Sholay: Gabbar

by Saurav Mohapatra, Edison George (Illustrator), Saumin Patel (Illustrator)

Sholay Gabbar For the first time ever the secret origin Gabbar Singh is finally revealed! Experience the legend of the greatest villain in Bollywood cinema, the infamous bandit who has captivated audiences for over 30 years through the classic movie SHOLAY! Journey to his past and witness the never before seen bloody, tragic and twisted story that turned an ordinary boy into a legendary evil and pop culture icon! Also included in this book are a series of SHOLAY SHORTS, featuring all new, original short stories based on fan favorite characters from the movie including THAKUR BALDEV SINGH, SOORMA BHOPALI, SAMBA and more!

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2014

Reviews

[Jagruti · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

So here is a book I never thought I would be into but I was! I liked the first story about Gabbar's origins, even though the plot structure was a little confusing. The other stories were okay. The extra half star is for the idea and effort taken into world building around this movie, and I would like to see how this unfolds!

[Ag · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice breezy fanboy book. The artwork is really quite good. The first half of the book is a Gabbar origin story which is nice. The second half is little shorts / side-stories around Sholay which are perhaps too brief. Fewer but more in-depth stories could have made this a better book.

The binding is poor and came apart in the first read. Overall I'd give it credit for the concept and artwork. Story development leaves one wanting more.

[Akar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dont even remember when was the last time any Hindi movie got a prequel or a back-story in any kind of media, be it comic books or literature. The fact that we now have an origin story for Gabbar Singh or all villains is itself mind blowing. So the writers and the team behind Graphic India deserve praise for making this happen. This is a truly unique situation in Indian Comic Books.

The story of how Gabbar became Gabbar is quite simple and you'd think why did this require an origin story. How Gabbar becomes a dacoit, how he meets Samba and how he escapes prison form a part of this story and how it all ties in is very entertaining. It takes just 15 odd minutes to read his origin but it is riveting and does justice to the movie. The Art in the book varies from each short story to the other. All the shorts here take place in different times in the Sholay Universe (Sholayverse? No?). Gabbars origin gets a "A" from me.

Other shorts include -

1. Ramgarh's Cholley - Basically an ad for Akshay Patra. You can ignore this.

2. Thakur's Vengeance - In the movie, Gabbar cuts Thakur's hands in vengeance. This short explores how he survived.

3. The Ballad of Mehbooba ; 4: The Tall Tales of Soorma Bhopali; 5: A Game of Cards; 6: Samba: How Many Men Were There? - All of these explore different characters and their own stories.

This is a great book and a very unique book. This is probably the only time you will get an extension of a hindi movie in such a way. Strictly for those who enjoyed Sholay the movie.

[Sonia]

Need more regarding weird and random violence among the baghis, but I appreciate the effort to explain where the 100% pure evil villain of SHOLAY came from. But this made me go reread my favorite dacoit literature ever, in Kavery Bhatt's THE TRUTH ABOUT BHARAT, which I had to find in a box in the basement.