Page 9 - Seniorstoday April 2022 Issue

Ankur (1974): rise of the criminal class and the beginnings
The art film movement officially flagged off
Shyam Benegal’s small film about the
evils of feudalism, set in a village, starring
newcomer Shabana Azmi, who would
go on to become an icon, flagged off what
came to be known as the art or parallel
cinema movement and had its own star
system that comprised Naseeruddin Shah,
Om Puri, Smita Patil, Deepti Naval and
pre-Mogambo Amrish Puri among others.
Shabana Azmi won her first National
Award with this film, and remains the only
actress so far to have won it three years in a
row.
Deewar (1974):
The new social order, the rise of the criminal class and the
beginning of the Emergency
Yash Chopra as director, Salim-Javed
as screenwriters with the perception to
understand the new urban social order, the
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #34 | APRIL 2022
of the Emergency, a brooding Amitabh
Bachchan taking to crime to fight injustice,
and the most memorable piece of dialogue
in Hindi cinema—Mere Paas Maa Hai,
uttered by honest cop, Shashi Kapoor to his
wayward brother
Sholay (1975):
The writer as star, the most successful and iconic ‘Bolly-
wood’ film
One of the most successful Hindi films
of all time, that made stars out of writers
Salim-Javed, gave Bollywood the Jai-Veeru
(Dharmendra-Amitabh Bachchan) style
of male bonding, an unforgettable villain
Gabbar Singh played by Amjad Khan with
gleeful evil and dialogue that is still quoted
nearly half a century later; each character
finely-etched, each given a terrific trait,
mannerism or line --from the armless
Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar), to the villain’s
henchman (Arre O Samba!, Ab tera kya
hoga kaliya?), even chatty Basanti’s (Hema
Malini’s) horse (chal Dhanno).
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977):
With Manmohan Desai’s scattered-
family formula film, commercial cinema
went totally berserk. Three brothers are
separated in childhood and raised by
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