Embers
(Sholay)

For Amitabh Bachchan the year 1975 was paved with success. Yet Sholay remains the film where the cult of the actor (here the dancing is led by the tandem he forms with Dharmendra: “I love you, I’ll never abandon you, I’ll never betray the friendship that binds us”) and the cult inspired by the film reach the heights of the superlative. Shot in 70mm by Ramesh Sippy, Sholay mixes a story of dacoits (Indian bandits who sow terror in rural areas), songs and dances with aesthetic references borrowed from spaghetti westerns and is still today one of the most watched Hindi films in the world. JB