That 1980 Hindi film, which was inspired by Japanese and Hollywood films, took 5 years to be made.

New Delhi. There have been many such films in the history of Bollywood, which are known for thinking ahead of their time and being produced on a large scale. One such film is The Burning Train, which was released in 1980 and filled the audience with thrill and fear. The film was in the news not only for its multi-star cast but also for its interesting story and the long time taken in production.

Multistarrer film ready in 5 years

This film was announced in August 1976, but it took five years to reach the screens. Released in March 1980, the film had a spectacular opening and witnessed 100% occupancy in the cinema. However, its earnings declined over time and the film proved to be an average box office hit. Despite this, its grandeur and story gave it a special identity.

Inspiration taken from three foreign films

Very few people know that the story of The Burning Train was not entirely new, but it was inspired by three foreign films. This includes the Japanese film The Bullet Train and Hollywood’s The Towering Inferno and The Cassandra Crossing. A powerful and exciting story has been created by combining different concepts of these films.

Confluence of adventure and disaster in the story

The Japanese film The Bullet Train features a bomb planted inside a train and forces it to travel at high speed, while The Towering Inferno explores human emotions and struggle during a disaster. The angle of “life-and-death crisis of cement people in a moving train” was added to The Cassandra Crossing. By combining all these elements, a story was created in which the life of cement passengers and their struggle was shown in the train surrounded by fire.

Starcast made the film great

The biggest strength of the film was its multistar cast. Veteran actors like Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh were seen in it. All these actors made the film memorable with their strong acting.

Direction and special recognition

The film was directed by Ravi Chopra, the son of famous filmmaker B. R. Chopra’s son. Due to its large scale, technical experimentation and emotional story, the film is still considered one of the classic disaster films of Bollywood.

Why is it still in discussion today?

Even though the film did not achieve major success at the box office, its story, technology and starcast gave it a distinct identity. Even today, The Burning Train is considered among those films of Indian cinema which showed the courage to present a disaster-based story on a large scale.