The Burning Train

About the film

The Burning Train is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language action disaster film produced by B.R Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra. The film features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Vinod Mehra and Danny Denzongpa. The plot revolves around a train named the Super Express, that catches fire on its inaugural run from New Delhi to Mumbai.

Inspired by the disaster films The Towering Inferno (1974) and The Bullet Train (1975), the film released worldwide on 28 March 1980 and received mainly positive reviews from critics for the performances of the cast, the action sequences, and the music. Negative criticism was mainly directed towards its length. At the box office, the film earned ₹6.5 crore worldwide and considered moderately successful despite being the 7th highest-grossing film of 1980 due to its expensive budget. The film is widely regarded as a cult classic today.

Plot

The film begins with two best friends - Ashok and Vinod - along with a third boy, Randhir. Ashok is the son of a wealthy businessman and is passionate about cars, whereas Vinod and Randhir are passionate about trains. Ashok grows up being a car enthusiast, while Vinod and Randhir grow up to become railway engineers with the dream of building the fastest moving train in the country. Ashok falls in love with Seema and Vinod falls for Sheetal. Sheetal marries Vinod and gives birth to a boy, Raju.

One day Vinod, who is now a top notch railway engineer, gets awarded the contract to build a super-fast express train between New Delhi and Mumbai. Rakesh is his assistant. Randhir, the losing engineer and ex-lover of Sheetal swears revenge and leaves.

Tragedy strikes when Ashok gets the news that his father, Seth Dharmdas, committed suicide after losses in his business. Seema deceives him, and forlorn Ashok turns wanderer.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by R. D. Burman and film song lyrics were by Sahir Ludhianvi.

Box Office Verdict

Made with a budget of ₹2.5–3.25 crore, the movie raked in ₹6.50 crore. In current time, the budget stands as ₹250–325 crore while earning stands at ₹650 crore. It was a Superhit movie at that time & one of the highest grosser in Indian Cinema during year 1980.

Key details