WHAT? Is 'Sholay' copied from Sergio Leone's Western classic?

An Indian actor has pointed out the similarities between the key sequences of the cult hit ‘Sholay’ and a Western classic, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’.

Actor Adil Hussain, best known for playing a pivotal role opposite late actor Sridevi in ‘English Vinglish’, has claimed that some of the major sequences in the Bollywood blockbuster have been lifted from a Spaghetti Western by iconic filmmaker, Sergio Leonne, titled ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’.

Hussain took to his account on the micro-blogging site, now called X, posting a clip of a scene from Leone’s Western classic, eerily resembling the memorable sequence of ‘Sholay’, where villain Gabbar Singh shot down the whole family of Thakur, one after another.

Ha ha… Who would have thought that portions of one of the most watched/ Admired films in India will be a copy of this film below… Probably you already knew that!? .. But didn’t.. pic.twitter.com/jeIad77Gs5

— Adil hussain (@_AdilHussain) July 31, 2023

“Ha ha… Who would have thought that portions of one of the most watched/ Admired films in India will be a copy of this film below… Probably you already knew that!? .. But didn’t,” Hussain wrote with the video.

In response to the post, a social user pointed out that the sequence in Leone’s film was itself inspired by a Japanese epic, ‘Seven Samurai’, by Akira Kurosawa.

It is pertinent to mention that ‘Sholay’ is one of the most influential Indian films of all time. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, the title was headlined by Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan.

When Sanjeev Kumar forgot Thakur had no arms in ‘Sholay’