A still from Sholay.
New Delhi:
40 years ago, Salim-Javed wrote a bunch of awesome lines for a film that was to forever fire the collective imagination of India. A bunch of awesome actors took these lines and made them their own.
As Sholay celebrates its fourth decade, we celebrate the best dialogues Bollywood has ever written. Below, 20 lines we'll never forget.
The entire first half of this list belongs to Gabbar Singh, villain of movie nightmares. The casting of then-obscure actor Amjad Khan was hotly contested by Salim-Javed who thought his voice to weak and whispery to convincingly deliver the dacoit's lines. How wrong they were, and how iconic Amjad Khan made these words:
Kitney aadmi they?
Tera kya hoga Kaalia?
Arey o Sambha, kitna inaam rakhe hain sarkaar hum par?
Yeh haath humko de de Thakur
Jo darr gaya, samjho mar gaya
Holi kab hain? Kab hain Holi?
Bahut yaaraana lagta hai
Suar ke bachchon
Jab bachcha raat ko rota hai to maa kahti hai beta soja... soja nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jaayega
Gabbar ke taap se tumhe ek hi aadmi bacha sakta hai, ek hi aadmi, khud Gabbar
The best of the rest:
Bhaag Dhanno bhaag! Aaj teri Basanti ki ijjat ka sawaal hai - Basanti the taangewaali, played by Hema Malini. In an interview to NDTV some years ago, Hemaji said that almost everywhere she goes she is asked to speak this dialogue.
Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti? - Jai, one half of the guns-for-hire that Thakur engages to fight Gabbar. Played by Amitabh Bachchan
Basanti, inn kutton ke saamne mat naachna - Veeru, the other half. Played by Dharmendra
Dekho, mujhe befuzool baat karne ki aadat to hai nahin- Basanti
Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke jailor hain - The jailor, played by Asrani
Itna sannata kyun hain bhai? - The imam of Ramgarh, played by A K Hangal
Jao, ja ker kah do Gabbar se, Ramgarh waalon ne paagal kutton ke saamne roti daalna bandh kar diya hai - Thakur Baldev Singh, played by Sanjeev Kumar
Yeh haath nahi, phaansi ka phanda hai, Gabbar - Thakur
Mujhe toh sab policewaalon ki suratein ek jaise lagte hain - Jai
Kuttey, main tera khoon pee jaoonga - Veeru
As Sholay celebrates its fourth decade, we celebrate the best dialogues Bollywood has ever written. Below, 20 lines we'll never forget.
The entire first half of this list belongs to Gabbar Singh, villain of movie nightmares. The casting of then-obscure actor Amjad Khan was hotly contested by Salim-Javed who thought his voice to weak and whispery to convincingly deliver the dacoit's lines. How wrong they were, and how iconic Amjad Khan made these words:
Kitney aadmi they?
Tera kya hoga Kaalia?
Arey o Sambha, kitna inaam rakhe hain sarkaar hum par?
Yeh haath humko de de Thakur
Jo darr gaya, samjho mar gaya
Holi kab hain? Kab hain Holi?
Bahut yaaraana lagta hai
Suar ke bachchon
Jab bachcha raat ko rota hai to maa kahti hai beta soja... soja nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jaayega
Gabbar ke taap se tumhe ek hi aadmi bacha sakta hai, ek hi aadmi, khud Gabbar
The best of the rest:
Bhaag Dhanno bhaag! Aaj teri Basanti ki ijjat ka sawaal hai - Basanti the taangewaali, played by Hema Malini. In an interview to NDTV some years ago, Hemaji said that almost everywhere she goes she is asked to speak this dialogue.
Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti? - Jai, one half of the guns-for-hire that Thakur engages to fight Gabbar. Played by Amitabh Bachchan
Basanti, inn kutton ke saamne mat naachna - Veeru, the other half. Played by Dharmendra
Dekho, mujhe befuzool baat karne ki aadat to hai nahin- Basanti
Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke jailor hain - The jailor, played by Asrani
Itna sannata kyun hain bhai? - The imam of Ramgarh, played by A K Hangal
Jao, ja ker kah do Gabbar se, Ramgarh waalon ne paagal kutton ke saamne roti daalna bandh kar diya hai - Thakur Baldev Singh, played by Sanjeev Kumar
Yeh haath nahi, phaansi ka phanda hai, Gabbar - Thakur
Mujhe toh sab policewaalon ki suratein ek jaise lagte hain - Jai
Kuttey, main tera khoon pee jaoonga - Veeru
