Preceded by a conversation between Red Baraat’s Sunny Jain, and Sriram Gopal
Watch the video for Sunny Jain’s “Wild Wild East”

Sunny Jain’s album Wild Wild East explores his Indian heritage and American upbringing through an energetic blend of Indian music, prog rock, hard-driving jazz, and more. (His band Red Baraat brought down the house at our Illuminasia celebration in 2017.) To celebrate the release of Wild Wild East on February 21, Jain comes to the Freer to present one of the album’s influences: the Bollywood classic Sholay. Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra star as a pair of criminals hired by a retired cop (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture a ruthless bandit (Amjad Khan). This landmark film injected themes from Hollywood westerns and action movies into Bollywood’s already irresistible mix of over-the-top drama, infectious songs, and spectacular dance numbers. It’s no wonder it was ranked number one in the British Film Institute’s poll of Top Ten Indian Films of All Time in 2002. As the BBC’s Dharmesh Rajput wrote, “It's a movie that you can watch again and again, and hardcore Bollywood fans do. But even if you just watch Sholay once, you won't be disappointed.” Before the screening, join Jain for a discussion of the film and his music with DC area jazz musician Sriram Gopal. This event is copresented with Smithsonian Folkways. (Dir.: G.P. Shippy, India, 1975, 204 min., DCP, Hindi with English subtitles)