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By:

Rajeev Puri

24 October 2024 at 5:11:37 am

Before Sholay, there was Mera Gaon Mera Desh

When the comedian and television host Kapil Sharma recently welcomed the veteran screenwriter Salim Khan onto his show, he made a striking claim. India, he joked, has a national bird and a national animal; it ought also to have a national film. That film, he suggested, would surely be Sholay. Few would quarrel with the sentiment. Released in 1975 and directed by Ramesh Sippy,  Sholay  has long been treated as the Everest of Hindi popular cinema -quoted endlessly, revisited by generations and...

Before Sholay, there was Mera Gaon Mera Desh

When the comedian and television host Kapil Sharma recently welcomed the veteran screenwriter Salim Khan onto his show, he made a striking claim. India, he joked, has a national bird and a national animal; it ought also to have a national film. That film, he suggested, would surely be Sholay. Few would quarrel with the sentiment. Released in 1975 and directed by Ramesh Sippy,  Sholay  has long been treated as the Everest of Hindi popular cinema -quoted endlessly, revisited by generations and dissected by critics. In 2025, the film marked its 50th anniversary, and the release of a digitally restored, uncut version introduced the classic to a new generation of viewers who discovered that its mixture of revenge drama, western pastiche and buddy comedy remains curiously durable. The film’s influences have been debated almost as much as its dialogues – from scenes taken by the Spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, particularly ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (1968) or to the narrative architecture of ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954) by Akira Kurosawa. Others note echoes of earlier Hindi films about bandits and frontier justice, such as ‘Khotey Sikke’ (1973) starring Feroz Khan. Yet, rewatching ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh,’ directed by Raj Khosla, one cannot help noticing how many of the narrative bones of  Sholay  appear to have been assembled there first. Released in 1971,  Mera Gaon Mera Desh  was a major hit at the box office, notable for holding its own in a year dominated by the near-hysterical popularity of Rajesh Khanna. The thematic framework of the two films is strikingly similar. In  Sholay , the retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh recruits two petty criminals - Jai and Veeru - to help him avenge the terror inflicted upon his village by the bandit Gabbar Singh. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the set-up is not very different. A retired soldier, Jaswant Singh, seeks to protect his village from a ruthless dacoit and enlists the help of a small-time crook named Ajit. Even the villain’s name seems to echo across the two films. In Khosla’s drama, the marauding bandit played by Vinod Khanna is scene-stealing performance is called Jabbar Singh. In  Sholay , the outlaw who would become one of Indian cinema’s most memorable antagonists was Gabbar Singh. There is an additional irony in the casting. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the retired soldier Jaswant Singh is played by Jayant - the real-life father of Amjad Khan, who would later immortalise Gabbar Singh in  Sholay . The connective tissue between the two films becomes even clearer in the presence of Dharmendra. In Khosla’s film he plays Ajit, a charming rogue who gradually redeems himself while defending the village. Four years later, Dharmendra returned in  Sholay  as Veeru, a similarly exuberant petty criminal whose courage and irrepressible humour make him one half of Hindi cinema’s most beloved buddy duo alongside Amitabh Bachchan as Jai. Certain visual motifs also appear to have travelled intact. In Khosla’s film, Ajit finds himself bound in ropes in the bandit’s den during a dramatic musical sequence. A similar image appears in  Sholay , where Veeru is tied up before Gabbar Singh while Basanti performs the now famous song ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan.’ Other echoes are subtler but just as suggestive. Ajit’s pursuit of the village belle Anju, played by Asha Parekh, anticipates Veeru’s boisterous attempts to woo Basanti, portrayed by Hema Malini. Scenes in which Ajit teaches Anju to shoot recall the flirtatious gun-training sequence between Veeru and Basanti that became one of  Sholay ’s most cherished moments. Even the famous coin motif has a precedent. Ajit frequently tosses a coin to make decisions - a flourish that would later appear in  Sholay , where Jai’s coin toss becomes a running gag. Perhaps most intriguingly, the endings of the two films converge in their original form. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the villain is ultimately killed by the hero. The uncut version of  Sholay  reportedly ended in a similar fashion, with Gabbar Singh meeting his death at the hands of Thakur Baldev Singh. However, censors altered the climax before the film’s 1975 release, requiring that Gabbar be handed over to the police instead. All this does not diminish  Sholay . Rather, it highlights the alchemy through which cinema evolves. The scriptwriting duo Salim–Javed took familiar ingredients and expanded them into a grander narrative populated by unforgettable characters and stylised action. On the 55 th  anniversary of  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , Raj Khosla’s rugged western deserves a renewed glance as the sturdy foundation on which a legend called  Sholay  was built. (The author is a political commentator and a global affairs observer. Views personal.)

A Test of Prestige for the BJP in Eastern Vidarbha

Eastern Vidarbha

As the election draws nearer, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself locked in a high-stakes contest in Eastern Vidarbha, particularly Nagpur—a region long considered the heart of its ideological and political machinery given that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has its headquarters here.


This particular electoral battle transcends mere numbers as the very prestige of the party’s state unit is at stake this time, especially with key figures like Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar in the fray and the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari looming large.


Among the 23 candidates nominated by the BJP in Vidarbha, an impressive 19 are incumbent MLAs. Bawankule, in particular, is eager to reclaim his place in the political landscape after a hiatus from electoral contests since 2014. His previous exclusion from the ticket in the 2019 Assembly elections is believed to have cost the BJP several seats, especially given his affiliation with the Teli community, which boasts a significant voter base.


Under Fadnavis’ leadership, the party has spearheaded substantial infrastructural projects, including the Nagpur metro.


The transformation of districts like Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia, and Chandrapur from hotbeds of Naxalism to areas now declared ‘Naxal-free’ is a testament to the decisive action taken by the erstwhile Fadnavis government and present Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti coalition, supported by central forces. This substantial victory over Maoist elements will be touted as a key achievement by the BJP in Vidarbha. The decimation of Naxal influence and the establishment of a climate conducive to industrial development, creating new employment opportunities will be the BJP’s plank as it reaches out to voters here.


Fadnavis, once the undisputed face of the BJP in Maharashtra, hails from Nagpur and has deep roots in the region. However, the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, has raised doubts about whether Fadnavis can rally the base for a more convincing mandate this time around. For Mungantiwar, the challenge this time is even more daunting given his abysmal performance in the Lok Sabha, where he lost heavily in the Chandrapur Lok Sabha contest to the Congress’ Pratibha Dhanorkar, trailing by more than 48,000 votes from his own Assembly segment stronghold of Ballarpur.


Traditionally, the contest in Vidarbha has been between the two national parties – the Congress and the BJP, which has eaten into the Congress’ pie since 2014. However, an attenuated Congress maintains a formidable presence in this region, posing a significant threat to the BJP’s dominance. Even today, the party has the maximum number of MLAs concentrated in the entire Vidarbha region, 15 of its total strength of 45.


Vidarbha has produced three Chief Ministers for the Congress—Maratrao Kannamwar, Vasantrao Naik, who remains the state’s longest-serving CM, and Suddhakar Rao Naik (Fadnavis being the fourth CM from this region). The Congress has also maintained a strong cadre of second-line leaders, with influential figures such as Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Nana Patole, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, and former ministers Nitin Raut and Sunil Kedar, all important players from this belt.


As it faces a charged-up Congress on November 20, the eyes of Maharashtra will be on Eastern Vidarbha, where the BJP’s prestige hangs in the balance. As the BJP locks horns with a formidable Congress in Eastern Vidarbha, the Assembly election here is a fight for the saffron party’s identity, transcending mere numbers.

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