Khote Sikkay

Sholay was released in 1975 while Khhotey Sikkey came out in '74.And they share similar plot lines.City thugs Ranjeet,Narendra Nath,Sudhir,Danny and Dharmendra's cousin(I can't recall his name)with golden hearts and good intentions move to a village terrorized by vicious Daku Jhanga (Ajit turning in a particularly nasty performance)to help out their village bumpkin friend,Paintal.Their fight against Jhanga and his gang is what the film is all about.Hence the similarity to Sholay.But this film has a difference.And it's called The Man! The Man himself Mr. Feroz Khan,the undisputed king of Curry Westerns.Here he finally gets to play out a full fledged Indian interpretation of Mr. Clint Eastwood's character from Sergio Leone's Dollar Trilogy.He's a nameless,smooth talking,no-nonsense gunfighter clad in a black poncho out for revenge against Jhanga.Quite a few elements are "borrowed" from For A Few Dollars More(1965).Mr. Khan's theme,the pocket watch motive and the settling of accounts in the village circle are all here but they are Indianized and that's where this film scores. Also it's full of humour with all the five city thugs(who usually played villains)adjusting to the village life n' customs creating some hilarious situations.All in all one of the best Curry Western's ever made and it predates Sholay!