'' Sholay '' ( , ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film written by Salim-Javed , directed by Ramesh Sippy , and produced by his father G. P. Sippy . The film is about two criminals , Veeru and Jai ( played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan respectively ) , hired by a retired police officer ( Sanjeev Kumar ) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh ( Amjad Khan ) . Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri also star , as Veeru and Jai 's love interests , respectively . '' Sholay '' is considered a classic and one of the best Indian films . It was ranked first in the British Film Institute 's 2002 poll of " Top 10 Indian Films " of all time . In 2005 , the judges of the 50th Filmfare Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years
50th Filmfare Awards
50th Filmfare Awards
Sholay