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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.)

Motormouth Mayhem

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

In a democracy as robust and rowdy as India’s, politicians ought to remember that their words matter. Sadly, many have taken the liberty of speaking first and thinking later, leading to an almost comedic display of unfiltered rhetoric. The latest spectacle involves Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, who was recently handed a 15-day jail sentence for defaming BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s wife, Medha Somaiya. This is hardly Raut’s first verbal misfire, and he is far from alone. An unsavoury trend has emerged in Indian politics where leaders across the political spectrum spout off inflammatory or simply irresponsible statements without considering the consequences.

 Raut’s 15-day sentence, along with a fine of ₹25,000, stems from his accusations that the Somaiyas were involved in a ₹100 crore public toilet scam. No stranger to controversy, Raut is known for remarks that veer from the provocative to the unparliamentary. During the Lok Sabha campaign, he compared PM Narendra Modi to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. While colourful language may win applause from a certain type of audience, it seldom aids constructive political discourse. Such barbs erode the already thin veneer of civility in India’s political arena.

BJP’s Kangana Ranaut recently stirred the pot with her comments on the farm laws. After the Modi government had taken the unusual step of repealing these laws following widespread protests, she suggested they should be reconsidered. While the ruling BJP has rightly sought to curtail her, it must question why such voices within its ranks continue to speak out without proper restraint.

 The list of offenders goes on. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, in 2013 had made a spectacularly poor attempt at humour during a rally, suggesting that urinating might be the only way to solve a water shortage. His attempt at levity was met with outrage. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, often known for her biting rhetoric and controversial remarks, got in trouble in the aftermath of the RG Kar incident for suggesting that riots in one state could spill over into others. Across the political landscape, irresponsible statements are becoming routine. It is time for Indian politicians to embrace a little discretion. A healthy democracy requires debate and disagreement, not denigration and defamation. One might argue that colourful language and exaggerated claims are part of India’s vibrant political tradition. But there is a fine line between spirited debate and verbal brawling.

Politicians need to hold themselves, and each other, accountable. Public discourse should focus on policy and governance rather than personal attacks and inflammatory rhetoric. If political leaders spent as much time on improving their states as they do in crafting creative insults, perhaps India would be better off. To paraphrase Voltaire, while politicians may not always agree with each other’s words, they should at least try to say them responsibly. After all, a sharp tongue may win a headline or two, but in the long run, responsible words build a legacy.

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