 Gabbar Singh , the film 's antagonist , was well received by the audience , despite his pervasive sadistic cruelty . Dissanayake explains that the audience was fascinated by the dialogues and mannerisms of the character , and this element of spectacle outweighed his actions , a first for Indian melodrama . He notes that the <unk> of violence in the film was <unk> and <unk> . He further notes that , unlike earlier <unk> in which the female body occupies the audience 's attention as an object of male <unk> , in Sholay , the male body becomes the <unk> . It becomes the <unk> where good and evil compete for supremacy . Dissanayake argues that Sholay can be viewed as a national allegory : it lacks a <unk> logical narrative , it shows social stability being repeatedly challenged , and it shows the <unk> of human life resulting from a lack of emotions . Taken together , these elements comprise the allegorical representation of India . The narrative style of Sholay , with its violence , revenge , and <unk> action , is occasionally compared by scholars to the political unrest in India at the time of its release . This tension culminated in the Emergency ( rule by decree ) declared by prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 . 
