Watch: Who made this ‘Sholay’ spoof mocking a prime minister seeking votes?
The same clip, with different dialogue, was used against the Congress in 2013.
In the legendary but fictitious village of Ramgarh in “Sholaland”, Jai is engaged in an intense discussion with Basanti’s mausi (aunt) about whom she should vote for in the next election. No, this is not never-before-seen footage from the 1975 classic film Sholay but a spoof (above) spun out from a scene from the original film.
In this political parody, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) isn’t trying to intercede on behalf of his friend Veeru (Dharmendra) with Basanti’s (Hema Malini) aunt. Instead, he’s trying to persuade her to vote for “Feku” – who, he says, has many redeeming qualities, even though others have tried hard to tarnish his reputation.
“Dobara PM ki zimmedaari sir par aa gayi, toh vikaas bhi ho jaayega (If he becomes the PM once more, development will materialise too),” Jai says. The references are obvious, especially with an election coming up.
Interestingly, this spoof may owe its inspiration to a similar one (below) from 2013, in which it was the Congress and not the BJP at the receiving end, leading the party to lodge a complaint to the Election Commission.
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this had erroneously interchanged the roles played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan.