The Great Gambler

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The Great Gambler
The Great Gambler.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Shakti Samanta
Written byC. J. Pavri (adaptation)
Vrajendra Gaur (dialogues)
Screenplay by Shakti Samanta
Ranjan Bose
Story byVikramaditya (Bengali novel) [1]
Produced byC. V. K. Shastri
Starring Amitabh Bachchan
Zeenat Aman
Neetu Singh
CinematographyAloke Dasgupta
Edited byR. P. Bapat
Pran Mehra
Music by R. D. Burman
Release date
  • 6 April 1979 (1979-04-06)
Running time
163 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

The Great Gambler is a 1979 Indian crime action film directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh. It was based on the Bengali novel Great Gambler by Vikramaditya.

Contents

The film's story is based on international gangsters, spies, and secret agents of different countries' intelligence agencies and their undercover operations. This film had high production costs with a significant portions of it being shot in international locations including Cairo, Lisbon, Venice and Rome, and in India, many scenes were shot in Goa. The film was a box office average on initial release due to high distribution price but has been widely appreciated for its action, direction, and cinematography. Later it became profitable on repeat releases and attained cult status. [2] [ better source needed ]

Plot

Jay is an expert gambler, has been for as long as he can remember and has never lost a game. These skills bring him to the attention of the underworld don Ratan Das, who is interested in hiring him to win large amounts of money from rich people and then influencing them into doing whatever he wants. Jay agrees to do so and plays successfully, though unknowingly to entrap Nath, who works for the government. After losing large amounts of money, he is blackmailed into revealing the blueprints of a top-secret military laser weapon that can hit any target within 50 miles and is wanted by an underworld don named Saxena. When the Indian police come to know of this, they assign the case to Inspector Vijay, who is a lookalike of Jay.

Jay and Vijay's paths are soon intertwined when they both travel to Rome with separate missions. Vijay is sent to retrieve the evidence against underworld don Saxena by one of his former henchman and Jay is onto a money-making scheme where he would marry Mala to inherit her money. Mala, however, meets Vijay at the Rome airport and Vijay decides to go along with this to find out who his lookalike is. Jai meets Shabnam, a club dancer who mistakes him for Vijay and was sent by Saxena to stop him on his mission to discover Saxena's plans. It is later revealed that Jay and Vijay are actually long-lost twin brothers and together they team up to stop Saxena from retrieving the laser weapon.

Cast

Production

Amjad Khan was initially cast as the character Saxena; due to a road accident, he was unable to continue, and was replaced by Utpal Dutt. [3]

Music

All lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. Music was composed by R. D. Burman.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."O Deewanon, Dil Sambhalo" Asha Bhosle  
2."Tum Kitne Din Baad Mile"Asha Bhosle 
3."Raqqasa Mera Naam, Ae Sahib Sabko Salaam"Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi  
4."Pehle Pehle Pyar Ki Mulaqaten Yaad Hai" Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle 
5."Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani"Asha Bhosle, Sharad Kumar  

The song "Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani" was shot on a Gondola in Venice's Grand Canal. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Dhanagare, Shridhar [@SDhanagare] (21 February 2020). "@AneetaRadoja Shalimar was based on the book by Manohar Malgaonkar adapted by Krishna Shah. The Great Gambler was also based on a Bengali novel by Vikramaditya. That's why they were scripted well. Both the roles Suited Zeenat Aman and she did them extremely well (both having a twist) https://t.co/8NkZRYenhg" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "39 Years of The Great Gambler; 06/04/1979 | by Bollywoodirect | Medium". 6 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "Amjad Khan named Amitabh Bachchan 'Shorty' during Sholay, Big B filled in for his family after life-threatening accident". The Indian Express. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Pandya, Sonal. "40 years of an Italian romance with 'Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahaani'". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
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