Sholay (Bollywood Reimaginations, Book 1)

The Final Battle

Gabbar chained Veeru and made Basanti stand in the centre of his lair, making her head ache due to the hot sun. 

"Hmm, you both seem to be very close! Sambha, what wheat do these Ramgarh people feed their girls?" he sniggered. "Look at her! How hot she is!" 

"Sardar, we had gone to a wedding in the neighbouring village in disguise," said Sambha. "She was dancing there and man, what a show she was creating!"

"Is it?" said Gabbar. He swaggered up to Basanti, but his demeanour did not intimidate her. 

"Dance for us, Basanti," he snarled. "Or else, I shall kill this loverboy of yours!" 

He pointed his revolver at Veeru, scaring the life out of her. 

"Basanti, don't you dare dance in front of these bastards!" bellowed Veeru. 

But she didn't listen to him. She adjusted the loose end of her saree and began to dance and sing, heavily intoxicating the dacoits.

She repeatedly assured Veeru that even if they are killed, their love would never die, as it wasn't afraid of death. She was dancing on broken glass, and the pain was excruciating. 

Veeru was enraged. His blood boiled, and he wanted to kill Gabbar so badly. But the promise that Jai had made to Thakur collided with his own thoughts, making him even angrier. 

On the other hand, Jai and Radha were already at the spot, hiding behind a rock. 

"Poor Basanti!" said Radha. "Gabbar is torturing her! Look at her feet!" 

"Lucky for us, she's distracted them. You've understood what to do, right?"

"Yes. I'll take care of Sambha. You go and destroy their ammunition." 

Jai nodded and ran off. 

Radha was armed with a spear and a revolver, and aimed a bullet at Sambha, who was lecherously staring at Basanti with a glass of rum in his hands. 

"Sambha, today you shall pay for what you did to my uncle!" she thought, and fired. 

The bullet hit Sambha's rum glass, and it shattered into several pieces, making his palm bleed in the process. 

"Oww!" he cried. "Who was that?"

Radha stood fearlessly in front of them. 

"Who might you be?" barked Gabbar. "What are you doing in my lair?"

"I'm the daughter of Shivshankar, whom you killed," said Radha. "Get ready to face your penalty, Gabbar!" 

"Such arrogance, and that too for a girl! Sambha, catch her!"

The dacoit lunged at her, but Radha dodged and pierced him with her spear, and that was all. 

Sambha growled like a hungry wolf as he fell, with blood oozing out of his abdomen like a red river. 

Naturally, Gabbar was infuriated. 

"Girls should not use weapons. They should either stay at home or do a respectful job," he snapped. "Just see what I do to you now!"

Yet again, Radha was not swayed by his threats. 

"Take this, Gabbar!" she said with a smirk, and shot him right in both the cubital fossas. 

In that short gap, she and Basanti released Veeru from the chains. 

"Radha, you take Basanti back to the village," he said. "I'll deal with this rogue."

Both the girls immediately fled the spot. Gabbar got up again, and summoned his henchmen. 

"Huh! See Veeru! Your bestie isn't here, and how will you handle me?" he egged. "Catch him, idiots!"

But before they could do anything, there was a huge explosion, and out came Jai, his face smeared with soot and ash. He was bleeding at the temples and shoulders, and armed with two large rifles. 

"Jai!" cried Veeru, and ran to hug him. "Where were you?"

"I'll tell you later," he replied. "It's easier for us now to corner them, for I have destroyed all their ammunition!"

Gabbar was shocked. 

Jai saw his expression and chuckled. 

"Bhediya, Hitesh, and Kesha! All dead!" he said in a cocky tone. "They were your best henchmen, weren't they, Gabbar?" 

The dacoits who were behind him stood up to attack them, but they all collapsed like a pack of cards, having become the prey of the rifles' bullets. 

"What will you do now, Gabbar?" said Jai. "You can no longer escape from the law!"

"Rightly said," added Veeru. "Let's just finish him, Jai!" 

Gabbar tried to run away again, but the duo caught him and were about to ambush him, when a voice stopped them. 

"Stop, Veeru and Jai! Have you both forgotten your promise?"

Both of them turned to see Thakur with Basanti and Radha, his eyes shining with a strange light. 

"We haven't, Thakur Sahib," said Jai. "But if we were in our right minds, we would have broken the promise long back. We left him alive only because of you."

"I shall take care of him," said Thakur, and walked up to Gabbar, while Veeru and Jai went up to their respective lovers. 

Even after losing all of his henchmen and weapons, there was no sense of repentance on Gabbar's face. 

Thakur confronted him, the vengeance of the past few years still burning in his mind. 

"You have no arms, Thakur!" he snarled in his usual manner. "What can you do to me?"

"I need no arms to kill you, Gabbar. My feet are enough," said Thakur. He started to injure Gabbar with his spike-soled shoes. 

Unable to bear the pain, Gabbar fell dead, to never get up again. 

Finally, the problems in Ramgarh had come to an end. The villagers lauded Veeru and Jai, and their victory was celebrated for days in a row. 

"We're staying, Thakur Sahib," said Veeru. "Thanks for giving us a chance to reform," added Jai.

Thakur smiled at them. "I'm happy about that. And remember to take care of Basanti and Radha properly! If you ever hurt them..."

"We'd rather die than do that," they said in unison. 

"Whether anyone knows about your victory over Gabbar or not, they should know about your  friendship," said Thakur. "Veeru and Jai, the friendship that is stronger than steel and deeper than the ocean!" 

The duo looked at each other and smiled. 

From then on, peace continued to reign over Ramgarh, and Veeru and Jai continued to safeguard it from all evils. Basanti and Radha played a crucial role in turning the village into  model one, with all the required facilities. 

And that was how Gabbar Singh, the ruthless dacoit, met his rightful fate at the hands of two people who had been bad,  just like him. 

Naman realised that this was what Thakur had meant, when he said that 'only iron can cut iron'. A few years later, he wrote down the events, and that novel, titled Sholay, became one of the bestsellers in the country.