Gabbar Singh , the film 's antagonist , was well received by the audience , despite his pervasive sadistic cruelty . Dissanayake explain 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 note that the picturisation of violence in the film was glamourised and uninhibited . He further note that , unlike earlier melodramas in which the female body occupy the audience 's attention as an object of male fetish , in Sholay , the male body become the centrepiece . It become the battleground where good and evil compete for supremacy . Dissanayake argue that Sholay can be viewed as a national allegory : it lack a comforting logical narrative , it show social stability being repeatedly challenged , and it show the devaluation 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 vigilante 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 .