1975 · Film
Sholay
Ramesh Sippy's Hindi dacoit Western in which a retired police officer hires two small-time crooks, played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, to bring down a feared bandit.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Sholay is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
With subscription
Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
Thakur Baldev Singh, a retired police officer, hires two small-time crooks and best friends, Jai and Veeru, who once saved his life during a train robbery. He wants them to capture Gabbar Singh, the dacoit who has been terrorising the village of Ramgarh, and to bring him in alive. In Ramgarh, Veeru falls for Basanti, a talkative horse-cart driver, while Jai is drawn to Radha, Thakur's quiet widowed daughter-in-law. Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan star.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
For anyone after classic masala cinema built on friendship, revenge and a village standing up to a bandit. It runs well over three hours and includes violent scenes, including the massacre of a family.
Genres:Action
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Salim-Javed wrote Sholay, and G. P. Sippy produced it. The plot loosely draws on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and borrows from Hollywood and Spaghetti Westerns. Released on 15 August 1975, it opened to negative reviews and a tepid box office before word of mouth turned it into a hit. It ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre and still holds the record of 60 golden jubilees across India. Its 286-week run stood as the longest for an Indian film until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge passed it in 2001.
Its only Filmfare Award was Best Editing, for M. S. Shinde. It topped the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of the top 10 Indian films. A 3D version came out in January 2014. A restored, uncut version, Sholay: The Final Cut, with Sippy's original ending, was released in December 2025.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Action-adventure, Dacoit Western
- Runtime
- 198 min
- Director
- Ramesh Sippy
- Cast
- Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Sholay in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Sholay is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Is Sholay in Hindi?
- Yes. Sholay is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Sholay?
- Sholay runs for 3 hours 18 minutes (198 minutes).