Taking Bollywood more seriously: classic SHOLAY’s scriptwriting
Ian Kennedy writes: In this series of articles, I’m exploring some reasons we should take Bollywood cinema more seriously – it’s definitely not for everyone, but I for one find it a refreshing way to enjoy movies on different terms to the normal Hollywood mindset. Here, I’ll be looking at the biggest classic of the Bollywood system, SHOLAY (1975), to show why it’s got something distinctive to offer English-speaking audiences.
SHOLAY’s scriptwriting works differently to Hollywood classics and as a script analyst and producer I find that refreshing. On my editors’ suggestions, the film and its songs also found a place in several episodes of the drama series I used to write for, so I had a personal connection to it long before I saw the movie, which made it even more enjoyable to finally see it years later.