Shalimar (1978 film)

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Shalimar
Raiders of the Sacred Stone
Shalimar 1978 film.jpg
India theatrical release poster
Directed by Krishna Shah
Screenplay byKrishna Shah
Dialogues byKrishna Shah (English)
Kader Khan (Hindi)
Story by Stanford Sherman
Krishna Shah
Based onThe Vulture Is a Patient Bird
by James Hadley Chase [1]
Produced bySuresh Shah
Starring Dharmendra
Zeenat Aman
Sir Rex Harrison
John Saxon
Sylvia Miles
Shammi Kapoor
O. P. Ralhan
Clyde Chai-Fa
CinematographyHarvey Genkins
Edited by Amit Bose (Hindi)
Teddy Darvas (English)
Music by R. D. Burman
Production
company
Laxmi-Judson Productions
Distributed byIndia:
Eros International
United States:
Laxmi-Judson Productions
Release date
  • 8 December 1978 (1978-12-08)
Countries
  • India
  • United States
Languages
Budget$4 million [2]

Shalimar is a 1978 bilingual Indo-American film, written and directed by Krishna Shah. [3] The film starred Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman and Sir Rex Harrison, supported by John Saxon, Sylvia Miles, Shammi Kapoor and O. P. Ralhan. [4]

Contents

This was the only Bollywood film that Oscar award winning English actor Sir Rex Harrison and American actors John Saxon and Sylvia Miles appeared in. [5] This was the last time that Mohammed Rafi's voice was picturized on Shammi Kapoor. [6] Its English version is known as Raiders of the Sacred Stone. Rex Harrison's voice was dubbed by Kader Khan in the Hindi version and Dharmendra‘s voice was dubbed in the English version. The plot is inspired by the novel The Vulture is a Patient Bird by James Hadley Chase, with Dharmendra playing the lead role based on Max Kahlenberg, the central character of the book. The film's script was novelized by Manohar Malgonkar. Shalimar is the most expensive movie ever made in India. [7] The English version of the movie was released in the United States titled as the Raiders of the Sacred Stone. It has been marketed on DVD under the name The Deadly Thief.

Adjusted to the inflation, it was the most expensive Hindi film made in India till that point of time. [8]

Plot

On the run from his creditors, small time thief S.S. Kumar stumbles upon a private invitation card addressed to Raja Bahadur Singh for a gathering on the island of Sir John Locksley. Kumar steals the invitation card after witnessing the Raja get shot. Kumar takes the Raja to a hospital and disguises himself as the Raja's son, Bahadur Singh Jr., to gain entry to the exclusive event.

When he arrives, Kumar finds that the other invitees are also notorious criminals and thieves, including a mute and disabled man named Colonel Columbus, an acrobat named Countess Sylvia Rasmussen, a follower of all world religions named Dr. Dubari, and a womanizer named K.P.W. Iyengar (also known as Romeo). His disguise does not fool anyone, especially his former sweetheart and fiancée, Sheila Enders, who now works as a nurse for Sir John.

Although Kumar's cover is blown, Sir John permits him to stay. Sheila informs everyone that Sir John is dying from cancer. The reason John has invited the expert thieves is to find a successor to the highly valuable Shalimar ruby, which is worth 135 crores of rupees. He feels that the person who will be able to steal the gem will be its most worthy successor. The gem is located in a highly secure, alarmed room within his palace, guarded by armed men and surrounded by mines. The challenge has high stakes: whoever fails to steal the gem will be killed by the security system.

Colonel Columbus is the first one to die while trying to steal the Shalimar. Next, Countess Rasmussen tries to steal the gem but is also killed in the process. Dr. Dubari also supposedly dies while trying to steal the Shalimar. Romeo withdraws from the competition but is killed by Sir John. It is then that Sir John reveals his true motive. He had faked his illness and staged the entire game in order to kill those expert thieves and remove all potential competitors of the Shalimar.

Kumar and Sheila succeed in stealing the Shalimar and, after an intense chase involving all of Sir John's guards, they manage to escape from the island. In the meantime, Dr. Dubari, who had actually faked his death, instigates the local tribe to revolt against Sir John and ultimately kills him. It is then revealed that Kumar is not a thief but a CBI officer who was on a special mission to retrieve the stolen gem. The story concludes with Kumar and Sheila getting married.

Release

The film was released in two versions; Hindi and in English (titled as Raiders of the Sacred Stone) for the USA release. [9]

Cast

Soundtrack

The music of this movie was composed by R. D. Burman while Anand Bakshi penned the lyrics of the songs. "Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The" [10] sung by Kishore Kumar is an evergreen song of this album.

#TitleSinger(s)
1"Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The (I)" Kishore Kumar
2"Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The (II)"Kishore Kumar
3"Aaina Wohi Rehta Hai" Lata Mangeshkar
4"Mera Pyaar Shalimar" Asha Bhosle
5"Naag Devta" Mohammed Rafi
6"One Two Cha Cha" Usha Uthup [11]

The soundtrack was featured in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [12]

Awards

26th Filmfare Awards:

Nominated

See also

Other films directed by Krishna Shah:

References

  1. ↑ "CANNON MONTH 3: Shalimar (1978)". B&S About Movies. 17 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Doing the Cannes Cannes". Variety . 31 May 1978. p. 30.
  3. 1 2 "Krishna Shah, Director of 'Hard Rock Zombies,' Dies at 75". Variety . 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  4. ↑ "The outstanding performances by Dharmendra!". Zee News. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Obituaries (23 June 2019). "Sylvia Miles, film actress and Warhol acolyte, twice Oscar-nominated, who brought zany sparkle to small roles – obituary". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  6. ↑ Screen The Business Of Entertainment-Music-Cover Story Archived 5 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Star capers". India Today. New Delhi: Living Media. 31 January 1978. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  8. ↑ "Shalimar is the most expensive movie ever made in India". India Today. 13 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Banerjee, Tamaghna (3 April 2019). "88 years on, curtains come down on Mitra cinema". Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  10. ↑ Bhattacharjee, Rudradeep (17 October 2016). "52 years, 5,000 songs: With musician Kersi Lord's death, we have lost a vital part of film history". Scroll. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Roy, Kunal (15 November 2017). "I am a complete live performer: Usha Uthup". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  12. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN   0-7893-1371-5.
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