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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.)

Maharashtra Leads India’s Green Power Revolution

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Green Power Revolution

Maharashtra has significant potential for renewable energy owing to its plentiful sunshine, large land mass, and proximity to coastal breezes. To reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, the state is actively pursuing various green energy sources, like solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower.

Although India’s per capita waste levels are low, the country has become the world’s largest global producer of plastic waste. Tackling this waste poses a huge challenge, and one way to do that is by setting up power plans that would use municipal waste for power generation. Incidentally, Maharashtra has taken several steps towards increasing its share of renewable power sources in the total installed capacity of the state and integrating it into the grid. These moves will certainly guide other states into adapting to green power in their own planning. With 5.13 gigawatts, or GW, of wind power, 4.98 GW of solar power, 2.64 GW of biofuels, and 382 megawatts, or MW, of small hydroelectric capacity, Maharashtra now ranks among the top states in terms of installed renewable energy capacity (13.14 GW). The state has seen a major increase in solar power capacity in recent years, primarily through an increasing number of solar parks, rooftop installations, and solar energy regulations that support the use of solar technology by both residential and commercial consumers. Additionally, the state has made significant investments in wind energy projects and has explored biomass energy options for converting organic and agricultural waste into electricity.

However, Maharashtra’s road towards a future powered entirely by renewable energy sources has not been without its share of challenges. These include the erratic nature of solar and wind resources, grid integration complexities, land acquisition issues, distribution companies, or discom-related constraints and vulnerabilities associated with climate change. These issues must be resolved to maximise renewable energy potential in Maharashtra. Nevertheless, the ruling alliance has remained committed to increasing the renewable energy capacity of the state and has made significant policy changes that have been attracting private sector investment and encouraging innovation in the industry.

Last year Tata Power signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to set up two large pumped hydro storage projects in the state. The total capacity of the two projects is 2,800 MW. These projects will require an investment of Rs 130 billion and create jobs for over 6,000 people. In June 2023, NHPC Limited and Maharashtra’s Department of Energy signed an MoU for the development of pumped storage schemes and other renewable energy source projects in Maharashtra. The MoU envisages the development of four pum¬ped storage projects aggregating 7,350 MW of capacity, namely, Kalu (1,150 MW), Savitri (2,250 MW), Jalond (2,400 MW), and Kengadi (1,550 MW).

Last week, the state government took a further leap and signed three different MOUs for floating solar, wind energy, and green hydrogen. Through these MOUs, a total investment worth Rs 47,000 crore is expected to come to the state, and it shall bring along 18,000 jobs and 5,500 MW of green power to the state.

The state government has set an aim of having 50% of all its power usage come from clean sources and the current efforts are a step to achieve that target. The Mahayuti government has also set a target of making the state completely emission free by 2070. The current initiatives and policy making efforts are also aimed at that, DCM Fadnavis said during the ceremony to ink the MOUs.

The state government had earlier this year initiated a global partnership and entered into MOUs with institutions from Germany and Australia which are aimed at fly ash reduction and reducing the carbon footprint of the energy sector in the state. It is also aimed at adopting circular economy templates suitable for the state. The strategy also aims to implement 17.36 GW of transmission system-linked renewable power projects by 2025, comprising 12.93 GW of solar projects, including 2 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects. Maharashtra has placed a significant emphasis on solar energy due to its abundant sunlight. The state receives 250-300 days of strong sunlight on average each year, resulting in a generation of 4-6 kWh per square metre. In contrast, over the past year, the wind energy industry has not ex¬perienced comparable growth.

Hurdles such as the inability to control the erratic nature of wind and solar resources block the state agencies from achieving targets of steady electricity supply to satisfy demand. Pumped storage projects and battery storage systems are hope of realising the green power dream for the state, but there are also potential technical difficulties. Integrating renewable energy sources into the grid will have to be ensured before moving ahead. Despite such challenges, Maharashtra aims to maintain its leading position and produce 40 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2030. The strategy also aims to implement 17.36 GW of transmission system-linked renewable power projects by 2025, comprising 12.93 GW of solar projects, including 2 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects. This assures that the state is on the right track regarding its green power goals and adherence to sustainable development objectives.

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