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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.)

Buldhana’s Bumpy Battleground

Buldhana

Buldhana, known as the gateway of the Vidarbha region, has long been a political stronghold of the undivided Shiv Sena. At the time of its firebrand Bal Thackeray, the Sena’s brand of hard-hitting politics had attracted the Bahujan and OBC youth in this part of western Vidarbha, displacing the Congress party from its once-immovable position. The district’s politics have never been kind to women candidates – that is, until now.


This year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is rewriting the district’s political playbook. For the first time, the Sena (UBT) is fielding a woman candidate for the Buldhana Assembly seat: Jayashree Shelke, a former Congress leader and now the MVA (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi)’s nominee. Shelke’s candidacy is both a symbolic break from tradition and a practical manoeuvre. If she succeeds, she could become Buldhana’s first-ever female MLA, marking a historic shift in the district’s political landscape.


But Shelke’s path is steeped in challenges. She faces stiff competition from Sanjay Gaikwad of the rival Shiv Sena faction, led by Eknath Shinde. Gaikwad, a prominent local figure, embodies the combative style of Shiv Sena politics, which has often resonated with voters in Buldhana. His track record of controversial statements plays well with the district’s electorate, who are accustomed to the abrasive politics that used to be synonymous with the undivided Shiv Sena.


Buldhana is a microcosm of the larger political flux sweeping Maharashtra. The district is steeped in historical significance, being the birthplace of Rajmata Jijau, mother of the Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It is also known for its deep connection to saintly traditions and has seven assembly constituencies, including key battlegrounds like Khamgaon and Sindkhed Raja. In 2019, the district saw a split allegiance, with three BJP MLAs, two Shiv Sena, one Congress, and one NCP representative securing seats.


This year, however, the political stakes in Buldhana are higher than ever. The Thackeray faction’s decision to back Shelke is a calculated move to regain lost ground among disillusioned Congress supporters. Shelke’s candidacy is seen as a strategic ‘swap’ after the Sena (UBT) had helped Congress win a Legislative Council seat in the past.


Meanwhile, in Khamgaon, another key constituency in the region, the political landscape is equally charged. Known as Vidarbha’s ‘hot city’, Khamgaon has been the site of fierce rivalries, notably between the BJP and Congress. Here, the ideological battle between Hindutva and Congress’s so-called secularism is playing out in full force. In the past, the BJP’s Bhausaheb Fundkar, an influential local figure, had secured a major victory in 2014, defeating Congress’s Dilip Sananda, a traditional powerbroker in the region. Sananda’s return to the fray this year, after a five-year hiatus, has reignited old rivalries.


Fundkar, now represented by his son Akash, is riding on the BJP’s solid support base among Marathas, OBCs and Hindutva voters. His focus on rural development and the BJP’s united front gives him a significant advantage. In contrast, Sananda’s candidacy risks being undermined by the factionalism within Congress. His campaign is seen as self-serving, and with the rise of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and other smaller parties, the secular vote could fragment, benefiting the BJP.


In both constituencies, the contest is not just about votes but about legacy and identity.

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