 5-10 occasions every half hour. 2. Babies, who (obviously) brought the house down with the (oh so pleasant) screaming when Atmos accentuated every gunshot, every death-scream, and every swear word. 3. Cam phones once again, being used by geniuses to take snaps of the (3D) images on screen. Wait, there's more... 4. Cacophonous laughs and jeers at every quite moment, some of which were romantic, most of which were tragic/poignant. Same batch of geniuses (see above) joining in, with quite a few followers to boot......Now, in spite of not blowing a blood vessel at all that (quite used to putting up with, nee living with, said geniuses that populate most cinemas, including multiplexes), I confess to having not felt bored even during (what I consider the weakest element of this masterpiece) those interminable flashbacks, and dated-looking/sounding/seeming scenarios on display. The performances are still top-notch, the music plays a huge role (the not-too-destroyed RDB-original score during the train sequence being a case-in-point - the rest having been butchered by Raju Singh). All-in-all, I do hope someone coverts this for IMAX (hopefully, without the 3D), or someone updates the 3D sometime, even with crowd-funding, if that's an option. Still, this compares well against most of the other trash playing, and being appreciated, out there.