Shalimar (1978 film)

Shalimar is a 1978 bilingual Indian film, written and directed by Krishna Shah. The movie starred Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Sir Rex Harrison, Shammi Kapoor, John Saxon and Sylvia Miles.

This was the only Bollywood film that English actor Sir Rex Harrison and American actors John Saxon and Sylvia Miles appeared in. Jayamalini does a dance number in the film. This was the last time that Mohammed Rafi's voice was picturized on Shammi Kapoor. Its English version is known as Raiders of the Sacred Stone. Rex Harrison's voice was dubbed by Kader Khan. The plot is inspired by the novel The Vulture is a Patient Bird by James Hadley Chase, The film's script was novelized by Manohar Malagaonkar. Shalimar is the most expensive movie ever made in India. The English version of the movie was released in the United States titled as the Raiders of the Sacred Stone.

Plot
On the run from the police, S.S. Kumar (Dharmendra), a thief, comes across a private invitation to the island of Sir John Locksley (Sir Rex Harrison) addressed to Raja Bahadur Singh when Kumar steals it from the Raja after the Raja is shot. Kumar then takes the Raja to a nearby hospital, dons a Sikh's turban, poses as the Raja's son, Bahadur Singh, Jr., and goes to the private island of Sir John with the stolen invitation. Also attending are K.P.W. Iyengar aka Romeo, a lothario; Dr. Dubari, a follower of all world religions; Colonel Columbus, a mute; and Countess Sylvia Rasmussen, an acrobat. A stunned Kumar finds out that all of these invitees are master criminals and thieves. Kumar's guise does not fool anyone, including his former sweetheart, Sheila Enders (Zeenat Aman) who works for Sir John. The real Bahadur Singh, Jr. is then seen by his father's bedside. Nevertheless, Sir John permits him to stay on, as he feels that Kumar's career, though an amateur, is consistent with those already present. The reason why John has invited them is to find a successor to take his place as he is dying of cancer. He feels that one of his invitees can be trusted to take his place and for this he has arranged for them to steal the Shalimar Diamond worth 135 crores of rupees. This gem is placed in a secure room within his palace, which is alarmed, and guarded by armed men 24 hours a day. The ruby itself is located within a display case of bulletproof glass and surrounded by a minefield. He challenges one of them to steal the Shalimar - but if anyone fails then they are killed by the security system. Columbus, Rasmussen, and Dr Dubari perish while trying to steal Shalimar. Kumar claims, to the disbelief of the others, that Columbus let out a scream before dying. Columbus's body is then taken by the local tribe and revered. Romeo revokes his name from the competition, but he is killed by Sir John and reveals that he can walk. Sir John who has become insecure after claiming Shalimar, believes that these veteran criminals may try to rob it, hence he plays a handicapped and cancer card, and invited the criminals so that they would be killed during the competition. Kumar then attempts to steal the Shalimar and he succeeds, the Local tribe leaders kill Sir John as he had promised the Shalimar to them. Later its shown that Kumar is actual a CBI officer (selected from the Army) on this special mission, to arrest the master criminals. Kumar and Sheila get married.

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

Cast

 * Dharmendra as S.S. Kumar
 * Zeenat Aman as Sheila Enders
 * Sir Rex Harrison as Sir John Locksley
 * Shammi Kapoor as Dr. Dubari
 * John Saxon as Colonel Columbus
 * Sylvia Miles as Countess Rasmussen
 * O. P. Ralhan as K.P.W. Iyengar (Romeo)
 * Clyde Chai-Fa as Dogro
 * Prem Nath as Raja Bahadur Singh
 * Shreeram Lagoo as Tolaram
 * Aruna Irani as Dance Teacher
 * M. B. Shetty as Tribal Chief
 * Jayamalini as tribal dancer

Soundtrack
The music of this movie was given by the legendary music composer R. D. Burman while Anand Bakshi penned the lyrics. "Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The" sung by Kishore Kumar is an evergreen song of this album. The soundtrack was featured in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Awards

 * 26th Filmfare Awards:

Nominated


 * Best Music Director – R. D. Burman
 * Best Male Playback Singer – Kishore Kumar for "Hum Bewafaa"
 * Best Female Playback Singer – Usha Uthup for "One Two Cha Cha Cha"